Read, Write, Inc. Phonics programme
Led by Miss Hailey and Mrs Thomas
At our school and nursery, we aim for all our children to become fluent, confident readers who are passionate about what they read.
Children who read regularly or are read to regularly can open the doors to so many different worlds.
More importantly, reading will give your child the tools to become independent life-long learners.
We can achieve this together through:
- Read Write Inc: a phonics scheme to help your child read at school
- Encouraging children to develop a love of books by reading to them daily, at home and at school
- Giving children access to a wide range of books at school and at home
At Newdale we use Read Write Inc Phonics (RWI) to give your child the best possible start with their Literacy development. Mrs. Thomas is our Read Write Inc lead teacher, so if you have questions about RWI, contact school who can refer you to her.
What is Read Write Inc?
Read Write Inc (RWI) is a complete phonics programme which helps all children learn to read fluently and at speed so they can focus on developing their skills in comprehension, vocabulary, and spelling. The programme is designed for children aged 4-7. We begin the programme in Nursery and will continue teaching RWI to children beyond the age of 7, as we use a ‘stage not age’ approach. RWI was developed by Ruth Miskin and more information on this can be found at https://www.ruthmiskin.com/en/parents-copy-2/
How will RWI be taught?
Read Write Inc is taught every day in school to ensure every child makes rapid progress. All children are assessed regularly by our RWI lead teacher to accurately group children so they can work with peers on the same stage.
Nursery & Reception
When appropriate, children will be introduced to the initial sounds in short five-minute sessions.
In Reception all children will learn how to ‘read’ the sounds in words and how those sounds can be written down.
Reading
The children use the following strategies:
- Learn 44 sounds and the corresponding letters/letter groups using simple picture prompts – see below
- Learn to read words using Fred talk and sound blending
- Read from a range of storybooks and non-fiction books matched to their phonic knowledge
- Work well with partners
- Develop comprehension skills in stories by answering ‘Find It’ and ‘Prove It’ discussion questions
Writing
The children use the following strategies:
- Learn to write and form the letters/letter groups which represent the 44 sounds with the help of fun phrases
- Learn to write words by using Fred Talk
- Learn to build sentences by practising sentences out loud before they write
Talking
The children work in pairs so that they can do the following:
- Answer every question
- Practise every activity with their partner
- Take turns in talking and reading to each other
- Develop ambitious vocabulary
Progressing through the stages
Children follow the same format as Early Years but will work on complex sounds and read books appropriate to their reading level. Daily sessions of RWI phonics last up to one hour (30 minutes in Reception). Once children become fluent and speedy readers, they will move on to the RWI Spelling programme which is followed through the rest of the school.
Five key principles underpin the teaching in all Read Write Inc. sessions:
Purpose – know the purpose of every activity and share it with the children, so they know the one thing they should be thinking about
Participation – ensure every child participates throughout the lesson. Partnership work is fundamental to learning
Praise – ensure children are praised for effort and learning, not ability
Pace – teach at an effective pace and devote every moment to teaching and learning
Passion – be passionate about teaching so children can be engaged emotionally.
Children will be taught how to read as follows:
Below are the sounds we use to speak in English. Children initially begin using pictures for each sound which will help them to first recognise the sound and then form the shape of the sound.
Fred Talk
We use pure sounds (‘m’ not’ muh’,’s’ not ‘suh’, etc.) so that your child will be able to blend the sounds into words more easily.
At school we use a puppet called Fred who is an expert on sounding out words! we call it, ‘Fred Talk’. E.g. m-o-p, c-a-t, m-a-n, sh-o-p, b-l-a-ck.
The following video is an example of blending sounds with Fred. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dEzfpod5w_Q
The children are taught the sounds in 3 sets.
Step 1:
Set 1 Sounds are taught in the following order together with rhymes to help children form the letters correctly and instantly recognise sounds ready for blending.
| Set 1 |
| Sound |
Rhyme |
| m |
Down Maisie, mountain, mountain. |
| a |
Round the apple, down the leaf. |
| s |
Slither down the snake. |
| d |
Round his bottom, up his tall neck, down to his feet. |
| t |
Down the tower, across the tower. |
| i |
Down the insect’s body, dot for the head. |
| n |
Down Nobby and over his net. |
| p |
Down the plait and over the pirate’s face. |
| g |
Round her face, down her hair and give her a curl. |
| o |
All around the orange. |
| c |
Curl around the caterpillar. |
| k |
Down the kangaroo’s body, tail and leg. |
| u |
Down and under, up to the top and draw the puddle. |
| b |
Down the laces to the heel, round the toe. |
| f |
Down the stem and draw the leaves. |
| e |
Lift off the top and scoop out the egg. |
| l |
Down the long leg. |
| h |
Down the head to the hooves and over his back. |
| sh |
Slither down the snake, then down the head to the hooves and over his back. |
| r |
Down his back, then up and curl over his arm. |
| j |
Down his body, curl and dot. |
| v |
Down a wing, up a wing. |
| y |
Down a horn, up a horn and under his head. |
| w |
Down, up, down, up. |
| th |
Down the tower, across the tower, then down his head to the hooves and over his back. |
| z |
Zig-zag-zig. |
| ch |
Curl around the caterpillar, then down his head to the hooves and over his back. |
| qu |
Round her head, up past her earrings, down her hair. |
| x |
Down the arm and leg and repeat the other side. |
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At this stage we do not use the letter names
Step 2:
The children are then taught Set 2 Sounds – the long vowels. When they are very confident with all of set 1 and 2 they are taught Set 3 Sounds which are alternative ways of making the set 2 Sounds.
| Long vowel sound |
Set 2 Speed Sound cards |
Vowel Sound |
Set 3 Speed Sound cards |
| ay |
ay: may I play |
ea |
ea: cup of tea |
| ee |
ee: what can you see |
oi |
oi: spoil the boy |
| igh |
igh: fly high |
a-e |
a-e: make a cake |
| ow |
ow: blow the snow |
i-e |
i-e: nice smile |
| oo |
oo: poo at the zoo |
o-e |
o-e: phone home |
| oo |
oo: look at a book |
u-e |
u-e: huge brute |
| ar |
ar: start the car |
aw |
aw: yawn at dawn |
| or |
or: shut the door |
are |
are: share and care |
| air |
air: that’s not fair |
ur |
ur: nurse for a purse |
| ir |
ir: whirl and twirl |
er |
er: a better letter |
| ou |
ou: shout it out |
ow |
ow: brown cow |
| oy |
oy: toy to enjoy |
ai |
ai: snail in the rain |
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oa |
oa: goat in a boat |
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ew |
ew: chew the stew |
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ire |
ire: fire fire! |
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ear |
ear: hear with your ear |
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ure |
ure: sure it’s pure? |
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tion |
tion: pay attention, it’s a celebration |
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tious / cious |
scrumptious, delicious |
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wh |
wh: whisk, whisk |
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au |
au: Paul the astronaut |
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ph |
ph: take a photo |
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ie |
ie: terrible tie |
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kn |
kn: knock, knock, who’s there? |
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ue |
ue: come to the rescue |
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e-e |
e-e: go Pete and Steve |
Alternative sound taught as a ‘red’ word
e: he me we she be |
Nonsense words (Alien words): What ‘a load’ of nonsense!
As well as learning to read and blend real words, children will have plenty of opportunities to apply their sound recognition skills when reading ‘Nonsense words’. These words will also feature heavily in the Year One Phonics Screening check in the summer term. The words provide endless opportunities for children to apply and practice their thinking in a range of different contexts.
Step 3:
Within all the RWI sessions/books children will be exposed to red and green words to learn to help them to become speedy readers. Red words are words that are not easily decodable and challenge words to extend children’s vocabulary. Green words are linked to the sounds they have been learning and are easily decodable.
Dots and dashes represent the sound each letter makes.
During the RWI session children will read the book three times and at each new reading they will have plenty of opportunities to practise using their developing comprehension skills. You may hear your child talking about ‘hold, edit or build a sentence’.
Hold a sentence is an activity that encourages children to remember a whole sentence while focusing on spelling and punctuation.
Build a sentence is to give children the opportunity to create their own sentence to that shows the meaning of a word and edit a sentence allows the children to critique a sentence using their knowledge of spelling punctuation and grammar. Children complete a longer piece of independent writing, which gives them the opportunity to show off their creativity and to practice their spelling, grammar, and punctuation.
To help at home:
Your child will start to bring books home when they are confident readers, relating to their reading stage. You will find they will bring home a phonics-based book, this will aid application, speed and fluency: developing speedy reading! They will also bring a ‘book bag’ book which will begin to enrich their reading and will require decoding skills as it will be new to them – though the sounds will not be. In addition, your child can choose a ‘share a story’ book which you can read with / to your child. This book may have sounds that they have not learnt yet, so we do not expect them to read these. Once they are fluent and confident readers, children will bring home a wider range and choice of books.
Useful websites for Parents
Please find a link below to the Ruth Miskin website where you will find useful videos and information to support your child’s learning of phonics.
https://www.ruthmiskin.com/en/find-out-more/parents/#lg=1&slide=3