What to expect and When in RWI

Children will be taught how to read as follows:

Before you start to teach your child, practise saying the sounds below.These are the sounds we use to speak in English.

 

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.ruthmiskin.com/en/find-out-more/parents/#lg=1&slide=2

 

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 sounds are taught in Reception.

 

Please do not use letter names at this early stage.

 

Children will also use pictures for each sound to help recognise the sound and then form the shape of the sound.

 

Step 2:

The children are then taught Set 2 Sounds - the long vowels. Set 2 sounds are taught in Reception and the beginning of Year One.

 

When they are very confident with all of set 1 and 2 they are taught Set 3 Sounds.  Set 3 sounds are taught in Year One.

 

 

Nonsense words (Alien words)          

 

As well as learning to read and blend real words children will have plenty of opportunities to apply their sound recognition skills on reading ‘Nonsense words’. These words will also feature heavily in the Year One Phonics Screening check in the summer term. 

 

Step 3:

Children will be introduced to ‘Ditty books’ when they successfully begin to read single words. The short vowels should be kept short and sharp:

Children use sound-blending (Fred Talk) to read short ditties. They will bring these home once they have read and discussed the book in class. Children will then be challenged to use their developing phonic knowledge to write short sentences.

Within all the books children will have 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.

Once your child has been introduced and taught these words in school we will send them home for you to continue practising with your child.

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 have heard your child talking about ‘hold or proof read  a sentence’.

Hold a sentence is an activity that encourages children to remember a whole sentence while focusing on spelling and punctuation.

Proof read a sentence is an activity that encourages children to spot mistakes in a sentence and work with a partner to correct the errors.

 

Spelling: 

Each day the children are supported to develop their spelling skills (This will only start in Reception when children are ready to write and form their letters).  Children will use first use ‘Fred fingers’ to first sound out a word before they write it down.  Children learn how to spell rather than just get tested. Furthermore, this way of teaching spellings allows children to use Fred fingers whenever they get stuck with spelling a word. Children pinch each sound on fingers before writing the word.

 

Order of Story books: 

Children will hopefully follow the order listed below. The expectation is that all children will leave Year One as confident speedy readers, ready to take on the challenges of Year Two. However, some children may need extra support and your teacher will talk to you about this. 

 

RWI BookBag Books: 

At the end of each week children will bring home an RWI BookBag book linked closely to the sounds that they have been learning at school and the RWI book they have been reading in school.  This is called the Phonics Reading Book and is designed to develop fluency and accuracy of reading.