Timbertree Academy > Learning > Curriculum

What is Read Write Inc?

Read Write Inc is a phonics programme which was developed by Ruth Miskin. It helps all children to learn to read fluently and at speed, so they can focus on developing their skills in comprehension, vocabulary and spelling.

How will RWI be taught?

The children are assessed and grouped according to their ability.

At the end of each half term the children will be assessed again to check they have made progress and will be grouped again. This allows complete participation in lessons.

Please click here for useful ways in which you can help your child with Phonics at home.

Set 1 sounds

Five key principles underpin the teaching in all Read Write Inc. sessions:

PACE – no time is wasted during teaching sessions! Children are active and involved in a fun and creative way.
PRAISE – teachers praise the children constantly throughout the teaching sessions.
PURPOSE – each activity has a very clear purpose. The teacher will set this purpose at the beginning of the lesson so that the children know exactly what they will be learning.
PARTICIPATION – all children take part in all parts of the lesson. Full participation is gained through partner work and choral response.
PASSION – as a staff we are passionate about our teaching and the benefits of the Read, Write Inc. programme!

Pre - School

When appropriate, children will be introduced to the initial sounds in short sessions.

Reception

In Reception, all children will learn how to ‘read’ the sounds in words and how those sounds can be written down.

Reading

The children:

learn 44 sounds and the corresponding letters/letter groups using simple picture prompts – see below
learn to read words using Fred talk (see below) and sound blending
read from a range of storybooks and non-fictions 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:

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

They work in pairs so that they:
answer every question
practise every activity with their partner
take turns in talking and reading to each other
develop ambitious vocabulary

Year One

Children follow the same format as Reception but will work on complex sounds and read books appropriate to their reading level.

How can I help my child at home?

The children are taught the sounds in 3 sets.

Step 1

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.

Sound	Rhyme
m	Down Maisie then over the two mountains. Maisie, mountain, mountain.
a	Round the apple, down the leaf.
s	Slide around the snake
d	Round the dinosaur's back, up his neck and down to his feet.
t	Down the tower, across the tower,
i	Down the insects body, dot for the head.
n	Down Nobby and over the net.
p	Down the plait, up and over the pirates face.
g	Round the girls face, down her hair and give her a curl
o	All around the orange
c	Curl around the caterpillar
k	Down the kangaroos body, tail and leg
u	Down and under the umbrella, up to the top and down to the puddle
b	Down the laces, over the toe and touch the heel
f	Down the stem and draw the leaves
e	Slice into the egg, go over the top, then under the egg
l	Down the long leg
h	Down the horse's head to the hooves and over his back
sh	Slither down the snake, then down the horse's head to the hooves and over his back
r	Down the robot's back, then up and curl
j	Down his body, curl and dot
v	Down a wing, up a wing
y	Down a horn, up a horn and under the yak's head.
w	Down, up, down, up the worm.
th	Down the tower, across the tower, then down the horse’s head to the hooves and over his back
z	Zig-zag-zig, down the zip.
ch	Curl around the caterpillar, , then down the horse's head to the hooves and over his back
qu	Round the queen’s head, up to her crown, down her hair and curl
x	Cross down the arm and leg and cross the other way
ng	A thing on a string
nk	I think I stink

It is important that at this stage, you do not use the letter names.

Parent video: How to say the sounds

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

Long vowel sound	Set 2 Speed Sound cards Teach these first	Set 3 Speed Sound cards
ay	ay: may I play	a-e: make a cake	ai: snail in the rain
ee	ee: what can you see	ea: cup of tea	e: he me we she be
igh	igh: fly high	i-e: nice smile
ow	ow: blow the snow	o-e: phone home	ao: goat in a boat
oo	oo: poo at the zoo	u-e: huge brute	ew: chew the stew
oo	oo: look at a book
ar	ar: start the car
or	or: shut the door	aw: yawn at dawn
air	air: that’s not fair	are: share and care
ir	ir: whirl and twirl	ur: nurse for a purse	er: a better letter
ou	ou: shout it out	ow: brown cow
oy	oy: toy for a boy	oi: spoil the boy
ire		ire: fire fire!
ear		ear: hear with your ear
ure		ure: sure it’s pure?

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.

Fred Talk

What is Fred Talk?

Teachers will introduce your child to a toy frog called Fred once he or she is ready to start reading words.

Fred can only say the sounds in a word and needs your child to help him read the word. Fred will say the sounds and children will work out the word.

For example, Fred will say the sounds c–a–t, and children will say the word cat. This is Fred Talk: sounding out the word.

The following video is an example of blending sounds with Fred.

Step 3

Alongside learning the sounds, children will first 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. 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.

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. The children will bring home RWi Book Bag Books which match their phonics level

You may have heard 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.

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.
Phonics Screening Check Year One

What is the Year 1 phonics screening check?

The Year 1 phonics screening check is a short, light-touch assessment to confirm whether individual pupils have learnt phonic decoding to an appropriate standard.

It will identify the children who need extra help so they are given support by their school to improve their reading skills. They will then be able to retake the check so that schools can track pupils until they are able to decode.

Books For each Year group

Books	Year Group Expectations
Red Ditty 1-10	Reception
Green 1-10	Reception
Purple 1-10	Reception
Pink 1-10	Reception/Year One
Orange 1-12	Year One
Yellow 1-10	Year One
Blue 1-10	Year One
Grey 1-13	Year One

Useful websites for Parents

Please find a list of websites that you may find useful in helping you and your child learn about phonics. Games and fun activity websites are also included.

http://jollylearning.co.uk/ - Games and information for parents

http://www.phonicsplay.co.uk/ - many games to play

http://www.bbc.co.uk/bitesize/ks1/literacy/phonics/play/ - fun games for the children to play

http://www.ictgames.com/literacy.html - fun games for the children to play

http://www.kenttrustweb.org.uk/kentict/kentict_home.cfm - fun games for the children to play and information for parents

http://www.ngfl-cymru.org.uk/ - fun games for the children to play

http://www.starfall.com/ - fun games for the children to play

http://www.firstschoolyears.com/ - fun games for the children to play

Sparklebox - lots of resources to print off and help you support your child at home

BBC Bitesize - many games to play covering all areas of the curriculum