READ WRITE INC

At Greenfield Primary School we use Read Write Inc to teach children phonics. Once children have completed the programme they move on to Accelerated Reader which allows books to be matched the assessed reading level. For further information on reading after RWI please see our reading section.

This video, taken from the Ruth Miskin website, explains the scheme in more detail:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sjlPILhk7bQ

Our Read Write Inc 'Reading Leader' is Miss Crowley

Reading

When using RWI to read the children will:

Learn sounds and the corresponding letter/letter groups using simple prompts
Learn to read words using sound blending (Fred talk)
Read lively stories featuring words they have learnt to sound out
Show that they comprehend the stories by answering 'Find It' and 'Prove It'

Writing

When using RWI to write the children will:

Learn to write the letter/letter groups which represent the 44 sounds
Learn to write words by saying the sounds and graphemes (Fred fingers)

Blending

Help your child learn to read words by sounding-blending (Fred talk) eg. c-a-t = cat, sh-o-p = shop. Children learn to read words by blending the letter-sounds that are in the Speed Sounds set (shown further down the page).

Help your child to say the pure sounds ('m' not 'muh', 's' not 'suh' etc.) as quickly as they can, and then blend the sounds together to say the whole word.

Reading Books Sent Home

Children in Reception who are learning the first letter sounds and are not blending fluently will bring home sound sheets and a library book for you to read with them.

Once children can blend fluently and recognise set 1 sounds they will bring home Ditty sheets or a red Ditty book.

Read Write Inc Books

Please encourage your child to read though the speed sounds page first, then the green and red words page and then check your child understands the meaning of words on the vocabulary check page, before they start reading the book. Your child will have read this book at least three times before they bring it home. They should be able to read this book with fluency and expression by the time they bring it home and they should have a good comprehension of what the book is about. At the back of the book are find it/prove it questions for you to do with your child.

Finally, don't worry if your child is struggling at first with their sounds and words, they will get there in their own time. If you have time (we know it is very precious!), we would urge you to try and read stories to your child before they go to bed. This will help develop a wider vocabulary which makes a vast difference to their quality of writing but it will also encourage them to enjoy a good story.

RWI Glossary:

Term	Definition
Fred	Fred is a frog puppet we use in sessions. He can only speak in sounds.
Fred talk	sounding out a word, saying each of the sounds before blending
Fred fingers	‘Pinching’ each sound from a word on your fingers to help spell a word
Green words	Decodable words
Red words	Irregular words that cannot be sounded out
Story Green words	decodable words that will be included in the storybook
Speedy green words	decodable words in the storybook that children should be able to read at speed rather than fred talking first.
Fred in your Head	still sounding out a word but doing so in your head rather than out loud, helps build fluency.
Special friends	Two or three letters working together to make one sound e.g. sh, ch, igh, air, a-e, i-e.