Reading at Whittingham C of E Primary - Read Write Inc Phonics

At Whittingham we follow the accredited 'Read, Write, Inc' phonics programme.
 
This programme supports the National Curriculum as it offers a systematic programme to teach children to read and write and we find it very effective. 
 
Once the children are progressing through the RWI scheme we may enhance this with the Accelerated Reader Programme. 
 
Please watch the video below as an introduction to Read Write Inc phonics and how this helps children to learn to read and write words.
 
Reading information shared in previous parent/family workshops 
 
Please find a copy of the presentation used at our meeting 31.1.23  at the bottom of this page.
We also hope this website page is useful along with information and videos sent out to families. If we can help in anyway, do not hesitate to get in contact with Mrs Marsden, Phonics and Early Reading Lead.
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
It is very important that your child learns to pronounce the sounds using 'pure' sounds (this may be very different to how you learnt to say them when you were younger). Please watch the video below that teaches you how to correctly pronounce all of the 'Set 1' sounds followed by the 'Set 2' and 'Set3' sounds.
You must consent to the use of advertising cookies to allow this YouTube video to show.
You must consent to the use of advertising cookies to allow this YouTube video to show.
Below is a video explanation of how your child learns the initial Set1 sounds in Reception.
 
Set 1 sounds include - 
 

These are the Set 1 Speed Sounds written with one letter:

m  a  s  d  t  i  n  p  g  o  c  k  u  b  f  e  l  h  r  j  v  y  w  z  x

These are the sounds written with two letters (your child will call these ‘special friends’):

sh  th  ch  qu  ng  nk  ck

Check if your child can read these sounds. Make sure they say sounds like ‘mmm’, not letter names like ‘em’. Watch the sound pronunciation video at the top of this website page to help you pronounce them accurately. 

You can help your child practise the Speed Sounds they have learnt with the free Speed Sounds practice sheets available on the oxford owl website or you can use the set 1 sound cards which you may have yourself or from school. 

Once your child is learning to read set 1 sounds, they will be learning to read words containing Set 1 sounds by blending. For example:

m-a-t mat

c-a-t cat

g-o-t got

f-i-sh  fish            
s-p-o-t  spot

b-e-s-t  best

s-p-l-a-sh splash

 

If your child is learning to sound blend, watch the sound blending video below for tips on how to support them.

 

Your child will be reading 'sound blending' books and green word cards at this stage. You can access some free sound blending books on the oxford owl website if your child is learning from home.

 

You must consent to the use of advertising cookies to allow this YouTube video to show.
You must consent to the use of advertising cookies to allow this YouTube video to show.
As your child progresses through Reception and Year One they will also learn 'Set2' and 'Set3' sounds and alternative spellings.
 

These are the Set 2 Speed Sounds:

ay  ee  igh  ow (as in blow)  oo (as in zoo)

oo (as in look) ar  or  air  ir  ou (as in out)  oy

Check if your child can read these sounds.

If your child is learning the Set 2 Speed Sounds, you could help them to:

  • Complete the Speed Sounds practice sheets for the Speed Sounds they have learnt, available on the ocford owl website, 
  • If your child is learning from home you can help them by reading the free eBooks at Red Ditty level, then Green level and then Purple level, in order. We recommend children read each eBook three times, as they would at school: once to read the words correctly, a second time with more fluency, and a third time in a ‘storyteller voice’ that shows their understanding. If your child is in school, they will bring these books home as their usual reading books.
 

These are Set 3 Speed Sounds:

ea (as in tea)    oi (as in spoil)    a–e (as in cake)    i–e (as in smile)

o–e (as in home)   u–e (as in huge)   aw (as in yawn)  are (as in care)   ur (as in nurse)

er  (as in letter)  ow (as in brown)  ai  (as in snail)    oa (as in goat)

ew (as in chew)  ire (as in fire)  ear (as in hear)  ure (as in pure)

 

Check if your child can read these sounds.

If your child is learning Set 3 Speed Sounds, you could help them to:

  • Complete the Speed Sounds practice sheets for the Speed Sounds they have learnt.
  • If they are learning from home they can read the free eBooks at Pink level, then Orange level and then Yellow level, in order. We recommend children read each eBook three times, as they would at school: once to read the words correctly, a second time with more fluency, and a third time in a ‘storyteller voice’ that shows their understanding. If they are in school, these books will be their reading books that they bring home.
 
 
Below is a video explanation of how the children learn sounds which are made up of two letters (set2/3 sounds). You will notice that there are some graphemes that appear more than once (ow/ow) that are pronounced differently and some sounds that can be represented with different graphemes (ee/ea).
 
As the children move through set 2 and 3 they begin to learn that there are different spelling patterns in the English language.
 
 
At the end of Year One your child will complete a statutory phonics screening assessment provided by the Department for Education. For more information on this, watch the video below.
You must consent to the use of advertising cookies to allow this YouTube video to show.
You can access further supportive videos and explanations on the following websites - 
 
www.ruthmiskin.com
www.oxfordowl.co.uk - You need to create a parent log in for this to access videos, support, activities and ebooks/resources.
 
 
As part of our Reception stay and play we welcomed our reception parents to take part in our daily Read, Write Inc phonics session, and what a lovely morning we had. We did a super job showing our parents what we do within our Read Write Inc sessions and shared lots of fun activities to practise our blending and segmenting skills at home.