Key Stage 1 Read Write Inc Phonics Information
What is Read Write Inc (RWI)?
Read Write Inc. is a popular phonics scheme. Like all phonics schemes, it teaches children the sounds in English, the letters that represent them, and how to form the letters when writing.
Read Write Inc. Phonics includes reading books written using only the letters they have learnt at each level (and a small number of separately taught tricky words). This ensures that the children build confidence quickly and always feel successful when reading their books.
How will my child be taught to read?
Learning the letter sounds
Children will firstly be taught the sounds made by the letters of the alphabet. We teach this alongside a picture in the same shape as the letter e.g. s looks like a snake and d looks like a dinosaur. It is very important to use “pure sounds” when pronouncing the sound made by letters. If children use only pure sounds (e.g. mmm for m not muh) they will find it much easier to blend letters together to read words. Please see the video clip below that shows how we pronounce letters using pure sounds.
How to say the sounds
Blending
Once children know many of the sounds made by the letters of the alphabet, they are ready to learn to blend. Blending is the method used to help children combine the sounds in words. Blending sounds together teaches learners how words are sounded out, which will help them to decode long and unfamiliar words. You may hear your child refer to blending as “Fred Talk.” Fred is a toy character that we use in school to engage children in saying the sounds correctly. When your child has mastered the ability to sound-blend, celebrate their success! They have reached a major milestone in learning to read!
Parent video: Sound blending
Digraphs
Children will be introduced to digraphs once they know the sounds made by the letters of the alphabet and are able to blend them to read words. A digraph is a combination of two letters that make one sound e.g. sh, ch and ng. When teaching digraphs, we explain to the children that they are “special friends” – two letters that make one sound. The first 6 digraphs that we teach are qu, sh, ch, th, ng and nk. Once children are confident with these, we move on to teaching them the digraphs in set 2 and set 3.
Parent video: Reading the digraphs with your child
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Set 2 Speed Sounds |
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Sound |
Phrase |
Words to practice reading and spelling |
|
ay |
ay: may I play |
play, day, may, way, say, spray |
|
ee |
ee: what can you see |
see, three, been, green, seen, sleep |
|
igh |
igh: fly high |
high, night, light, fright, bright, might |
|
ow |
ow: blow the snow |
blow, snow, low, show, know, slow |
|
oo |
oo: poo at the zoo |
too, zoo, food, pool, moon, spoon |
|
oo |
oo: look at a book |
took, look, book, shook, cook, foot |
|
ar |
ar: start the car |
car, start, part, star, hard, sharp |
|
or |
or: shut the door |
sort, short, horse, sport, fork, snort |
|
air |
air: that’s not fair |
fair, stair, hair, air, chair, lair |
|
ir |
ir: whirl and twirl |
girl, bird, third, whirl, twirl, dirt |
|
ou |
ou: shout it out |
out, shout, loud, mouth, round, found |
|
oy |
oy: toy for a boy |
toy, boy, enjoy |
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Set 3 Speed Sounds |
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|
Sound |
Phrase |
Words to practice reading and spelling |
|
ea |
Cup of tea |
clean, dream, seat, scream, real |
|
oi |
Spoil the boy |
join, voice, coin |
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a-e |
Make a cake |
make, cake, name, same, late, date |
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i-e |
Nice smile |
smile, white, nice, like, time, hide |
|
o-e |
Phone home |
home, hope, spoke, note, broke, phone |
|
u-e |
Huge brute |
tune, rude, huge, brute, use, June |
|
aw |
Yawn at dawn |
saw, las, dawn, crawl, paw, yawn |
|
are |
Care and share |
share, dare, scare, square, bare |
|
ur |
Nurse with a purse |
burn, turn, spurt, nurse, purse, hurt |
|
er |
A better letter |
never, better, weather, after, proper, corner |
|
ow |
Brown cow |
how, down, brown, cow, town, now |
|
ai |
Snail in the rain |
snail, paid, tail, train, paint, rain |
|
oa |
Goat in a boat |
goat, boat, road, throat, toast, coat |
|
ew |
Chew the stew |
chew, new, blew, flew, drew, grew |
|
ire |
Fire! Fire! |
Fire, hire, wire, bon/fire, in/spire, con/spire |
|
ear |
Hear with your ear |
hear, dear, fear, near, year, ear |
|
ure |
Sure it’s pure |
pure, sure, cure, pic/ture, mix/ture, ad/ven/ture |
Supporting your child at home
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Your child will bring a new book home every week. |
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Please take time to read this with your child at home. This should be a fun activity, so it's important to choose a time when your child is most responsive (ie not immediately before bedtime or during their favourite TV programme!). Find a quiet place to curl up with a book! Make sure there are no distractions and that the TV is off. Children should read the book at least three times a week to help develop their fluency. Generally speaking, they should read with an adult. This teaches children that reading is a grown-up thing to do, it is valued and important. If the evening isn't convenient, try reading first thing in the morning instead. Regular reading practise is the key to success! Coming soon ... In addition to the Book Bag Books, we will be electronically sending a further book home once it has been read in school, for you to share with your children. Many of these books have quizzes so children can explore themes, characters and events. |
Parent video: Why read to your child?
Parent Video: 10 things to think about when you read to your child
Useful Websites
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.
https://www.ruthmiskin.com/en/find-out-more/parents/ - Information and resources to support phonics learning at home
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.firstschoolyears.com/ - fun games for the children to play
BBC Bitesize - many games to play covering all areas of the curriculum
Read Write Inc guide for parents
The following links provides lots of free Read Write Inc. Phonics resources to help your child, including eBooks, practice sheets and parent films.