Phonics           

At Preston Park we use a synthetic phonics programme to teach reading called 'Read Write Inc' produced by Ruth Miskin. 

Read Write Inc Phonics is a method of teaching reading which is centred around learning the sounds of the letters (phonics), and then blending them together to read words.  The children also learn to break down words into individual sounds in order to write them.

 How it works

The children are assessed and grouped according to their ability.

 Daily for 45 minutes, they work in small groups with a teacher.

 At the end of each half term the children will be assessed again to check they have made progress and will be grouped again. 

Early Reading

Using Read Write Inc the children learn to read effortlessly so that they can put all their energy into understanding what they read.

When using 'Read Write Inc' to read the children will:

Learn 44 sounds and the corresponding letter/letter groups using simple picture prompts

Learn to read words by blending the sounds together

Read lively stories featuring words they have learnt to sound out

 Show that they understand the stories by answering 'Find It' and 'Prove it' discussion questions.

Talking

When using 'Read Write Inc' the children work in pairs to:

• Answer questions to practise every activity
• Take turns talking to each other
•  Give positive praise to each other

Blending

Children learn to read words by blending the letter-sounds that are in the Speed Sound sets.

Children are ready to sound blend once they have learned the first set of sounds and can say these in and out of order. Read Write Inc calls this Fred Talk. Fred Talk involves reading the sounds within a word, for example, c-a-t and then blending them together to read the word, e.g. c-a-t -cat; sh-o-p -shop; s-t-r-ee-t -street. Children are encouraged to identify any diagraphs (“special friends”) contained within the word before sounding out the word.

Help children to say the pure sounds, as quickly as they can, and then to blend the sounds together to say the whole word.

Green Words

Green words are words that your child will be able to sound out and then blend together, using the speed sounds they have learned.

Red words

Red words are those words which contain spelling patterns that cannot be sounded out. Some of the most frequently used words in the English language have an uncommon spelling pattern and don’t sound like they look, for example, said sounds like ‘sed’. Red words have to be learned by sight. These words are printed in red in the story books. Red words are introduced gradually as they are encountered in the story books. Your child’s teacher will be able to tell you which red words have been covered in class. If you would like to practise reading red words with your child at home, a list of red words is provided below:

above, all, any, anyone, are, be, brother, bought, buy, by, call, caught, could, do, does, down, father, go, great, he, her, here, how, I, love, many, me, mother, my, no, now, of, old, once, one, other, over, school, said, saw, she, small, so, some, talk, tall, the, there, they, thought, through, to, two, walk, want, was, watch, water, what, where, who, we, wear, were, worse, why, you, your 

 Set 1 sounds

m  a  s  d  t                                                          

i  n  p  g  o

c  k  u  b

f  e  l  h  sh

r  j  v  y  w

th  z  ch  qu  x  ng  nk

In Set 1 the speed sounds are taught in small groups (as above). Once children know all of the sounds in one group, they move on to orally blending the sounds in that group to read words e.g. once they can read the first 5 sounds they can start to read words that include these sounds such as mat  mad  sat  sad  at etc. Once children know the next 5 sounds, they can begin to read words containing a combination of the 10 known sounds and so on.

Set 2 Sounds

ay  ee  igh  ow  oo  ar  or  air  ir  ou  oy

Set 2 and 3 sounds are represented by a simple picture prompt linked to the speed sound and a short phrase to enable recall e.g. ay = may I play. Each speed sound has a list of green words (words that can be sounded out) linked to it to allow children to practice reading words containing the new speed sound they have just learned.

Set 3 Sounds

a-e  ea  i-e  o-e  u-e  aw  are  ur  ow  oi  ai  e  oa  ew  er  ire  ear  ure

The tables below provide you with associated phrases and examples of green words for each of the Set 2 and Set 3 sounds.

 Set 3 Sounds

a- e  ea  i-e  o-e  u-e  aw  are  ur  ow  oi  ai  e  oa  ew  er  ire  ear  ure

How will I know how to pronounce the phonic sounds?

Visit the Read Write Inc Parent's Page where there are a number of supportive videos to help you pronounce the pure phonic sounds.

Pure Sounds

When using the sounds with your child it is important not to add an “uh” to the end of the sound e.g. mmm not muh. This can be tricky to start with. Pure sounds make it much easier to start to blend sounds together to make words. It is much easier to hear the word mat when saying mmm – a – t than it is when saying muh – a – tuh. 

Bouncy and Stretchy Sounds

To help children remember their sounds we say that some make a stretchy sound and some make a bouncy sound. Stretchy sounds are said in one continuous sound, e.g. mmmmmmmmmm as in mountain. Bouncy sounds are said with a short sharp gap between, e.g. d-d-d– as in d-d-d dinosaur.

What else can I do to help my child to read?

Read a variety of books (fiction, non-fiction, rhymes etc). 

Discuss the different features of various books. 

Talk about the books and other reading materials that you have shared.

Explain the meaning of new words. 

Most importantly though, show the fun that can be gained by listening to stories and reading a range of texts, e.g. reading and then following a recipe together