'Teach a child to read and keep that child reading and you can achieve anything, and I mean anything'

Jeanette Wilson

At Carlton Primary Academy we use the Read Write Inc (RWI) programme to get children off to a flying start with their literacy. RWI is a method of learning centred round letter sounds and phonics, and we use it to aid children in their reading and writing

READING
The children:

• learn 44 sounds and the corresponding letters/letter groups using simple picture prompts
• learn to read words using sound blending
• read lively stories featuring words they have learned to sound out
• have meaningful discussions, led by an adult, that show they comprehend the stories by answering questions

• learn to write the letters/letter groups which represent the 44 sounds
• learn to write words by saying the sounds and graphemes
• learn to build sentences orally using adventurous vocabulary
• start with simple sentences and develop towards more complex ones by the end of the programme
• compose a range of texts using discussion prompts

• answer every question
• practice every activity with their partner
• take turns in talking to each other

Parent Support 

In November 2022 we held a RWI and Reading Parents Meeting for KS1. In the meeting we discussed the RWI teaching and assessment process, the importance of speedy reading and reading fluency and what happens after RWI - Roaring Readers. If you did not manage to attend the meeting, please see the slides below. 

The Read Write Inc. Phonics approach teaches children to read sets of sounds and then blend them to read words. The books that they read at school will only contain the sounds they’ve already learned, so children learn quickly and confidently.

First your child will learn to read:

• Set 1 Speed Sounds (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 and sounds written with two letters (your child will call these ‘special friends’): sh th ch qu ng nk ck
• Words containing these sounds, by sound-blending, e.g. 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
• At school, they will read Read Write Inc. PhonicsSound Blending Books and Red, Green and Purple Storybooks.

Whilst they are practising reading stories with words made up of Set 1 Speed Sounds, your child will also learn to read:

• Set 2 Speed Sounds: ay ee igh ow oo oo ar or air ir ou oy
• Words containing these sounds
• At school, they will read Read Write Inc. Phonics Pink, Orange and Yellow Storybooks.

Whilst they are practising reading stories with words made up of Set 1 and Set 2 Speed Sounds, your child will also learn to read:

• Set 3 Speed Sounds: ea oi a–e i–e o–e u–e aw are ur er ow ai oa er ire ear ure
• Words containing these sounds
• At school, they will read Read Write Inc. Phonics Blue and Grey Storybooks.

You will find a useful phonics audio guide to all these sounds on our Phonics made easy page. It is really important to say the sounds clearly to help your child learn them. We say 'mmmm' not 'muh' and 'lllll' not 'luh' when teaching the sounds. This really helps children when they learn to blend sounds together to read words.

What is Fred Talk?

If your child's school is using Read Write Inc. Phonics, 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.

How can I help at home?

First of all, read as many stories to your child as you can. Traditional tales, stories from other cultures, poetry, and their favourite story - talk about the stories with them.
Explain the meaning of new words. Most importantly though, show the fun that can be gained by listening to stories. Secondly, their levelled book from school is relevant to their age and ability and should be read as many times as possible.  It is important to read books more than once, to increase children's fluency and accuracy.  

If your children are still doing Read Write Inc Phonics, they will also have a Read Write Inc Book Bag Book which is directly linked to the colour, sounds and book they are studying in school that week.  It will have the same Red and Green words in from the book they have been reading at school and will recap sounds they already know.

For example, if your child is on Orange Read Write Inc group and in school they are reading Book 1 in Orange group which is called Playday, their Book Bag Book for that week will be Bok Bag Book 1 We can Play.  This has a focus on the ay sound both at school and at home.  It helps to reinfirce the sounds they are learning but is also a good way for parents to be kept informed about where their child is up to within the programme.  A short video below shows an overview:

Green words.

Children learn to read a new sound in a ‘green word’ in which children will spot the special friends and ‘Fred Talk’. Fred Talk is a way of saying each sound and then putting the sounds together to read the word e.g.  s-t-ar-t – start. This is called ‘blending’. Once children are confident at ‘Fred Talking’ we encourage children to ‘Fred in their head’. This is a method where children say the sounds silently in their head and then read the word out loud. This helps develop children’s fluency. Once children are able to recognise a lot of words by sight, we encourage children to ‘speedy read’. We encourage children to just read the word instead of ‘Fred Talking’. This helps promote children’s fluency.

Below are PowerPoints containing words in the order that children are taught a new sound. Why don't you see which words your child can read up to?

These are the teaching steps we say to the children. Show your child a green word. Ask the child to spot the special friends (2 letters that make 1 sound - there may not be any) and then ask your child to 'Fred Talk'.

Red words

In the Read, Write, Inc. ‘red words’ are used to help the children recognise the fact that there are words that are tricky to read because you can not sound them out in the normal way. With your child, look for the parts of each word that they can sound out normally and then identify the parts that are tricky! Your child needs to be able to read these words on sight.