Phonics Workshop Tuesday 12 th November 2013

Read Write Inc. Read Write Inc. is a synthetic phonics programme that ensures early success in reading, writing and spelling. Synthetic phonics is a method of teaching reading which first teaches the letter sounds and then builds up to blending these sounds together. It provides a systematic approach to teaching reading, writing and comprehension.

Features Ensuring that children find writing enjoyable Developing children's writing and spelling skills at each level of progression Building upon the Read Write Inc Storybooks to make the strong link between reading, writing, spelling and grammar Developing children's writing skills in a step-by-step way from simple sentences to guided compositions

Speed sounds and Picture Sounds Cards: Introduce and learn the 44 ‘speed’ sounds and the corresponding letters/letter groups using simple picture prompts. These are taught over a short period of time in short, intensive and importantly, fun lessons.

Reading We learn to read words using sound- blending known as ‘Fred Talk’. Fred can only speak single-syllabic words in pure sounds. He shows the children how to sound-blend.

Green Words Words that can be sounded out e.g. cat fish chick fantastic Sound buttons represent each pure sound e.g. c a t f i sh ch i ck f a n t a s t i c

Red Words These words can not be sounded out e.g. said was come The tricky parts in these words are called grotty graphemes

Ditty books The Ditties are short, phonically decodable passages based on the letter sounds learned in Speed Sounds Lessons. Each book contains three Ditties and seven reading activities, including: a list of Speed Sounds to practise before reading each Ditty, a list of Green words and Red words and questions to talk about. The Ditties prepare children to quickly move on to the Storybooks, building their vocabulary and ensuring they will be able to decode all the words in the stories with confidence.

The Storybooks Read lively stories featuring words the children have learned to sound out. The language is natural and fluent and each story has a clear shape. Children show that they comprehend the stories by answering ‘Find It’ and ‘Prove It’ questions. Children are taught to ask questions and then answer them with a partner. They are taught both to answer simple literal ‘on the page’ questions and inferential questions that are ‘between the lines’. Children are asked to justify their answers and opinions by looking for evidence in the text. They do this from the earliest texts so they learn to comprehend what they read from the very beginning.

Writing The children learn to: write the letters/letter groups which represent the 44 sounds. hand-write using simple cues and ‘sound-write’ in rhythms. write words by saying the sounds and graphemes. sound out each syllable in Fred Talk as they touch their ‘Fred fingers’. write ‘red words’ from memory. write simple sentences. Children learn to ‘hold a sentence’ in their head before writing it down. These sentences include words we know the children can sound out.

What can you do to help? In Reception, focus on pure sounds rather than letter names. Letter names will follow Practise any sound cards and words that come home Encourage correct letter formation when children are writing Blend and segment words at home Encourage use of sounding out when words can be sounded out e.g. cat When words can not be sounded out e.g. said refer to this a tricky word. These words need to be learnt from memory Ask if there are any sounds you are unsure of

Any questions? Thank you for coming