Welcome to a brief taster of our whole school synthetic phonics reading programme – Read Write Inc! Please insert own notes for introduction/welcome.

Why synthetic phonics? “Synthetic phonics offers the vast majority of young children the best and most direct route to becoming skilled readers and writers” Sir Jim Rose Rose Review of Reading 2006 Synthetic phonics is the ability to convert a letter or letter group into sounds that are then blended together into a word. Synthetic phonics is simply the ability to convert a letter or letter group into sounds that are then blended together into a word.

Why Read Write Inc Phonics? Tried and tested over many years Systematic and structured Early success in reading

What is Read Write Inc Phonics? A rapid Learn to read programme so children can... Read to learn for the rest of their lives All of us will have been in the learn to read phase at some time in our lives. The quicker we we learn to read, the quicker we can start to read to learn – this phase lasts for the rest of lives. Read Write Inc. lasts two years for most children, if they start to learn to read in the Reception class. There are some children with learning difficulties who spend longer on the programme.

Who is it for? 4 year olds plus Older children who need to ‘catch-up’ Children new to English In using Read Write Inc. we will ensure two things: That new children who come to our school read fluently by the age of 7. It also catches those children who have already slipped through the net; those who are struggling. Read Write Inc. teaches all these children to read. EAL, SEN, dyslexic children also learn on this programme.

How does it work? Children: Learn 44 sounds and matching letters/letter groups Learn to blend sounds to read words Read lots of specially written books This is decoding Hold up some set 1, 2 & 3 cards as you say the 1st & 2nd bullet point but don’t explain further yet! Hold up some RWI storybooks as you say the 3rd bullet point but don’t explain further yet

How does it work? Children: Talk a lot about what they have read to show they understand Listen to and discuss other ideas to deepen understanding This is comprehending We do lots of talking in partners Explain that Speaking & Listening elements of literacy are built in to RWI from the very beginning through lots of talking and partner work.

Sounds All words are made up of sounds In English there are 44 Say a short sentence in Fred Talk (use very pure sounds – no ‘uh’) to illustrate e.g. say “s_o i_f I t_al_k i_n th_i_s w_ay, y_ou w_ill h_ear ea_ch s_ou_n_d i_n m_y w_or_d_s! Explain we use pure sounds (‘m’ not’ muh’, ’s’ not ‘suh’, etc.) so that your child will be able to blend the sounds into words more easily. Say that in school we use a puppet called Fred who can do this beautifully! We call talking like this Fred Talk. Hold up a Fred!

Graphemes A grapheme is a sound written down English has more than 150 graphemes There are more than 150 ways to represent the 44 sounds using our 26 alphabet letters A complex code! You Explain that in English we have more 150 ways to represent 44 sounds using our 26 alphabet letters so groups of letters are used as well as single letters – these are called graphemes. Explain that we will teach the 100 most commonly used graphemes for the 44 sounds. But we will teach them systematically and very thoroughly.

Chart This chart shows the most usual graphemes for the 44 sounds See next slide.

The complex English alphabetic code This chart shows the most usual graphemes for the 44 sounds Explain that each box is a sound box showing different ways to read and write the sound. Demo with or sound box with e.g.s of words or, door, more, dawn, author.

Learning the code Children learn a simple code first Explain that this chart shows just one grapheme per sound. We divide them into set 1 and set 2 & we systematically teach set 1 & blending and then set 2 and then we go on to the full chart which includes set 3. Don’t go into detail – say this is just to explain the basics. Quickly ‘show-off’ by whizzing through the chart in pure sounds!

If English had a simple code spelling and reading would be much easier!! play mayk trayn cafay strayt wayt brayk green dreem kee hee happee light kight fligh Igh igh tigh blow smowk flowt gow mowst moon broot bloo groo If English had a simple code spelling and reading would be much easier!! Have a quick read for fun. But of course, it’s not like this!! Copyright Ruth Miskin Literacy

c-a-t ch-a-t l-igh-t c-r-a-sh As they learn the sounds and graphemes, we will teach your child to blend by hearing the words in Fred Talk 1st. Once they know the graphemes they can sound-blend/Fred Talk to read words.

Fred... Fred helps children learn to read Fred can only talk in sounds... (Fred can only say c_a_t, he can’t say cat) We call this Fred Talk Hold up Fred! Say you too can have a Fred at home – use one like this or any stuffed toy.

Fred... If children understand Fred they can blend orally Blending is needed for reading Use My Turn Your Turn with the parents to have a go at some Fred Talk – you Fred Talk a CVC word d_o_g, they Fred Talk it back & ask them to tell you what word Fred is trying to say. Do a few words – sh_o_p, d_ay, s_p_l_a_sh etc. This is oral blending. Say that once your child knows the graphemes for each sound, they can use Fred Talk for reading any word – write one of the words on a board and Fred Talk then say whole word – point to each grapheme as you Fred Talk it. Copyright Ruth Miskin Literacy

Fred... Fred helps children learn to spell as well! Children convert words into sounds They press the sounds they hear on to their fingers... We call this Fred Fingers Show how to use fingers to spell some of the words you have just blended. Use My Turn Your Turn with the parents – say “show me three fingers – the word is dog.” (or shop or wish or any 3 sound word) “Now put your sounds on your fingers!” This is the reversibility principle of decoding for reading and encoding for writing.

Set 1 sounds Set 2 sounds f l m n r s v z sh th ng nk b c d g h j p qu Consonants: stretchy f l m n r s v z sh th ng nk Consonants: bouncy b c d g h j p qu t w x y ch k Vowels: bouncy Vowels: stretchy a e i o u ay ee igh ow Explain that there is an audio guide on the Ruth Miskin Literacy website and a downloadable parent letter which gives guidance on pure pronunciation but you should go through these sounds quickly with parents using My Turn/Your Turn. Stress you must not use letter names at this stage – just pure sounds. Stress getting rid of ‘ugh’ to help blending. Parents usually love this bit! Make it fun! Set 1 then long vowels in Set 2. Explain that when the children are taught the sounds they use the cards and a multi-sensory approach – hold up the cards again. oo ar or air ir ou oy Set 1 sounds Set 2 sounds

f l m n r s v z sh th ng nk ff ph ll le mm mb nn kn rr wr ss se c ce ve zz ti ci b c k d g h j p qu t w x y ch bb ck dd gg ge dge pp tt wh tch a e i o u ay ee igh ow ea a_e ai y i_e ie o_e oa Explain again the sound boxes and say this chart show the many different graphemes for the same sounds! No other language has a many to learn! Pink graphemes are Set 3 – explain they only learn these once they know all of Set 1 & 2 effortlessly – systematic and structured! oo ar or air ir ou oy ire ear ure u_e ue ew oor ore aw au are ur er ow oi

Nonsense words These words are made up They ensure that all children understand the sounds and don’t just memorise words We assess children on real words and nonsense words to ensure that they have a full understanding Peb, ced, rog

Assessment We assess children reading every day informally through hearing them read with their partner Once the children have learned Set One Sounds they will be assessed to be able to group them The children also have a phonics screening check in Year one

Phonics Screening check This takes place once a year for Year One children in June The children are tested on their set 1, 2 and 3 sounds with real words and nonsense The pass mark is high – 32 out of 40 If your child scores less than 32 they will re take the check in the June of Year 2.

Storybooks and Get Writing Books Every day, your child will read and write the words that contain the sounds and graphemes they have learned so far, using lively, fun phonic storybooks and a Get Writing book. Hold up some Storybooks and Get Writing Books. There are lots of non-fiction books as well! Show a few. (Insert reading levels slide after this. You may wish to use it or not – you decide. It is in the Appendices at the end of this PP. )

RWI in action!

So how can you help your child? By knowing the 44 sounds By knowing how to blend using Fred Talk for reading m_a_t Say that these are the things we have gone through (briefly – only able to touch surface in this short session!) but there are other things you as parents & carers can do at home. See next few slides.

And... By having fun with Fred Talk at home! “What a tidy r-oo-m!” “Where’s your c-oa-t?” “Time for b-e-d!” back, head, tum, leg, hand, foot, knee coat, hat, scarf, zip, sock, glove run, walk, skip, hop, fast, slow, stop, shop red, blue, green, black, knife, fork, spoon, plate, bowl, pan bread, cheese, meat, soup, jam, cake Give a couple of examples e.g. Where is your c_oa_t? Time for b_e_d! Make sure your child can tell you what the word is. Stress only single syllable words (no Fred Talking multi-syllabic words) and only the last word in a sentence or it gets very silly! E.g. P_u_t o_n y_our b_l_ue c_oa_t (you’ll never get out!).

And... By reading to your child lots of lovely stories and asking lots of questions! Use these prompts to help you: What is that character thinking? What do you think happens next? What is happening? Reading to your child lots of lovely stories that are at a higher level than your child can read yet. School might want to make these prompts, laminate them and send them home in book bags? What is happening in this part of the story? What is the character saying? What do you think that character is feeling now?

And... By talking to your child as much as possible and ‘feeding’ them new and different words: “Let’s eat our lunch now.” “Let’s munch our lunch now.” “Let’s scoff our lunch now.” “Let’s devour our lunch now!” You’re looking ...not just...but... I’m not just... I’m....! Explain that a rich vocabulary is essential for high levels of comprehension. The more words your child has in his/her head when they come to school, the quicker they will understand when they read, e.g. “Wow that’s a big dog!” “Wow that’s an enormous dog!” “Wow that’s a massive dog!” Quicker their understanding (comprehension) when they learn to read (decode) the words.

And... By enriching conversations through description: “Look at that rain. It looks like little diamonds sparkling on the window pane!” By having fun with words and language. “I’m as hot as a spud in a cooking pot!” By praising your child for using new words or interesting images Give better examples if you want to!!

And... By having a look at the parents’ pages on the web for tips and resources for supporting your child at home: www.ruthmiskinliteracy.com Type into google Ruth Miskin Phoneme pronunciation guide to watch a clip about how to pronounce the sounds or follow the link below: https://global.oup.com/education/content/primary/teaching-support/pages/rwi/?region=uk#

Thank you... Happy reading!