Read, Write, Inc. at Burrsville Infant Academy
At Burrsville we use Ruth Miskin's Read, Write, Inc. This is a phonics scheme that teaches children to read and write. Read Write Inc. Phonics teaches children to read accurately and fluently with good comprehension. They learn to form each letter, spell correctly, and compose their ideas step-by-step.
Everything CONNECTS: children connect sounds with mnemonic pictures; words with their meanings; and stories with the sounds they know. They connect their own experiences to the stories they read and learn to lift the words off the page.
Children learn ONE thing at a time and practice it until it becomes second nature. Interactive practice keeps children focused, and their capacity to learn develops exponentially.
Children remember what they learn by SAYING it out loud to a partner. If they can’t explain it, the teacher repeats it until they can.
Children are assessed half-termly to ensure they are progressing through the sounds. There are three ‘Sets’; Set 1 is the initial sounds e.g. c-a-t, Set 2 is digraphs e.g. ‘ow’ in b-l-ow, and Set 3 is alternative sounds e.g. ‘ea’ in t-ea and ‘ee’ in sh-ee-p. Each half term teachers assess children to check what sounds that recognise and can apply to their reading and writing, and see if there are any gaps. The assessments then help to group the children, ensuring they are in the group that suits them and they are being taught they are unsure of or haven’t covered yet.
In the Summer term, Year 1 will sit the National Phonics Screening. This will be completed on a specific week and will be done when suits the child best. The test is made up with 20 real words and 20 fake words, children work through the paper reading the words using their sounds taught through the year. There is a pass mark that is published and parents/carers are informed of the mark and how their child did.
Phonics continues in Year 2 for children that still need to learn sounds, or need to revisit them to ensure they are applying them to their word reading and writing. For some children this is no longer needed in Year 2, and they move onto learning spelling rule through the Read, Write, Inc. Spellings.
Below are some pictures of our Phonics sessions. Phonics is completed in small groups with an adult, they teach the children the sounds and how to segment and blend for word reading. Also, there are pictures of the resources we use at Burrsville; the sound cards with the sound and rhyme on the back, Fred who is used to 'Fred talk' the sounds in words, the format in which we use for our Phonic sessions and the complex speed sounds chart.
To help support your children at home watch this video below to show how specific sounds are articulated in Phonic sessions. There is also a list of useful websites to support your childs phonics alongside some great ideas to make phonics fun at home!
Useful phonic websites/activities
www.ruthmiskin.com/en/parents/
www.teachyourmonstertoread.com
www.bbc.co.uk/schools/wordsandpictures/phonics
www.familylearning.org.uk/phonics_games.html
www.topmarks.co.uk/Interactive.aspx?cat=40
https://home.oxfordowl.co.uk/reading/learn-to-read-phonics/
https://www.bbc.co.uk/cbeebies/grownups/the-alphablocks-guide-to-phonics
How can you help at home?
- Phonics Hero (For school-aged children): Over 850 fun, varied and motivating games take a child step-by-step through the 44 sounds, the reading and spelling of words, and how to conquer sentences.
- Teach Your Monster to Read (For school-aged children): Covers the first two years of learning to read, from matching letters and sounds to enjoying little books, designed in collaboration with leading academics.
- Fonetti (For school-aged children): The world’s first ‘Listening Bookshop’ interacting with children by giving visual cues in real-time as they read aloud and highlighting where the most support is needed.
- Phonics play – free to subscribe and has lots of fun games including ‘Obb and Bob’.
- Twinkl Interactive – free to subscribe to access a selection of games.
- Time for Phonics – a free site with a variety of games on to support you child’s learning.
- Use flashcards to help your child practise saying sounds. Use the flashcards to make words for your child to read through blending. These words could be silly or even made up.
- Listen to your child read every day, even just for five minutes. It really will make a difference. If your child gets stuck on a word, model how to say the sounds and blend them together. If you are worried that the book is at the wrong level for your child, check with your child’s teacher.
- Read aloud to your child every day to show them that reading is fun.