Read Write Inc
At Roundhill Primary School we aim for all our children to become fluent, confident readers who are passionate about reading. Children who read regularly or are read to regularly have the opportunity to open the doors to so many different worlds! Reading will give your child the tools to become independent life-long learners. We can achieve this together through:
- Read Write Inc, a programme to help your child read
- Encouraging children to develop a love of books by reading to them daily; at home and at school
- Giving children access to a wide range of books at school and at home
We use Read Write Inc Phonics (RWI) in Reception and Year 1 to give your child the best possible start with their literacy. We have put together a guide to how the RWI programme works together with some useful links. Mrs Herring is our Read Write Inc lead teacher, so if you have questions about RWI, contact school who can refer you to her. Please take the time to read this invaluable information as it will help you to support your child with their reading.
What is Read Write Inc?
Read Write Inc (RWI) is a phonics programme which helps all children learn to read fluently and at speed so they can focus on developing their skills in comprehension, vocabulary, and spelling. It also allows them to spell effortlessly so that they can put all their energy into composing what they write. The children are assessed by the RWI lead teacher and grouped according to their ability. Small group phonics lessons are taught daily by trained staff and there are consistent expectations across the range of abilities. At the end of each half term the children are assessed to check on their progress and regrouped.
Children learn sounds in school which help them to read and write. They then practise these skills through reading 'Book Bag Books' at home which are specifically pitched to both consolidate learning and provide challenge in an engaging and fun way! This is what they look like.
Five key principles underpin the teaching in all Read Write Inc. sessions
Purpose – know the purpose of every activity and share it with the children, so they know the one thing they should be thinking about
Participation – ensure every child participates throughout the lesson. Partnership work is fundamental to learning
Praise – ensure children are praised for effort and learning, not ability
Pace – teach at an effective pace and devote every moment to teaching and learning
Passion – be passionate about teaching so children can be engaged emotionally
Reception
In Reception all children will learn how to ‘read’ the sounds in words and how those sounds can be written down. Those who are ready, will begin to read simple words within books and write some of these.
Year 1 and above
Children follow the same format as Reception but will work on complex sounds and read books appropriate to their reading level. Daily sessions of RWI phonics last for one hour.
The children are taught the sounds in 3 sets.
Set 1 Sounds are taught in the following order together with rhymes to help children form the letters correctly and instantly recognise sounds ready for blending.
Please do not use letter names at this early stage. Watch the video below to find out how to pronounce the ‘pure’ sounds.
The children are then taught Set 2 Sounds – the long vowels.
When they are very confident with all Set 1 and 2, they are taught Set 3 Sounds.
Fred Talk 
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. Fred is our Read, Write Inc. friend. He can only speak in sounds, so we help him learn to say words instead of sounds. For example, Fred says 'm-a-t' instead of mat. We also teach him not to add 'uh' to our sounds to keep them pure. For example, we say 'c' and not 'cuh'.
Reading
Children will:
- 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
- after meaningful discussion led by an adult, children show that they comprehend the stories by answering questions
Learning to blend and Ditty Books
As soon as children have been taught a few initial letter sounds they begin to learn to blend the sounds together to read real words in a Word Time session. Each word time session involves oral blending of known sounds before they are shown the words written down on green cards. Children practice Fred talking the words until they become able to read them on sight. Ditty lessons follow on from this where children who are becoming excellent at reading single words are introduced to reading short sentences. Once children are confident reading the short sentences they are challenged to use their developing phonic knowledge to write a sentence.
Storybook Lessons
After ditty books, the next stage is storybooks. These books are closely matched to their developing phonic knowledge. The storybooks consist of green words linked to the sounds that they have been learning, red words and challenge words to extend the children’s vocabulary. After children have practiced these words individually they are prepared to see them in context in the story. Comprehension activities, partner discussion and writing activities based on the book, follow on from reading.
Writing
Children will:
- 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
Talking
Children are assessed so they work alongside children at the same level. This allows them to fully participate in all lessons.
They work in pairs so that they:
- answer every question
- practise every activity with their partner
- take turns in talking to each other
Blending
Help your child learn to read words by sound-blending (Fred talk) eg. c-a-t = cat, sh-o-p = shop. Children learn to read words by blending the letter-sounds that are in the Speed Sounds set. Help your child to say the pure sounds ('m' not 'muh', 's' not 'suh' etc.) as quickly as they can, and then blend the sounds together to say the whole word.
Nonsense words (Alien words) 
Research has shown that incorporating nonsense words into teaching reading can be an effective way to establish blending
and segmenting skills. However, it is important to ensure that
children understand that they are reading nonsense words
(and why) so that they are not confused by trying to read
the words for meaning. By reading nonsense words children
develop their ability to decode individual sounds and then
blend them together to read. They are an indicator of early
reading skills and work as a quick, reliable, and valid way of
assessing children. However, reading nonsense words is only
a small part of the Read, Write Inc. phonics teaching.
Spelling with your Fred Fingers
Children are taught to use their fingers to help them write words.
The children say the word out loud and break it down into its 
individual sounds. If a word has 3 sounds children hold up 3
fingers, 4 sounds 4 fingers etc. Children pinch each finger as they
say the sounds needed in the word then they write the letters that
represent each sound. When using Fred Fingers each finger
represents one sound. When children reach yellow Read Write Inc.
storybooks, they will learn to trace the letters onto each finger
and say the letter names.
To help at home
Your child will start to bring books home when they are confident readers. Please help them to read and give lots of praise! Remember you can share the enjoyment of reading with your child using a variety of picture and story books at home.
Useful Guides
Our Reading Progression across the School