The Government strongly recommends the use of synthetic phonics when teaching early literacy skills to children. Synthetic phonics is simply the ability to convert a letter or letter group into sounds that are then blended together into a word. Each Read Write Inc. programme meets the higher expectations of the new curriculum and uses effective assessment to accelerate every child’s progress.

Here at Whinstone, we are using the Read Write Inc (RWI) programme to get children off to a flying start with their English. RWI is a method of learning based upon letter sounds and phonics, and we use it to aid children in their reading (decoding) and writing (encoding). We begin our programme in Pre-school, and it continues through to year 2.

Reading

When using RWI to read the children will:

  • Learn 44 sounds and the corresponding letter/letter groups using simple prompts
  • Learn to read words using sound blending (Fred talk)
  • Read stories featuring words they have learnt to sound out
  • Show that they comprehend the stories by answering ‘Find It’ and ‘Prove It’ questions in the book.

Writing

When using RWI to write the children will:

  • Learn to write the letter/letter groups which represent the 44 sounds
  • Learn to write words by saying the sounds and graphemes (Fred fingers)

Talking

When using RWI the children will also work in pairs:

  • To answer questions
  • To take turns talking and listening to each other
  • To give positive praise to each other

Learning sounds

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.

Set 1 sounds

Blending

 Help your child learn to read words by sound-blending (Fred talk) eg. c-a-t = cat, sh-o-p = shop.

Set 2 sounds

Set 3 sounds

Sound Families

Homework on Oxford Owl

Your child will have their own log-on details for Oxford Owl, which you will find in their reading record books. Homework will be set each week, and this will support learning from RWI lessons. The homework consists of a book to read and a quiz to assess your child’s understanding of the book.  

READ WRITE INC website

If you would like to find out more about RWI or contact school on admin@whinstone.org.uk and we will be happy to answer any question.