Phonics and Literacy in Reception

Read Write Inc. Phonics is an integral part of the curriculum in Reception. In school, we follow the Read Write Inc. phonics programme.

Read Write Inc. Phonics = the sounds in our language. In English, there are 44 sounds. ay igh play eight cake straight right spy kite

Children’s individual abilities are assessed at the beginning of the year and children are then placed into phonics groups carefully matched to their level of phonic knowledge. Most children start by learning Speed Sounds Set 1 and then progress to Speed Sounds Set 2.

Children learn to hear, say and write the speed sounds. Mnemonics are used to support children in forming letters correctly.

Fred the frog Meet the famous Fred! Fred helps the children to read words (blending) and write write words (segmenting).

Reading The children are taught that Fred can Only talk in sounds. He says “c_a_t” not cat. Children learn to orally blend sounds first.

Reading Once children have mastered this skill they then begin to apply this to read words using the point and sweep technique. ca t ship

Reading high shed spoon snow port map start shout Over time, children will progress to automatically blending sounds and will be able to read many phonetically plausible words without sounding out. high shed spoon snow port map start shout

Children in Year 1 then extend their knowledge by learning alternate graphemes. These are known as Set 3 Speed Sounds.

Spelling Children use their Fred Fingers to help them spell words by pinching the sounds they hear in words onto their fingers.

Ditties & Storybooks Children in Reception will use ditties and storybooks to embed their phonic skills. Children: Practise reading taught speed sounds Read the red and green words Read the ditty/storybook several times to develop fluency, comprehension and expression. Build and write a sentence/sentences based on the ditty.

Action Words As children learn to read they are exposed to lots of words that they cannot use their phonic skills to read. E.g. the, have, are, we. To teach children how to read and write these words we use a program called Action Words. This approach attaches a meaningful action to each word to help children recognise these words.

Action Words mum dad my said you

Action Words A new set of Action Words will be sent home each week. Please practise reading and writing the Action Words at home. Remember to cover the action when checking children’s recognition. You know your child and children will progress through these at their own pace- if your child is not ready for the next set sent home each week feel free to wait a little longer before introducing further sets.

Reading Books Children will begin bringing home levelled reading books over the coming weeks as they begin to recognise more sounds. These will be changed weekly when children read with staff. Books should be read multiple times to ensure children’s understanding. Please write a comment to let us know how your child has coped with their reading book at home.

Bug Club

Writing As children begin to learn phonic sounds, they will be encouraged to use these in writing. At first this may be by recording simply the initial sound in words before moving onto writing CVC words. Children will then begin to write simple sentences using the sounds taught. Please remember children are initially taught one way of writing sounds so may not spell words correctly. E.g. I went to the zoo and sor a tighgir.

Fine Motor Skills In order to develop their writing skills, children also need to develop good fine motor and pencil control skills. We are working hard to encourage children to hold a pencil correctly using a tripod grip, please continue this at home.

Fine Motor Skills You can also help develop your child’s fine motor skills by: Encouraging them to mark make, draw and colour in. Use scissors correctly to cut along lines and to cut out simple shapes. Picking up small objects using their fingers. Practising doing up buttons and other fastenings on clothes.

How you can help your child? On Friday, your children will begin to bring home Read, Write Inc. Speed Sounds books. Please practise recognising and forming the sounds dated. Read favourite stories over and over again Read some stories at a higher level than they can read themselves.

How you can help your child? Listen to them reading their take home Phonics storybooks. Model saying sounds without adding ‘ugh’ and correct children when they do this. Have fun with Fred talk: “What a tidy r-oo-m!” “Where’s your c-oa-t?” “Time for b-e-d!”

Thank You! Any questions?