Read Write Inc (RWI) & Phonics

Speed Sounds

Your child will begin by learning their set 1 sounds. This consists of 'stretchy' and 'bouncy' sounds. It is crucial that we teach the children 'pure sounds'.

The majority of set 1 sounds are individual sounds where one letter represents a sound. Once learners gain confidence with individual sounds, we encourage them to begin reading and writing C-V-C words (constenant - vowel - constent). As learners work through the set 1 sounds, they will become exposed to 'special friends'. Set 1 sounds are taught in the order you can see on the speed sounds set 1 chart.

 Here is a video, explaining how to say individual sounds correctly which is vitally important towards a child's phoentic development.

Fred Talk

Fred the frog helps children read and spell. He can say the sounds within words, but he cannot say the whole word, so learners have to help him. To help learners read, Fred (the teacher) says the sounds and the learners blend these sounds together to say the word. For example, Fred says "c - a - t", learners say "cat". Another example being, Fred says "l - igh - t", learners say "light". These are know as green words.

Green Words

These are words which you can segment and blend. When taught in the correct order, they contain sounds which learners have already been exposed to. 

Red Words

These words are also known as 'tricky words' or 'common exception words'. These are words that we cannot Fred talk. They occur frequently in stories (e.g said, what, where) but have unusual letter combinations. Learners cannot use Fred talk to read red words, but instead need to stop, think and recognise these by sight. Red words are words we just have to learn. You can support your child by having these on flash cards to practise at home.