Phonics
Phonics
From Reception to Y2 (and perhaps as catch-up in other classes):
From Reception your child will begin to learn how to read and write, this is taught through daily phonics sessions. We will be using Read Write Inc. to teach phonics which has proven successful since its introduction.
There are guides and resources for parents on the following page:
https://www.ruthmiskin.com/en/find-out-more/parents/
Reception Autumn Term (Will differ in other year groups):
Children will learn to read and write the sounds from RWI set 1 - each sound comes with a rhyme to help the children to form each letter sound correctly. Please could you ensure that you reinforce these formations with your child to avoid any confusion.
When children know some of these sounds they will begin to learn how to blend the sounds into words e.g. b-e-d "bed" and how to segment words into their sounds "bed" b-e-d. Each week children will be given a different set of green words to practice at home as well as in school which can all be blended and segmented in this way. Children will also be exposed to some trickier red words, these cannot be broken up in this method and require some additional learning.
The following parent support document will hopefully tell you everything you need to know:
Below is a document containing all Set 1 sounds with the letter formation rhyme taught in school.
Reception Spring Term (Will differ in other year groups):
In the Spring Term, Reception children will begin to learn RWI set 2 sounds - which are longer vowel sounds such as ay, ee, igh, ow, oo etc.
The children will also learn green words which include these new sounds, in addition to this they will learn further red words which cannot be sounded out.
As their phonetic knowledge increases and they become more competent at using blending and segmenting the children will be challenged to both read and write simple sentences of increasing difficulty.
Reception Summer Term (Will differ in other year groups):
In the Summer Term, Reception children will continue to learn RWI set 2 sounds - which are longer vowel sounds such as ay, ee, igh, ow, oo etc. Those children who are secure with the RWI set 3 sounds w
The children will also learn further green words which include these new sounds, in addition to this they will learn further red words which cannot be sounded out.
As their phonetic knowledge increaseshopefully they will all become become more competent at using blending and segmenting (whether using set 1 sounds, set 2 sounds or the new set 3 sounds) the children will be challenged to both read and write simple sentences of increasing difficulty and with more independence.
Support for parents:
Before your son/ daughter can start to read independently, he or she needs to learn to:
- say the sound that is represented by each letter or groups of letters. These are Speed Sounds
- sound out the word, e.g. c-a-t, sh-o-p, s-t-r-ee-t. This is sound blending
What are Speed Sounds?
In Read Write Inc Phonics the individual sounds are called ‘speed sounds’ – because we want your son/daughter to read them effortlessly.
What are Speed Sounds Set 1, Set 2 and Set 3?
Set 1:
From reception your son/daughter will learn the sounds below by sight.
m, a, s, d, t, i, n, p, g, o, c, k, u, b, f, e, l, h, sh, r, j, v, y, w, th, z, ch, qu, x, ng, nk
They also learn how to blend them together to read words
e.g. c-a-t ®cat.
Set 2(The long vowel sounds):
Your son/daughter will then progress to learning their Set 2 sounds. There are 12 Set 2 ‘speed sounds’ that are made up of two or three letters which represent just one sound, e.g. ay as in play, ee as in tree and igh as in high. It is important that your son/daughter does not pronounce these as 2 or 3 separate sounds. When your son/daughter sees the ‘speed sound’ letters together in a word, s/he must say just one sound for these letters. These are called ‘special friends’.
When your son/daughter learns their Set 2 sounds in school they will learn:
- the letters that represent a speed sound e.g. ay
- a simple picture prompt linked to the ‘speed sound’ and a short phrase to say
e.g. may I play.
Every speed sound has a list of green words linked to it, so your son/daughter can ‘sound out’ (this is FRED-talk) and ‘sound blend’’ words containing the new speed sound they have just learnt, for example s-p-r-ay ® spray.
Below are the Set 2 sounds and the phrase they learn to associate it with:
ay: may I play
ee: what can you see
igh: fly high
ow: blow the snow
oo: poo at the zoo
oo: look at a book
ar: start the car
or: shut the door
air: that’s not fair
ir: whirl and twirl
ou: shout it out
oy: toy for a boy or toy to enjoy
Set 3
To date, your son/daughter will have learnt one way in which each long vowel sound is written (Set 2 sounds).
When learning their Set 3 speed sounds they will be taught that there are more ways in which the same sounds are written, e.g. ee as in tree and ea as in tea.
Set 3 speed sounds reading will be taught first, followed by Set 3 ‘speed sounds’ spelling. It takes some time for this information to be fully understood by your son/daughter.
There are 20 Set 3 ‘speed sounds’ that are made up of two or three letters which represent just one sound, e.g. ea as in tea, ow as in cow and are as in care. As before, it is important that your son/daughter does not pronounce these as 2 or 3 separate sounds. When your son/daughter sees the ‘speed sound’ letters together in a word, s/he must say just one sound for these letters.
When your son/daughter learns their Set 3 sounds in school they will learn:
- the letters that represent a speed sounds e.g. ea
- a simple picture prompt linked to the ‘speed sound’ and a short phrase to say e.g. cup of tea
Every speed sound has a list of green words linked to it, so your son/daughter can ‘sound out’ and ‘sound blend’ words containing the new speed sound they have just learnt, for example s-p-oil ®spoil.
Below are the Set 3 sounds and the phrase they learn to associate it with:
ea: cup of tea
oi: spoil the boy
a-e: make a cake
i-e: nice smile
o-e: phone home
u-e: huge brute
aw: yawn at dawn
are: share and care
ur: purse for a nurse
er: a better letter
ow: brown cow
ai: snail in the rain
oa: goat in a boat
ew: chew the stew
ire: fire fire!
ear: hear with your ear
ure: sure it’s pure?
tion: (celebration)
tious / cious: (scrumptious / delicious) e: he me we she be
It is important that the speed sounds are practised in the correct order as they will be taught the sounds in order of the frequency with which they will come across them when reading. The table above shows you, at a glance, the order of the sounds.
What are green words?
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‘Green words’ are words which your son/daughter will be able to ‘go ahead’ and read (as in ‘Green light to go’) as they are made up of the speed sounds that s/he will have learnt.
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Vowel sound: written as… |
Set 2 Speed Sound Rhyme |
Green words |
|
ay |
ay: may I play |
day play say may tray today |
|
ee |
ee: what can you see? |
seen need sleep feel three green |
|
igh |
igh: fly high |
might light sight night fright |
|
ow |
ow: blow the snow |
snow flow know show blow |
|
oo |
oo: poo at the zoo |
mood fool pool stool moon spoon |
|
ar |
ar: start the car |
bar park smart sharp car spark |
|
or |
or: shut the door |
sort short worn horse sport fork |
|
air |
air: that’s not fair |
fair stair hair lair chair |
|
ir |
ir: whirl and twirl |
girl third whirl twirl dirt |
|
ou |
ou: shout it out |
mouth round found loud shout |
|
oy |
oy: toy for a boy |
toy boy enjoy |
|
Set 3 Speed Sound Rhyme Please do not practice all these words until your son/daughter knows all their Set 2 sounds. |
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a-e |
a-e: make a cake |
shake name same save brave late |
|
ea |
ea: cup of tea |
neat real clean please dream |
|
i-e |
i-e: nice smile |
hide shine white nice wide like |
|
o-e |
o-e: phone home |
hope home rose spoke note those |
|
u-e |
u-e: huge brute |
tune rude use June excuse |
|
aw |
aw: yawn at dawn |
saw raw law straw dawn crawl |
|
are |
are: care and share |
bare bare spare scare flare square |
|
ur |
ur: nurse with a purse |
burn turn hurl burp slurp lurk |
|
ow |
ow: brown cow |
howl down brown drown gown |
|
oi |
oi: spoil the boy |
join coin voice choice noise |
|
ai |
ai: snail in the rain |
paint train rain plain strain |
|
e |
e: he me she we |
he me she we he |
|
oa |
oa: goat in a boat |
toad road oak loaf throat toast |
|
ew |
ew: chew the stew |
new knew flew blew crew newt |
|
er |
er: better letter |
over never weather hamster after |
|
ire |
ire: fire,fire! |
spire bonfire inspire conspire hire |
|
ear |
ear:hear with your ear |
fear dear gear spear year |
|
ure |
ure: sure it’s pure |
picture mixture adventure pure |
What is Read Write Inc phonics?
How to say the sounds
Parent video sound blending
