What is Read Write Inc?
Read Write Inc (RWI) is a systematic, synthetic phonics programme which helps all children to learn to read fluently and at speed so they can focus on developing their skills in comprehension, vocabulary and spelling. The programme is designed for children aged 4-7. At Hethersett Woodside, we begin to expose children in Nursery to skills that will help them access the taught programme in Reception. We continue teaching RWI to children beyond the age of 7, as we use a ‘stage’ not ‘age’ approach.
Progressing through the stages
Across the scheme, children learn 44 sounds and the corresponding letters or letter groups. Children in Early Years are introduced to initial sounds. Children then begin to learn how to ‘read’ the sound in words and how those sounds be can be written down. As children progress, they follow the same format as Early Years but will work on complex sounds and read books appropriate to their reading level.
Set 1 Sounds
These are sounds written with one letter:
m a s d t i n p g o c k u b f e l h r j v y w z x
And sounds written with two letters (your children will call these ‘special friends’):
sh th ch qu ng nk ck
Children will use blending books, followed by the Red, Green and Purple Storybooks to support the process of learning to read.
Important: your child will be taught to say the sound for the letter and not the letter name, so ‘m’ as in ‘mat’, not ‘em’; ‘s’ as in ‘sun’ not ‘es’
Set 2 Sounds
During this stage, children will learn to read:
ay ee igh ow oo (as in, took) oo (as in, zoo) ar or air ir ou oy
Children will read the Pink, Orange and Yellow Storybooks during this stage.
Set 3 Sounds
During this stage, children will learn to read:
ea oi a-e i-e o-e u-e aw are ur er ow ai oa ew ire ear ure
Children will read the Blue and Grey Storybooks during this stage.
Nonsense Words (Alien Words)
As well as learning to read and blend real words, children will have plenty of opportunities to apply their sound recognition skills on reading ‘nonsense words’. These words feature heavily in the Year 1 Phonics Screening Check which occurs during the summer term. These words provide endless opportunities for children to apply and practice their ability to decode and blend words according to their knowledge of sounds and letters.
Red Words
Within all stages of RWI, children will be exposed to ‘red words’. These are words that are not easily decodable and should be learnt to be read on sight.