Our Reading and Phonics subject leader is Mrs K Crouch

What is Read, Write, Inc?

At St George’s we follow the Read, Write, Inc programme which was developed by Ruth Miskin. Read Write Inc Phonics teaches children to read accurately and fluently with good comprehension. They learn to form each letter, spell correctly, and compose their ideas step-by-step.

Our Reception, Year 1 and Year 2 children all take part in 30 minute sessions at the beginning of every school day from 9.00-9.30am. All children are assessed every 6 weeks to ensure they are working within the correct group to match their phonic knowledge. Children continue to push through the different levelled groups until they reach the end of the Read, Write, Inc programme.

Set 1 Sounds

Children begin by learning their Set 1 and 2 sounds which are displayed on a simple speed sound chart. Children learn to say the sound, read the sound and write the sound. The Set 1 sounds are drawn in the shape of a picture for example:

•   ‘s’ is in the shape of a snake

•   ‘d’ is in the shape of a dinosaur

•   ‘a’ is in the shape of an apple

Fred Talk

Once they have learnt the first 5 Set 1 sounds m, a, s, d, t children can begin to read and write words containing these sounds. Your child is introduced to a toy frog called Fred. Fred can only say the sounds in a word and needs your child to help him read the word. So, when you hear your child say ‘Fred Talk’, you’ll know this means sounding out the word for example Fred Talk 'm-a-t' and then read the word 'mat'. 

Fred Fingers

Your child will follow a similar technique when learning to spell words. We break down each word into sounds. We ask children to show us how many sounds are in a word by holding up the correct amount of fingers for example ‘shop’ is broken down into 3 sounds ‘sh-o-p’.  We then ask the children to pinch the sounds and then write the word. So, when you hear your child say ‘Fred Fingers’, you’ll know this means spelling a word.

Set 2 and 3 Sounds

The Set 2 and 3 sounds each have a picture and phrase to help your child remember the sound. For example:

• the sound ‘ay’ has the phrase ‘May I play?’ with a picture

of children playing together

• the sound ‘ee’ has the phrase ‘What can you see?’ with

a picture of two boys in a tree

When your child moves onto the Set 3 sounds they will be learning to read some of the same sounds but with alternative spellings for example the sound 'ow' can also be spelt as 'o-e', 'oa' and 'o'. These will be taught using a complex speeds sound chart.   

Reading Books

Every child in Reception, Year 1 and Year 2 will bring home two Read, Write, Inc books per week. These books match your child’s phonic level. 

Black and White Storybooks

As soon as your child starts to read the Read Write Inc. Phonics Storybooks, he or she will bring home a black and white Storybook. This is a copy of the colour version he or she will have read at school.

Your child will have read this story three times with their reading teacher, so should be able to read the story confidently.

A brief explanation of how to follow the activities is included in the books.

Book Bag Book

Your child will also bring home a Book Bag Book. This book builds upon the ideas and many of the words in the Storybook he or she has just read. Your child will need more support in reading this book.

Again, explanations of how to use the activities are included in the books.