At Croft we believe reading to be a very important part of children’s learning. Therefore all of our staff have been trained Read, Write Inc. Phonics
This page has been created to offer some information and useful resources for parents at home, when helping their child.
For an introduction to RWI phonics please watch the video below:
Speed Sounds:
RWI phonics involves using ‘pure sounds’ to learn to read and spell. The following video shows examples of all of the speed sounds.
Children are taught to form letters using a selection of rhymes. You can find the rhymes on this sheet:
The speed sounds are taught in 3 different sets and get more complex as they work through them:
A printable list of the speed sounds can be found here: Set 1, 2 and 3 sounds, it also includes rhymes for special friends (one sound shown by more than 1 letter).
Useful resources:
Progression of Phonics through the Read Write Inc Programme
Group A | The children may know a few single letter sounds. Lessons include teaching single letter sounds and assisting children to blend (using magnetic letters) in order to read CVC words. The children practise the formation of letters through the use of a phrase that is associated with the pictorial representation of the letter. After they have learnt the first few sounds they are taught to use ‘Fred Fingers’ to help them record simple words |
Group B | The children know most single letter sounds and now need to learn to blend orally Lessons also focus on teaching gaps in single letter sounds. |
Group C | The children know most single letter sounds and are able to blend orally. The gaps in single letter sounds are taught and further vocabulary containing ‘Special Friends’. |
Ditty Group | The children know all Set 1 single letter sounds speedily and can blend sounds into words orally. They are able to Fred Talk most words. Lesson content involves continuing to teach and review Set 1 Sounds with the focus on the Special Friends sh ch th qu ng nk qu |
Red Group | The children know all Set 1 sounds speedily. They are able to Fred Talk most words and are now able to use the same skills to read alien/nonsense words. Lessons involve reviewing Set 1 Sounds and vocabulary. They also learn to read more words containing Special Friends and words that contain 4+ sounds. The children are now reading the Red Ditty Books. |
Green Group | The children are able to Fred Talk real and alien words and also read a range of real words speedily Lessons involve reviewing Set 1 Sounds and vocabulary containing 4+ sounds. Set 2 Sounds are now taught (ay ee igh ow oo oo or ar air ir ou oy) The Story Book lesson runs over three days. The children practise the Speed Sounds and Green Words related to the Story. They also practise reading Green and Red Words (common exception) speedily. They will answer questions about the story and practise building sentences orally. They read the story three times with the focus on building intonation and fluency. |
Purple Group | The children are able to read most words speedily Lesson content is the same as for the Green Group, providing children who need it with further opportunities to practise and consolidate. |
Pink Group | The children are able to read ay ee igh ow oo oo speedily. They are able to Fred Talk real and alien words and also read a range of real words speedily (no Fred Talk) The Story Book Lessons follow the same three day format and reading activities as detailed for the Green Group.
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Orange Group | The children are able to read ar or air ir ou oy speedily. They are able to Fred Talk real and alien words and also read a range of real words speedily (no Fred Talk) Lessons continue to review Set 1 and 2 sounds. Set 3 sounds are now taught, the focus is on reading at this stage. (ea oi a-e i-e o-e u-e aw are ur er ow ai oa ew ire ear ure tion tious/cious The Story Book Lessons follow the same three day format and reading activities as detailed for the Green Group |
Yellow Group | The children are able to read alien words and real words containing Set 1 and 2 Sounds speedily (no Fred Talk) The Speed Sound Lesson reviews Set 1, 2 and 3 Sounds and now includes writing words containing Set 3 Sounds. The Story Book Lesson extends to five days.
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Blue Group | The children are able to read a-e ea i-e o-e u-e oi speedily and alien words containing other Set 3 Sounds. They can read a text at 70+ words per minute The Speed Sound Lesson reviews Set 2 and 3 Sounds The Story Book is read over five days. |
Grey Group | The children are able to read ai oa ew oi ire ear er aw ow ure are ur speedily and alien words containing these and other Set 3 Sounds They can read a text at 90 words per minute The Story Book is read over five days. |
Expectations of progress:
Reception | A | B | C | Ditty | Red | Green | Purple | Pink | Orange | Yellow | Blue | Grey |
End of autumn term |
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Year 1 |
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End of autumn term |
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End of spring term |
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End of summer term |
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