Reading

HOW TO HELP YOUR CHILD AT HOME

At Saint Ambrose we aim for every child to be reading fluently and with high levels of understanding.

Reading opens the door to learning. A child who reads a lot will become a good reader. A good reader will be able to read more challenging material. A child who reads challenging material is a child who will learn. The more a child learns, the more he or she will want to find out.

Read Write Inc. (RWI) is a complete literacy programme which helps all children learn to read fluently and at speed so that they can focus on developing their skills in comprehension, vocabulary and spelling. The programme uses synthetic phonics to teach reading and it covers all the National Curriculum requirements for literacy and language.

RWI is designed for children aged 4-7. However, at St Ambrose we will continue teaching RWI to children beyond 7 if they still need support in their reading.

When using RWI to read the children will:

Learn 44 sounds and the corresponding letter/letter groups using simple picture prompts
Learn to read using Fred Talk
Read lively stories with words they have been learning to sound out
Show that they comprehend the stories by answering questions.

When using RWI to write the children will;

Learn to write the letters/letter groups which represent the 44 sounds
Learn to write words saying the sounds in Fred Talk

RWI promotes 5 Core principles and we believe these principles apply to all subjects. The routines and signals associated with these principles are relevant to all aspects of our school life and therefore we have adopted these throughout the school.

Five key principles underpin the teaching in all Read Write Inc. sessions:

Purpose – know the purpose of every activity and share it with the children, so they know the one thing they should be thinking about

Participation – ensure every child participates throughout the lesson. Partnership work is fundamental to learning

Praise – ensure children are praised for effort and learning, not ability

Pace – teach at an effective pace and devote every moment to teaching and learning

Passion – be passionate about teaching so children can be engaged emotionally.

Team Stop Signal

This helps us stop children in a calm manner, ready for what comes next. It replaces all other stopping techniques such as: clapping, clicking, singing rhymes, shaking instruments, shouting, singing etc.

The stop signal is used at all times of the school day: during lessons, on the playground, in assemblies, during transitions, in the dining room, on trips and in staff meetings and professional development.

Turn To Your Partner Signal (TTYP)

Partner work is used consistently in all lessons and this is the signal that tells pupils to turn to their partner to discuss something or answer a question.

My Turn, Your Turn Signal (MTYT)

This silent signal is used when staff want the children to repeat something after them to reinforce their learning.

1, 2, 3 Signal

This silent signal moves the children silently from the carpet to their tables in under 15 seconds. In reverse, it moves the children from their tables to the carpet in under 15 seconds. It speeds up movement around the classroom and ensures that it is done quietly with no disruption to learning.

Participation

Teamwork

We want children to be motivated to work together, teach each other, practise together, talk together and give feedback to each other. Teamwork is key.

Partnerships

Articulating a thought forces children to engage. It makes children organise what they know and what they don’t. We want all children to practise what they have been taught with a partner regularly in lessons and in all Read Write Inc. lessons where they should practise every activity and answer every question together.

No hands up, thumbs up, chests up or stick pulling!

These strategies should not be used as a strategy for answering questions. In classrooms where these strategies are used, only a few children ever respond to questions. Those who don’t respond to questions are unlikely to be paying attention. We gain and keep children’s attention throughout lessons by using the following three techniques:

Choral work: My Turn Your Turn (MTYT)

We use choral work when we want children to copy what we’ve just said.

Partner Practice

Children are asked to recall what we have just taught them by teaching their partners: teachers are then able to check if their teaching has been successful or not.

Partner Talk

Children pay attention because they know they will be expected to answer every question with their partner and could be called upon to share their response with the rest of the group.

Praise

We praise the effort that our pupils put into their learning. Children always feel good when they are working hard and succeeding so we acknowledge this and tell them exactly what they are doing that deserves praise. We don't reward success with stickers and Dojos as this does not help children to learn in the long term.

How is RWI phonics taught:

Reception

In Reception children start by learning sounds in short Speedy Sounds daily sessions. Once children know Set 1 sounds, they begin to read Ditty books followed by storybooks and non-fiction that are closely matched to their developing phonic knowledge.

Year 1& 2

Children work on complex sounds and read books appropriate to their reading levels.

Assessment

The children’s progress is assessed at the end of every half term (6-8 weeks) by the Reading Leader (Mrs Knight or Mrs Kelly) and they are grouped according to the level they are working at. This ensures teaching is focused precisely on what pupils need and if a child is not making progress we provide 1:1 intervention to address this.