Reading and Phonics
At St Giles we use a mixture of pre phonics activities and Read, Write, Inc to deliver a phonics programme that enables children learn to read accurately and fluently with good comprehension. Phonics is taught every day to consolidate and build on children’s knowledge. They learn to form each letter, spell correctly and compose their ideas step by step. This is done in 3 stages:
Discovering
In the discovering stage the emphasis is on Looking, Listening and Joint Attention.
Pre phonics falls into 4 categories:
- Environmental sounds – Water sounds, Outdoor walks, Animal sounds, weather sounds
- Instrumental sounds – Drum beats, Pots and pans, Bells, Shakers
- Voice sounds – Action sounds, Using mirrors
- Rhythm and rhyme, actions and body percussion – Clapping, Patting, Stamping, Quiet and Loud, Fast and Slow, TAC PAC
Pupils access reading in the discovery stage through ‘The Reading Experience’. This is where children share the 'love of reading' through using books that motivate them, holding their interests and giving them pleasure. Some children access tactile sensory books and complete activities that work on the pre-requisite skills to reading. Children “read” signs, symbols, words, numbers and pictures within the environment.
Developing
The developing stage uses one Read, Write Inc. picture card a week with sensory activities to support the children’s learning. It teaches Read, Write Inc. Set 1 Sounds and how to blend sounds to read words.
Concepts from pre-phonics will still take place daily in order to embed the skills that children need to attend and learn successfully. Pre phonics falls into 4 categories:
- Environmental sounds – Water sounds, Outdoor walks, Animal sounds, weather sounds
- Instrumental sounds – Drum beats, Pots and pans, Bells, Shakers
- Voice sounds – Action sounds, Using mirrors
- Rhythm and rhyme, actions and body percussion – Clapping, Patting, Stamping, Quiet and Loud, Fast and Slow, TAC PAC
Children within the developing stage of their learning will also access “the reading experience” with an emphasis on a “love for reading”, having daily time to access high-quality exciting texts independently and take part in an engaging story-time with class staff.
Deepening
The deepening stage uses Read, Write Inc. – speed sounds phonics session, reading and writing. In Read, Write Inc. phonics lessons, children learn to read accurately and fluently with good comprehension. They learn to form each letter, spell correctly and compose their ideas step by step. Throughout the programme children learn the English alphabetic code, the 150+ graphemes that represent 44 speech sounds. Simple and enjoyable mnemonics help all children grasp the letter-sounds correspondence quickly. High frequency words (red words) that are not phonetically regular are taught and practised frequently. Interesting phonics books are closely matched to children's deepening phonic knowledge so that early on children experience plenty of success while reading.
Children in the deepening stage of their learning will also engage in the “love for reading”. They will have access to high-quality, exciting texts, both fiction and non-fiction, which are linked to the curriculum topics. They will be able to share these at home as well as share a book at their phonetic level, which they will be able to read confidently.
