ENGLISH
Phonics
At Norton In Hales, we use the Read Write Inc. (RWI) programme to begin our children’s reading journey. RWI is a method of learning which teaches letter sounds and synthetic phonics and has proved to get children off to a flying start with their literacy learning.
Reading opens the door to learning. A child who reads a lot has the potential to 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 they will want to find out.
Using RWI, the children learn to read effortlessly so that they can put all their energy into comprehending what they read. It also allows them to spell effortlessly so that they can put all their energy into composing what they write.
When using RWI to read the children will:
- Learn that sounds are represented by written letters.To practice the sounds and learn how to pronounce them accurately please see the video below or use the following link https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TkXcabDUg7Q
- Learn 44 sounds and the corresponding letter/letter groups using simple picture prompts. These can be found in the files below.
- Learn how to blend sounds and read words using Fred Talk. The following link shows how we teach children to ‘Fred talk, read the word’:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MNyFikwNQTg
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Learn that some words with ‘tricky letters’ can’t be read using Fred Talk – these are known as red words – remember you can’t Fred a red! These can also be found in the files below.
- Read fun and lively stories featuring words they have learned to sound out. They then show they comprehend the stories by answering questions and discussing the text.
All children in Year 1 complete a phonics screening check in the summer term. If you would like to find out more about the phonics screening check, please click the following link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LbKGLJPp6ww
KS1 Reading Scheme - Read Write Inc scheme and National banded books
https://global.oup.com/education/content/primary/series/rwi/?region=uk
Recommended Book List Key Stage 1
https://schoolreadinglist.co.uk/category/reading-lists-for-ks1-school-pupils/
Recommended Book List Key Stage 2
https://schoolreadinglist.co.uk/category/reading-lists-for-ks2-school-pupils/
Why Read to your child?
https://www.ruthmiskin.com/en/find-out-more/parents/#lg=1&slide=3
Ten things to think about when you are reading with your child
https://www.ruthmiskin.com/en/find-out-more/parents/#lg=1&slide=5
Talk for Writing
We use Talk for Writing at Norton In Hales in our Literacy lessons. Talk for Writing is an engaging teaching framework developed by Pie Corbett, supported by Julia Strong. It is powerful because it is based on the principles of how children learn. It enables children to imitate the language they need for a particular topic orally, before reading and analysing it, and then writing their own version.
There are three stages to each unit of writing for both fiction and non-fiction.
- Immersion
- Innovation
- Independent
Handwriting
The children learn the cursive script from reception class.
Research suggests that printing letters and writing in cursive activate different parts of the brain. Learning cursive is good for children's fine motor skills, and writing in longhand generally helps children retain more information and generate more ideas. The children can work towards their pen licenses (Bronze, Silver and Gold) by showing good cursive handwriting and presentation in all of their work.
