Reading and Phonics

At Rockmount Primary School we use the Read, Write Inc phonics programme which teaches the children to read accurately and fluently, with good comprehension. The children learn to form each letter, spell correctly and compose their ideas step by step.

Reading takes place on a daily basis. We share stories with the children throughout the day and the children also have access to our comfortable reading areas during the free flow sessions. We encourage the children to take the books home to share with their families. We change the books in the book corners on a regular basis, to reflect the current topic. The children enjoy being book monitors and writing on the book review sheets which can be found in the reading areas. We also find that the children read to each other, re-telling the stories by looking at the pictures of story books and through re-enactments in our creative role play areas.

The children learn the mechanics of reading through Read, Write Inc. Children are taught the letter sounds or phonemes through daily practise, which includes learning how to form the letters correctly. The children then learn to blend the sounds together to read simple words. As their phonic knowledge grows, the children start to use a range of strategies to decode unfamiliar words. Alongside the teaching of phonics, they learn to read common high frequency words by sight and experience success from the very beginning.

Supporting at home

With Read, Write Inc. each sound has a saying to help us remember the correct sound i.e. mmmmmountain; sssssssssnake and a saying to help us remember how to form the letters correctly, e.g. 'Maisie, mountain, mountain'; 'slither down the snake'.

It's important to use only pure sounds, ('mmmm' not' muh', 'sssss' not 'suh', etc) so that your child will be able to blend the sounds into words more easily. We hope that you and your child can have fun learning them!

Click here to watch a video clip, demonstrating how we produce our pure sounds to help during our Read, Write Inc. lessons.

Stretchy sounds (long sounds). Try to avoid saying 'uh' after each one:

m - mmmmmmountain (keep lips pressed together hard)

Maisie, mountain, mountain

s - sssssnake (keep teeth together and hiss - unvoiced)

Slither down the snake

n - nnnnnnet (keep tongue behind teeth)

Down Nobby, up, over his net

f - ffffflower (keep teeth on bottom lip and force air out sharply - unvoiced)

Down the stem and draw the leaves

l - llllleg (keep pointed curled tongue behind teeth)

Down the long leg

r - rrrrrrobot (say rrr as if you are growling)

Down the robot, up and over his arm

v - vvvvvvulture (keep teeth on bottom lip and force air out gently)

Down a wing, up a wing

z - zzzzzzip (keep teeth together and make a buzzing sound)

Zig-zag-zig

th - thhhhank you ( stick out tongue and breathe out sharply)

Down the tower, across the tower, then down the horse's head to the hooves and up over his back

sh - shhhh said the horse to the hissing snake (shhh noise as in 'be quiet!')

Slide down the snake, then down the horse's head to the hooves and over his back

ng - thinnnnngg on a strinnnngg (curl your tongue at the back of your throat)

Down Nobby, up, over his net then round the girl’s face, down her hair and give her a curl

nk - I think I stink (i.e 'nk' in oink)

Down Nobby, up, over his net then down the kangaroo’s body, tail and leg

Bouncy sounds (short sounds). Make the sound as short as possible avoiding 'uh' at the end of the sound:

t - t-t-t tower (tick tongue behind the teeth - unvoiced)

Down the tower, across the tower

p - p-p-p pirate (make distinctive p with lips - unvoiced)

Down the plait, up and over the pirate's face

k - k-k-k kangaroo (make sharp click at back of throat)

Down the kangaroo's body, tail and leg

c - c-c-c caterpillar (as above)

Curl round the caterpillar

h - h-h-h horse (say h as you breathe sharply out - unvoiced)

Down the horse's head to his hooves and up over his back

ch - The caterpillar's hairs make the horse sneeze ch-ch-ch (make a short sneezing sound)

Curl round the caterpillar, then down the horse’s head, to his hooves and up over his back

x - x-x-x exercise (say a sharp c and add s - unvoiced)

Cross down the arm and leg and cross the other way

You might find it harder to avoid saying uh at the end of these bouncy sounds.

d - d-d-d dinosaur (tap tongue behind the teeth)

Round the dinosaur's bottom, up his tall neck and down to his feet

g - g-g-g girl (make soft sound in throat)

Round the girl's face, down her hair and give her a curl

b - b-b-b boot (make a short, strong b with lips)

Down to the heel, up and over the toe

j - j-j-j Jack-in-the-box (push lips forward)

Down his body, curl and dot

y - y-y-y yak (keep edges of tongue against teeth)

Down a horn, up a horn and under the yak's head

w - w-w-w worm (keep lips tightly pursed)

Down, up, down, up the worm

qu - qu-qu-qu queen (keep lips pursed as you say cw- unvoiced)

Round the queen's head, up to her crown, down her hair and curl

Vowels- the short vowels should be kept short and sharp:

a - a-a-a apple (open mouth wide as if to take a bite of an apple)

Round the apple and down the leaf

e - e-e-e egg (release mouth slightly from a position)

Chop off the top and scoop out the egg

i - i-i-i insect (make a sharp sound at the back of the throat - smile)

Down the body and a dot for the head

o - o-o-o orange (push out lips, make the mouth into o shape)

All around the orange

u: u-u-u umbrella (make a sound in the throat)

Down and under, up to the top and draw the puddle

The long vowel sounds are all stretchy sounds:

ay: ay, may I play?

ee: ee, what do you see?

igh: fly high

ow: blow the snow

oo: poo at the zoo

oo: look at a book

ar: start the car

or: shut the door

air: that's not fair

ir: whirl and twirl

ou: shout it out

oy: toy for a boy

Staff at Rockmount can show you how to pronounce these sounds. We hope that you will not hesitate to ask if you'd like some help.

Rockmount Primary School