READING
WE ARE A READING SCHOOL!
At Gawber Primary School, reading is at the heart of our whole curriculum. It is our intention that every child will be a reader! We understand how important it is that children are able to read so that they can access every stage of their education. Our intention is that every child not only loves reading, but knows how to read for different areas of the curriculum so that they move to the next stage of their education able to read for different subjects and eventually use this knowledge to enter the world of work, achieving the careers that they dream of.
From the very start of their journey with us, all of our children are encouraged to develop a love of reading. They are exposed to high quality texts and through a consistent approach to the teaching of phonics, they are provided with the skills they need to decode confidently. Children who read regularly or are read to regularly have the opportunity to open the doors to so many different worlds! More importantly, reading will give our children the tools to become independent life-long learners.
To ensure our children become accurate and automatic readers, we follow Read Write Inc, which is a validated systematic and synthetic phonics scheme. Reading books are closely matched to the graphemes taught and these 'decodable' books are also sent home for children to practise until they become fluent.
Children are introduced to high quality texts across the curriculum. At Gawber, we recognise the importance of reading for different purposes and by the time children leave Gawber, we aim for our children to be able to read effectively for the different subjects they encounter in the next stages of their education.
Children at Gawber love to hear a book being read aloud. Whether that is by an adult or another child, listening and loving books is a major part of Gawber life!
At Gawber, we have a focus on language comprehension through age appropriate, engaging texts chosen carefully by our expert staff. During their time at Gawber, children become increasingly confident in comprehending different texts in order to access all areas of the curriculum. At Gawber, we know how important the understanding of reading for purpose is. Children at Gawber learn how to read and write for different subjects, audiences and purposes.
Ways in which to comprehend texts are taught explicitly in reading sessions and applied across the curriculum. We encourage our children activate their prior knowledge when reading, knowing that in order for children to make sense of what they are reading, they must first become familiar with their existing knowledge, drawing on this and making links to the wider world.
Gawber promotes reading in all areas of the curriculum, knowing that in order to fully access our carefully planned broad and balanced curriculum, they must be able to fluently read and comprehend.
POETRY
At Gawber, we have a core set of poems and poets for each year group. Children hear and enjoy poetry every day. Using Pie Corbett's poetry spine, our children develop a love for language through their consistent exposure to different types of poems - those that elicit a strong response, that withstand repetition and extend vocabulary in all areas of the curriculum.
GAWBER READING LEADERS
Our Gawber Reading Leaders are responsible for promoting a love of reading at our school. They take care of our books that are in school and in our playground. They read with other children in school and help to celebrate the achievements of our reading stars.
If you'd like to know more about our Reading Leaders, please follow the link below which will take you to the Reading Leader page on our website.
READING STARS!
We celebrate reading at Gawber. Our reading stars are presented with certificates each week and enjoy a story and a sweet treat in our luxury READING LOUNGE!
WHAT SHOULD I READ?
Here are some recommendations of books you could read at home...
Challenge books for
UPPER KEY STAGE 2
How can our families help our children at home?
What is Read Write Inc?
Read Write Inc (RWI) is a systematic synthetic phonics programme which helps all children learn to read fluently and at speed so they can focus on developing their skills in comprehension, vocabulary and spelling. The programme is designed for children aged 4-7. RWI was developed by Ruth Miskin and more information on this can be found at https://ruthmiskin.com/en/find-out-more/parents/
How is Read Write Inc taught?
RWI is taught daily in school to children in FS2 and Year 1 and any children in Year 2 that have not finished the programme. Children are assessed regularly and grouped according to ability. Sessions last up to 30 minutes. The group sizes vary according to the age and the needs of the individual children.
Children will be taught how to read as follows:
Fred Talk
We use pure sounds ('m' not 'muh', 's' not 'suh', ect) so that your child will be able to blend the sounds into words more easily.
At school we use a puppet called Fred who is an expert on sounding out words! We call it, 'Fred Talk'. E.g. m-o-p, c-a-t, m-a-n, sh-o-p, b-l-a-ck.
The following video is an example of blending sounds with Fred.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dEzfpod5w Q
Set 1 Sounds
Set 1 Sounds are taught in the following order together with rhymes to help children form the letters correctly and instantly recognise sounds ready for blending.
Set 1
Sound Rhyme
m Down Maisie then over the two mountains. Maisie, mountain, mountain.
a Round the apple, down the leaf.
s Slide around the snake.
d Round the dinosaur's back, up his neck and down to his feet.
t Down the tower, across the tower.
i Down the insects body, dot for the head.
n Down Nobby and over the net.
p Down the plait, up and over the pirates face.
g Round the girl's face, down her hair and give her a curl.
o All around the orange.
c Curl around the caterpillar.
k Down the kangaroos body, tail and leg.
u Down and under the umbrella, up to the top and down to the puddle.
b Down the laces, over the toe and touch the heel.
f Down the stem and draw the leaves.
e Slice into the egg, go over the top, then under the egg.
l Down the long leg.
h Down the horse's head to the hooves and over his back.
sh Slither down the snake, then down the horse's head to the hooves and over his back.
r Down the robot's back, then up and curl.
j Down his body, curl and dot.
v Down a wing, up a wing.
y Down a horn, up a horn and under the yak's head.
w Down, up, down, up the worm.
th Down the tower, across the tower, then down the horse's head to the hooves and over his back.
z Zig-zag-zig, down the zip.
ch Curl around the caterpillar, then down the horse's head to the hooves and over his back.
qu Round the queen's head, up to her crown, down her hair and curl.
x Cross down the arm and leg and cross the other way.
ng A thing on a string.
nk I think I stink.
Please do not use letter names at this early stage.
Children will also use pictures for each sound to help recognise the sound and then form the shape of the sound.
Set 2 and 3 Sounds
The children are then taught Set 2 Sounds - the long vowels. When they are very confident with all of set 1 and 2 they are taught Set 3 Sounds.
Long vowel Set 2 Speed Sound
sound cards Set 3 Speed Sound cards
Teach these first
ay ay: may I play a-e: make a cake ai: snail in the rain
ee ee: what can you see ea: cup of tea e: he me we she be
igh igh: fly high i-e: nice smile
ow ow: blow the snow o-e: phone home oa: goat in a boat
oo oo: poo at the zoo u-e: huge brute ew: chew the stew
oo oo: look at the book
ar ar: start the car
or or: shut the door aw: yawn at dawn
air air: that's not fair are: share and care
ir ir: whirl and twirl ur: purse for a nurse er: a better letter
ou ou: shout it out ow: brown cow
oy oy: toy for a boy oi: spoil the boy
ire ire: fire fire!
ear ear: hear with your ear
ure ure: sure it's pure?
Set 2 and 3 Sounds
The children are then taught Set 2 Sounds - the long vowels. When they are very confident with all o set 1 and 2 they are taught Set 3 Sounds.
Long vowel Set 2 Speed Sound
sound cards Set 3 Speed Sound cards
Teach these first
ay ay: may I play a-e: make a cake ai: snail in the rain
ee ee: what can you see ea: cup of tea e: he me we she be
igh igh: fly high i-e: nice smile
ow ow: blow the snow o-e: phone home oa: goat in a boat
oo oo: poo at the zoo u-e: huge brute ew: chew the stew
oo oo: look at a book
ar ar: start the car
or or: shut the door aw: yawn at dawn
air air: that's not fair are: share and care
ir ir: whirl and twirl ur: purse for a nurse er: a better letter
ou ou: shout it out ow: brown cow
oy oy: toy for a boy oi: spoil the boy
ire ire: fire fire!
ear ear: hear with your ear
ure ure: sure it's pure?
Nonsense words (Alien/monster words)
As well as learning to read and blend real words children will have plenty of opportunities to apply their sound recognition skills on reading 'Nonsense words'. These words will also feature heavily in the Year One Phonics Screening check in the summer term.
Decodable Books
How to support your child with their decodable book
STEP ONE
STEP TWO
STEP THREE
STEP FOUR
PRAISE!
Please note:
Develop the Love of Reading!
Phonics Screening Check Year One
What is the Year 1 phonics screening check?
The Year 1 phonics screening check is a short, light-touch assessment to confirm whether individual pupils have learnt phonic decoding to an appropriate standard.
It will identify the children who need extra help so they are given support by their school to improve their reading skills. They will then be able to retake the check so that schools can track pupils until they are able to decode. Click here for further information on the Screening check.
USEFUL WEBSITES FOR PARENTS
Please find a list of websites that you may find useful in helping you and your child learn about phonics. Games and fun activity websites are also included.
https://www.phonicsplay.co.uk/ - many games to play
https://www.ictgames.com/literacy.htlm - fun games for the children to play
https://ruthmiskin.com/en/find-out-more/parents/ useful information about RWI include how to pronounce all the sounds/phonemes.