EYFS early reading and phonics
Reminders
General reminders
• No backpacks/pencil cases needed in school.
• Please no water bottle in book bags.
• Best way to contact class teacher is via email unless urgent then please ring the school office.
• All medication needs to go via the school office and forms need to be filled in first. This includes things like eczema cream.
• We kindly ask for the children/siblings not to use our outdoor equipment before of after school.
Read Write Inc
Set 1 sounds
• These are the set 1 sounds.
• We will start learning these sounds in September and learn a sound a day.
• We also focus on words that start with that sound encouraging children to listen to the initial sound. Eg m – mat mum monkey mop
• Read Write Inc.: How to say the set one, set two and set three sounds
Learning to read
Blending
• This is where the children use the ‘Fred talk’ to say each individual sound in a word then blend them together
mat
dog
Segmenting
• This is where the children hear a word and they split the word into individual sounds to be able to write it.
• For example mop = m-o-p
Green words
Green words are words that can be phonically decoded
We teach the children to read these words by segmenting the individual sounds and then blending them together m-a-d = mad
Once the children are confident blending the sounds we encourage Fred in your Head. This is where the children will segment the sounds in their head and then just say the word out loud. This encourages fluency.
Red words
Red words are words that cannot be decoded.
These words cannot be segmented and are just learnt by sight.
“You can’t Fred a red”
How we teach reading in school
Set 1 sounds – correct pronunciation (online support)
Children learn individual sounds first. They then learn what ‘special friends’ are.
The first stage of reading is hearing initial sounds in words. (I spy game)
Then we move on to VC words e.g in, at, on etc.
Followed by CVC words e.g cat, dog, sat
Once secure blending CVC words we move onto simple sentences
Green words - segmenting and blending
Red words - reading by sight
Set 2 sounds
We will start to learn set 2 sounds in Spring term once the children are secure with set 1 sounds. Set 2 sounds are all special friends and each have a little rhyme to remember them by. Once your child is secure reading set 1 sound sentences fluently, they will start to get reading books containing these sounds.
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How to read at home with your child –blending books
How to read at home with your child – red books
How to read at home with your child – green books
How to read at home with your child –purple books
End of term expectations in reading
Autumn
To be on track at Christmas children should be able to segment and blend CVC words, accurately and consistently.
They will start to read and understand simple sentences and phrases for example ‘pat the dog’ ‘a sad man’
They will have started to read red books. They will be able to recognise the majority of set 1 sounds consistently, including special friends.
Spring
To be on track at Easter children should be able to read and understand simple sentences. They will have started set 2 phonic sounds.
Children can recognise special friends within words e.g shop/think.
They will start to recognise common high frequency words (HFW) without sounding out e.g it, the, got, was Reading should start to become more fluent and less robotic. Children should be reading texts more fluently and not sounding out every word.
Children will start to learn other reading strategies to support with unfamiliar words.
Summer
To be on track at the end of the year children should be able to show an understanding of what they have read.
Children will be able to use and apply new vocabulary from their texts.
Children will be able to apply a wide range of reading strategies for unfamiliar/non-decodable words
Children will be blending words with more than one syllable.
Children will be reading green or purple RWI texts confidently.
How to support your child at home
RWI keyrings - we will soon be sending home keyrings containing the sounds they children have learnt in school. Please keep these in bookbags daily. We will update the keyrings and add sounds on a Friday.
Once the children are ready to bring a reading book home, they should read 3 times a week at home. Sharing stories together is also just as important as the children reading their school book. Let children listen to you model good reading. Let them point out any words they know.
Read a range of fiction and nonfiction books - make reading enjoyable!
Reading rewards
Writing in EYFS
From mark making to writing
Gross motor - physical activity, riding a bike, large scale mark making-using chalk to draw outdoors, building and balancing
Fine motor - picking small objects up with tweezers/pegs, play dough, scissor skills
Children need the opportunity to draw and colour at home.
Whiteboards are a great tool for children to practise marks/formation.
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Pencil grip
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Letter formation
• We focus on teaching children to form letters correctly. We also look at forming the letters consistent in size and sitting the letters correctly on the line.
• We focus on modelling writing using the correct pencil grip.
• We start by writing individual words, labels and captions and then build up to writing simple sentences using finger spaces and a full stop.
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Cursive and precursive
• Once your child is secure at forming their letters correctly, are consistent in size and can form letters on the line, we will move to teaching writing letters with lead ins and lead outs. This is called precursive.
• This is an example of how each individual letter looks with a lead in and lead out. This will support your child in beginning to join up their handwriting as they move up through school.
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End of autumn term
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End of spring term
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term
Open evenings coming up
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Resources available tonight
We have examples of
• Reading books
• Phonics cards
• Sound mats
• Handwriting rhymes
• Phonics games
Please ask staff any questions you may have about phonics, reading or writing. We have parents evening coming up soon where we can discuss how your child is getting on in school and show examples of some of their work.