Read Write Inc.

Throughout my most recent Professional Practice, I was assigned a class which was a mixed year group class in the Foundation stage/ Key stage 1. Because of the nature of a mixed Reception/ Year 1/ Year 2 class, it was compulsory to teach Phonics and the programme of choice for the school was Read Write Inc. I had personally never come across or previously read about this programme before commencing my placement, so naturally had to do some home work and read up on the new programme and its style of teaching.

First of all, I accessed the Read Write Inc. Phonics Handbook:

This handbook was able to give me an overview of the programme and how it is designed to meet the needs of all children in their phonics development throughout Key Stage 1. It showed how children progress from the speed sounds stage, to the green and red words which are read through blending, then through the ‘hold a sentence’ stage and finally onto the ‘Get Writing’ stage of the programme. It was very informative and helped to give me a thorough understanding of how I should teach the first two stages, as well as how the children were working in the other Phonics groups.

Then I accessed the Read Write Inc. Speed Sounds Lesson Plans book:

This book was essential for the start of my Professional Practice, as it provided me with lesson plans for the group which I was teaching. It enabled me to become familiar with the structure of the lesson and unpick it where possible to add some personality into my lessons. The ‘hold a sentence’ section of the structured lessons allowed for some personal flair and to incorporate elements of our Topic lessons into the Phonics sessions. It also allowed for some interactive activities which I could incorporate into our learning environment for the Continuous Provision elements in the Early Years curriculum.

How it meets the standards:

• TS3: I feel that reading these two texts has helped me to develop my subject knowledge of phonics, only experiencing the Letters and Sounds programme previously. It has helped me to develop in areas A, B, C and D, as it has broadened my subject knowledge in early literacy. They were key texts which I wanted to read in order to plan and deliver effective phonics lessons throughout my final practice.
• Part 2: This piece of evidence meets Part 2 of the standards because I completed some reading in order to develop my own subject knowledge in order to plan and deliver phonics lessons which would benefit all of the children in the class. Without accessing these texts I would not have been able to teach lessons to the standard which I did.