Trenance Learning Academy. Our School is a happy, caring environment where success is achieved by our drive to raise standards for life long learning.

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1 Trenance Learning Academy Our School is a happy, caring environment where success is achieved by our drive to raise standards for life long learning. Reading opens the door to all learning. A child who reads a lot will become a good reader. A good reader will be able to read challenging material. A child who reads challenging material is a child who will learn. The more a child learns the more a child wants to find out. Autumn Term 2014

2 How we teach reading answers for parents The Read Write Inc Programme Learning to read is the most important thing your child will learn at our school. Everything else depends on it, so we put as much energy as we possibly can into making sure that every single child learns to read as quickly as possible. We want your child to love reading and to want to read for themselves. This is why we put our efforts into making sure they develop a love of books as well as simply learning to read. How will my child be taught to read? We start by teaching phonics to the children in Foundation Stage. This means that they learn how to read the sounds in words and how those sounds can be written down. This is essential for reading, but it also helps children learn to spell well. We teach the children simple ways of remembering these sounds and letters. Ask them to show you what these are. The children also practise reading (and spelling) what we call tricky words, such as once, have, said and where. The children practise their reading with books that match the phonics and the tricky words they know. They start thinking that they can read and this does wonders for their confidence. The teachers read to the children, too, so the children get to know all sorts of stories, poetry and information books. They learn many more words this way and it also helps their writing. How will I know how well my child is doing? We will always let you know how well your child is doing. We use various ways to find out how the children are getting on in reading. We use the information to decide what reading group they should be in. Your child will work with children who are at the same reading level as him or her. Children will move to a different group if they are making faster progress than the others. Your child will have one-to-one support if we think he or she needs some extra help to keep up. We also use a reading test so that we can make sure that all our children are at the level that they should be for their age compared to all the children across the country. In the summer term, the government asks us to do a phonics check of all the Year 1 children. That gives us extra information about their progress. We will talk to you about how well your child has done, and especially if we have any worries at all. How long will it take to learn to read well? You will notice your child making progress with their reading very early in the programme. By the end of Year 2, your child should be able to read aloud books that are at the right level for his or her age. How do I know the teaching will be good? All the staff have been trained to teach reading in the way we do it in this school. We believe that it is very important that all the teachers and teaching assistants work in the same way. Senior teachers watch other teachers teaching to make sure that the children are learning how we want them to learn. If you are worried about the teaching or you have any questions, please come to school and talk to us. What can I do to help? Is there anything that I shouldn't do? You will be invited to a meeting so that we can explain how we teach reading. Please come and support your child. We would very much like you to know how to help. Your child will bring different sorts of books home from school. It helps if you know whether this is a book that your child can read on their own or whether this is a book that you should read to them. We give out a leaflet that will have explained which is which.

3 Help your child to sound out the letters in words and then to push the sounds together to make a whole word. Try not to refer to the letters by their names. Help your child to focus on the sounds. You can hear how to say the sounds correctly at this link: We have also put together a handout for you. Sometimes your child might bring home a picture book that they know well. Please don t say, This is too easy. Instead, encourage your child to tell you the story out loud; ask them questions about things that happen or what they think about some of the characters in the story. We know parents and carers are very busy people. But if you can find time to read to your child as much as possible, it helps him or her to learn about books and stories. They also learn new words and what they mean. Show that you are interested in reading yourself and talk about reading as a family. You can find out about good stories to read to your child here Does it matter if my child misses a lesson or two? It matters a lot if your child misses school. The way we teach children to read is very well organised, so even one missed lesson means that your child has not learnt something that they need to know to be a good reader. What if he or she finds it difficult to learn to read? We want children to learn to read, however long it takes us to teach them. We will find out very quickly if your child is finding reading difficult. First, we move children to a different group, so that we can make sure that they have learnt what they need to know. If they still struggle, we give them extra time with an adult, on their own. These adults are specially trained to support these children. Your child will still be in the same group with the other children and won t miss out on any of the class lessons. If we have any serious worries about your child s reading, we will talk to you about this. Some children take a bit longer to learn to put sounds together to read a word, e.g. c-a-t to make the word cat. At our meeting, we will explain how you can help your child to do this. What if my child turns out to be dyslexic? The way we teach reading is especially helpful for children who might be dyslexic. This is because we use a very well-organised programme that has a strong focus on phonics. This is very important for children who find learning to read difficult. If you are worried about your child, please come and talk to us. My child has difficulty pronouncing some sounds. Will this stop him learning to read through phonics? This isn t a problem for learning to read as long as we know what sound the child is trying to say. This is not something to worry about. Many children have a few sounds that they can hear clearly but find it difficult to say, particularly the l-sound, r-sound, w-sound, th-sound, s-sound, sh-sound and j-sound. Often they say a t- sound for the c-sound; "tttssh" for the s-sound; "w" for the r-sound and "r" for the l-sound. You can help your child by encouraging him or her to look at your mouth when you say the sound. The message is, that children can learn to read, even if they find some sounds difficult to say. Don t hesitate to contact us if you have any concerns. We are here to help! You can find out more about Read Write Inc here

4 Read Write Inc How can I help my child learn to read? Read as many stories to your child as you can. Talk about the stories. Explain the meaning of new words. Most importantly though, show the fun that can be gained by listening to stories. What you read to your child today, they will be able to read for themselves very soon. Please do not use letter names at this early stage. When you are learning to read you only need to know what sounds the letters make, not their names. Help your child to pronounce pure sounds. This will help them when they come to blend the sounds together in reading. These first sounds should all be stretched slightly. Try to avoid saying uh after each one.: e.g. /mm/ not muh, /ss/ not suh, /ff/ not fuh. m mmmmmmountain (keep lips pressed together hard) s sssssnake (keep teeth together and hiss unvoiced) n nnnnnnet (keep tongue behind teeth) f ffffflower (keep teeth on bottom lip and force air out sharply unvoiced) l llllleg (keep pointed curled tongue behind teeth). r rrrrrrobot (say rrr as if you are growling) v vvvvvvulture (keep teeth on bottom lip and force air out gently) z zzzzzzig zzzzzag (keep teeth together and make a buzzing sound) th thhhhank you ( stick out tongue and breathe out sharply) sh shhhh (make a shhh noise as though you are telling somebody to be quiet!) ng thinnnnngg on a strinnnngg (curl your tongue at the back of your throat) nk I think I stink (make a piggy oink noise without the oi! nk nk nk) These next sounds cannot be stretched. Make the sound as short as possible avoiding uh at the end of the sound: t (tick tongue behind the teeth unvoiced) p - (make distinctive p with lips unvoiced) k (make sharp click at back of throat) c - as above h (say h as you breathe sharply out unvoiced) ch- (make a short sneezing sound)

5 x (say a sharp c and add s unvoiced) You will find it harder to avoid saying uh at the end of these sounds. d (tap tongue behind the teeth). g (make soft sound in throat). b (make a short, strong b with lips). j (push lips forward). y (keep edges of tongue against teeth). w (keep lips tightly pursed). qu (keep lips pursed as you say cw unvoiced). The short vowels should be kept short and sharp: a: a-a-a (open mouth wide as if to take a bite of an apple). e: e-e-e (release mouth slightly from a position). i: i-i-i (make a sharp sound at the back of the throat smile). o: o o-o (push out lips, make the mouth into o shape). u: u-u-u (make a sound in the throat). 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

6 Hand writing phrases for helping your child to form letters This works best if your child practises for a short time every day. 1. Show the picture side and air-write as you say the phrase 2. Ask your child to practise in the air with you 3. Using a sharp pencil and sat at a table, encourage your child to have a go 4. Praise your child for their efforts m: Maisie, mountain, mountain a: round the apple, down the leaf s: slither down the snake d: round his bottom, up his tall neck and down to his feet t: down the tower, across the tower i: down the body, dot for the head n: down Nobby, over his net p: down the plait and over the pirate s face g: round her face, down her hair and give her a curl o: all around the orange c: curl around the caterpillar k: down the kangaroo s body, tail and leg u: down and under, up to the top and draw the puddle b: down the laces to the heel, round the toe f: down the stem and draw the leaves e: lift off the top and scoop out the egg l: down the long leg h: down the head to the hooves and over his back r: down his back and then curl over his arm j: down his body, curl and dot v: down a wing, up a wing y: down a horn, up a horn and under his head w: down, up, down, up z: zig-zag-zig q: round her head, up past her earrings and down her hair x: down the arm and leg and repeat the other side

7 At Trenance Learning Academy we believe that reading is the key that opens the door to all other areas of learning. It is our role in school to teach your child to read so that they can access the whole curriculum and be fully prepared for their future. We teach them to read through dedicated reading lessons in Read Write Inc. Training All staff have spent many hours of intensive training learning how to teach children to read so that all children experience success - they quickly move from learning to read, to reading to learn! Our Partnership At Trenance Learning Academy we believe that reading is the key that opens the door to all learning. Whilst it is our role to teach your child to read, the support that you can offer at home in helping to foster a love of reading will ensure that your child experiences success at a quicker rate, thereby opening the door to all learning much sooner! The following information is a guide on how you can work in partnership with us to support your child as they learn to read. Home/School books Twice a week your child will choose a phonetically decodable book to share at home, these will be slightly easier than the books they are reading in school therefore your child should be able to read them with a little support. What to Choose In addition to this your child can choose a book from any of the boxes in their classroom regardless of which colour band it is and whether it matches their current level of reading. They will also visit the library once a week and select a picture book to share ~ The message is that we read for enjoyment, select for interest, and that no book is too hard (or too easy)! These books are not meant for parents to teach their children at home ~ they are meant to be shared at home so that children can see how enjoyable books are! By sharing books you are able to talk about the stories, explain the meaning of new words, and show the fun that can be had by listening to stories. What you read to your child today, they will be able to read for themselves very soon! Keep in mind that if they are bringing home books from higher bands than their current reading level they are going to need support to read it. Ask them to sound out words which are familiar to them and you read the words they ve yet to learn- remember we are teaching them to read in school, your session is their practise! Overleaf is a guide on how the book band colours roughly match the Read Write Inc. colours and how these fit the National Curriculum Levels

8 Reading book Colour RWI Book colour Lilac Learning sounds Pre-Wc Pink Learning sounds Wc-Wb Red Ditty level (pre books) National Curriculum Level Wb-Wa National Expectation for an average pupil at the end of YF Yellow Green Wa-1c Blue Purple 1c Green Pink 1c-1b Orange Orange 1b-1a National Expectation for an average pupil at the end of Y1 Turquoise Yellow 1a-2c Purple Blue 2b-2a National Expectation for an average pupil at the end of Y2 Gold Grey 2a White RWI 2a+ comprehension Black 2a+ Twice a week your child will bring home a phonetically decodable book that matches their current Read Write Inc. level. They can also select books from any of the classroom boxes to share at home.