This is a quick guide, with tips and suggestions to help you teach your learners to read and blend sounds using the Read Write inc. phonics-based approach. I’ve separated the sounds, that learners study, into “Short Vowel” sounds, “Long Vowel” sounds, “Stretchy” sounds, “Non-Stretchy” sounds, and “Tricky Non-Stretchy” sounds.
“The more that you read, the more you know. the more you learn the more places you'll go.”
Dr. Seuss. The Cat in the Hat.
Quick Read Write inc. introduction
In teaching young learners to become confident and fluent readers, RWi uses 44 “Speed Sounds”, taught in small groups. Each group enables learners to move on to blending. For example, after studying the first five sounds (m a s d t), learners can then start to read words that include these sounds such as mat, sat, mad, sad etc. Learners will then study five more sounds (i n p g o), and learn how to read words with the combined ten sounds, such as mop, dig, map, tip, top etc.
(See my “Top Tips for Teaching CVC Words” article >>>here<<<)
Along the way, learners are encouraged not to use pure sounds, not the so-called “schwa” sounds, where the mouth is relaxed when speaking. Learners say /mm/ not muh and /ss/ not suh etc. This will help them to blend sounds more easily.
Read Write inc. teaches all the sounds in three sets of increasing difficulty, and these sets can be broken into five groups of sounds as I mentioned above.
I’ve written PowerPoints for the five kinds of sounds (identified above), to accompany the Read Write inc. phonics programme. These are available >>>here<<<. They include three parts: The sounds on individual slides; ditties to help learn the sounds, and slides with the sounds, ditties and pictures.
The Five Sound Groups of RWi
Let’s take a look at the five groups of sounds in Read Write inc.
The Short Vowels
These Short Vowel sounds 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)
Here are my ditties for the Short Vowel sounds:
a: a a Cat on the mat!
e: e e Ten red hens!
i: i i Pig in a wig!
o: o o Ox on a box!
u: u u Yummy bunny buns!
I’ve included recognisable and simple words and ditties in my Short Vowels PPT, as the vowel sounds are so important.
I’ve also included the Read Write inc. advice on how to position your mouth to create each sound.
Top Tip! When you’re teaching the RWi sounds, use lots of songs to have fun with your learners. The bigger the smiles the faster they learn!
The “Have Fun Teaching ABC Song” is always my go-to song. I’ve created a words and pictures PPT to accompany the song >>>here<<<. I’ve also written an article entitled “Sing Your Way to Phonics Success,” all about incorporating music and songs into your teaching, available >>>here<<<.
There’s a super article entitled “Top Tips for Teaching CVC Words” >>>here<<<.
There’s a great PPT with Flashcards for teaching CVC words, including words, phrases, flashcards and posters, >>>here<<<.
Long Vowel Sounds
The long vowel sounds are all stretchy sounds, and here they are with my short ditties:
ay: ay ay May I play?
ee: ee ee I see a bee!
igh: igh igh High flying knight!
ow: ow ow Throw a snowball!
oo: oo oo Zoom to the moon!
oo: oo oo Look at the cookies!
ar: ar ar Party on the farm!
or: or or Boring story!
air: air air Hairy fairy!
ir: ir ir Dirty bird!
ou: ou ou Shout it out!
oy: oy oy Toy for a boy!
Although these sounds and ditties are great fun, these can be tricky for the learners, so I take time to review throughout each week.
Stretchy Sounds
These sounds are all slightly stretchy, but learners should be taught not to make a pronounced “uh” at the end of the sound e.g. /mm/ not muh, /ss/ not suh, /nn/ not nuh.
m – mmmmm (keep lips pressed together hard)
s – sssss (keep teeth together and hiss – unvoiced)
n – nnnnn (keep tongue behind teeth)
f – fffff (keep teeth on bottom lip and force air out sharply – unvoiced)
l – lllll (keep pointed curled tongue behind teeth)
r – rrrrr (say rrr as if you are growling)
v – vvvvv (keep teeth on bottom lip and force air out gently)
z – zzzzz (keep teeth together and make a buzzing sound)
th – th (stick out tongue and breathe out sharply)
sh – sh (make a shhh noise as though you are telling somebody to be quiet!)
ng – ng (curl your tongue at the back of your throat)
nk – nk (make a piggy oink noise without the oi! nk nk nk)
(The RWi advice on how to position your mouth to create each sound is included in my PPTs)
Here are my ditties for the Stretchy Sounds:
m – m m Monkey money!
s – s s Smiley sun!
n – n n Nosey nosey!
f – f f Funny fish!
l – l l Lollipop lion!
r – r r Over the rainbow!
v – v v Very nice van!
z – z z Zippy zappy zoo!
th – th th Thank you very much!
sh – Little fishy sh sh sh!
ng – ng ng Sing a sad song!
nk – nk nk I think I stink!
Non-Stretchy Sounds
These next sounds are easier as they can’t be stretched. Ask your learners to make the sound as short as possible and to avoid making an “uh” sound.
t – (tick tongue behind the teeth – unvoiced)
p - (make distinctive p with lips – unvoiced)
k – (make sharp click at back of throat)
c – (Sam as k - make sharp click at back of throat)
h – (say h as you breathe sharply out – unvoiced)
ch – (make a short sneezing sound)
x – (say a sharp c and add s – unvoiced)
(The RWi advice on how to position your mouth to create each sound is included in my PPTs)
Here are my ditties for the Non-Stretchy Sounds:
t – t t Top ten ties!
p – p p Pat the pig!
k – k k Kam the kid!
c – c c Cool cat!
h – h h Happy hat!
ch – ch ch Chilly chick!
x – x x Foxy Loxy!
Tricky Non-Stretchy Sounds
It’s difficult to make these next sounds without saying “uh” at the end of them. Some teachers and many parents automatically use the “uh” sounds, and it can be very difficult sometimes to change the habit. Keep at it though, as persistence will almost always succeed in making better readers and writers out of your learners.
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 RWi advice on how to position your mouth to create each sound is included in my PPTs)
Here are my ditties for the Tricky Non-Stretchy Sounds:
d – d d Daddy duck!
g – g g Go away ghost!
b – b b Banana boat!
j – j j Jumping jellyfish!
y – y y Yellow yoyo!
w – w w Web in the window!
qu – qu qu Quiet queen!
The PowerPoints for Teaching the Sounds
My PowerPoints will take you through slides with just the digraphs, then slides with digraphs and ditties, then slides with the digraphs, ditties and pictures. Click >>>here<<< for more info.
Digraphs alone will help your learners focus on the shape of the letters to associate with the learnt sounds. The short ditties will give learners some practise using the sounds in words and sentences. The pictures add a fun element to learning the sounds, and will help learners remember and recall the letters, the sounds and the words associated with them.
I include the sound twice at the start of each ditty to make them more fun (and for more practise!)
The PowerPoints are great for review, overheads when teaching the sounds and ditties, and the learners can draw the pictures when copying down the ditties.
You can print and laminate the slides you need if you don’t have access to a computer, or if you like to review on the carpet together with your learners.
Teaching New Sounds
When teaching each new sound, you can first say a few words that use that sound. For example, when initially teaching the /long a/ sound, you might use the words may, play and snail.
Ask the learners which sounds they hear and make sure everyone can identify and say the sound.
Write the new words on the board, and underline the digraph in each word e.g. eight play snail. Make sure everyone knows that there are different ways to write the sound.
Try to elicit some more words from the children, and write these on the board, grouping them with the respective spelling pattern e.g. eight weight sleigh / play stay may / snail pail trail.
You can then use my PPTs to teach each new ditty. Practise it a few times, then ask the learners to copy it down in their books, followed by a word or two from each taught digraph. I draw pictures for each word and ask my learners to copy these into their books as an extension to reinforce/help develop their vocabulary base.
A great time to review the previously learnt sounds and ditties is at the start of each class!
Have Fun!
I hope these ideas worked for you or inspired other great ideas! Any suggestions or other activities to add, let me know and I’ll share them with everyone. Cheers!