• Phonics Overview

Teaching Reading: Reading Practice Sessions

In additional to daily phonics lessons, we teach reading practice sessions four times a week. These sessions:

• • Are taught by a fully trained adult to small groups of approximately six children.
  • Use books matched to the children’s secure phonic knowledge using the Little Wandle Letters and Sounds Revised assessments and book matching grids on pages 11 to 20 of ‘Application of phonics to reading’
  • Are monitored by the class teacher, who rotates and works with each group on a regular basis.

Each reading practice session has a clear focus, so that the demands of the session do not overload the children’s working memory. The reading practice sessions have been designed to focus on three key reading skills:

• • Decoding: teaching children to use phonic knowledge to read words
  • Prosody: teaching children to read with understanding and expression
  • Comprehension: using dialogic talk to help children to understand the text.

 

In Reception, these sessions start in Week 4 of teaching at the latest. Initially, children will read wordless books. In these sessions, children review GPCS and are taught blending using teacher-led blending. Once children can blend, they progress onto decodable books matched to their secure phonic knowledge. Children read each book three times to develop phonemic awareness, vocabulary and comprehension as well as book behaviours.

 

In Year 2, we ensure children complete reading the core programme of decodable books (up to Phase 5 Set 5). To exit the programme, we complete the final fluency assessment to ensure children can read with adequate speed and accuracy: approximately 60 words per minute with 90%+ accuracy.  

 

Home Reading

The decodable reading practice book is taken home to ensure success is shared with the family.

• In addition, reading for pleasure books also go home for parents to share and read to children. We share the research behind the importance and impact of sharing quality children’s books with parents through workshops, leaflets and the Everybody read! resources.
• We use the Little Wandle Letters and Sounds Revised parents’ resources to engage our families and share information about phonics, the benefits of sharing books, how children learn to blend and other aspects of our provision, both online and through workshops.

• Phonic Online Games
• Phonic Screening Check