Ruth Miskin Education
words a year. Tey love reading. Tey read in two days what poor readers read in one year. And, they read books that contain words they wouldn’t come across if they couldn’t read, like cacophony, diminutive, impenetrable. Tese children are nearly always successful at school. Poor readers, on the other hand, are easy
C
to spot: their eyes flit from the picture to face, to random letter, guessing wildly. Tere is another group of children who just get by at school. Tey have a reading age of eight or nine for three years running. Reading books don’t come home, reading diaries disappear and parents become niggled and bothered. Tis simply doesn’t happen in Spain,
Italy, Poland, Finland and Germany. Spanish children learn 29 ways to read their 24 speech sounds with the 26 letters of the Roman alphabet. Tis is called a simple code – one sound – one letter – and the match is pretty close. Spanish children can then read anything, albeit fairly slowly to begin with. Our children need to learn 150+ ways to
read the 44 English speech sounds with the same 26 letters and that’s because English has the most complex code in the world, so learning the 26 sounds of the alphabet doesn’t get you far. To make it even harder, many reading schemes contain all the 150+
hildren who learn to read easily are more likely to read by choice, at home. By the age of nine, they could be reading over 2,000,000
ways from the very beginning. It doesn’t help if there is only one word on a page if you can’t read it! Some children learn to read whatever
system you use, but others just don’t. Tey spend years struggling in lessons – bored, mildly disruptive and withdrawn. In Read Write Inc.,
we make learning to read as simple as we can. We pretend – just for a little while – that learning to read is as easy as learning to read Spanish. Children learn to
What is
more, children learn my system
read and write a simple code. Tey learn the 44 speed sounds by picture-morphing e.g. a c-c-c-caterpillar (the same shape as c) is morphed into “c”. As soon as they can read the first five at speed, they learn to read words in “Fred Talk” (sound-blending). Ten, importantly, they read lively books
with words they can work out by sound- blending. Te books are fun so the children will want to read them again and again. Tey have a good plot so we can also talk about the story. Once they have mastered the simple
code, they learn the full code with its alternate spellings of the speech sounds. Te more sounds they learn, the more
books they can read. Children who learn quickly read more books than those who
Ruth’s top ten tips for teachers and parents
● Teach 5 sound-letter/s correspondences a week, starting with single letters and then going on to the sounds represented by two or three letters (eg, sh, oo air, igh). Use visual-auditory mnemonics to help children learn them quickly – eg, d in the shape of the dinosaur, g in the shape of a girl. Review the sounds at least 5 times a day until children can read them fairly speedily. ● Teach letter formation alongside this using the mnemonic phrases to help eg, d – round the dinosaur’s bottom up his neck and down to his feet. Teach children to sit comfortably at a table and
to use a correct pencil grip. ● Teach children to understand and to speak in “Fred Talk” – saying words in sounds eg, r-e-d, b-l-ue, b-a- ck, ch-ee-k. ● Once children can read the first few sounds speedily, show them how to read words in Fred Talk and work out the word, for example, m-a-t, mat. ● Teach children to spell words using Fred Talk. Show them how to pinch a different finger as they say each sound eg, mat, m-a-t. ● Teach “red” words for reading and spelling (common words containing an unusual spelling of a sound). Help children look for
the letters that “work” and ones that are tricky. ● Match stories closely to the sounds your children can read so they can apply their word-reading skills, independently. No guessing needed here! ● Teach alternative spellings for sounds once your child’s word reading is more confident. ● Read lots and lots of stories to children – they will soon be able to read these for themselves. ● Put learning to read at the heart of the school and persevere with children who take longer to learn. Never give up!
so well, they can easily teach their brothers and sisters
need lots of practice. As the children learn how to read, we read lots of stories to the children and learn poems and rhymes by heart. Tis pattern continues until they can read the same stories we read to them, but for themselves. In the same step-by-step way, children learn to write sounds, words with the sounds they know, then simple sentences and stories. We compose stories orally using talking prompts and partner work. Close homogeneous
grouping – just while children learn how to
read – means that children make much greater progress. It allows children to read and write at their progress level, every
day, for 30 minutes to one hour – not just once a week or for a couple of minutes a day. No wonder they learn so quickly. A few children, with particular needs, also receive a 10 minute one-to-one practise before the lesson, so they feel successful from the start. No one is allowed to fall through the net. All staff are trained by one of our trainers
so everyone knows what each other is doing; using the same methods makes a huge difference to children’s progress. Te trainers are inspiring – they show teachers how to make learning to read enjoyable. Parents can easily help if they want to –
there is no mystery to what we do. What’s more, children learn my system so well they can even teach their younger brothers and sisters! Many schools now show the parents what to do, but if they don’t, parents can download a simple guide from the Read Write Inc. website. Tere are now over 2,000 schools using
Read Write Inc., across the world. Many are in disadvantaged areas, but increasingly more and more independent schools are adopting the system so their children can learn to read and write more quickly. It’s a simple system, but it needs to be
well led by a senior teacher who recognises that a school is only as good as the success of its most vulnerable child. It just takes enthusiasm and good organisation!
Further information
For training
www.ruthmiskinliteracy.com
For further resources
www.readwriteinc.com
www.firstelevenmagazine.co.uk
Autumn 2011 FirstEleven 17
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