Red Books

Listening to your child read – Red Books

The information here will help you to support your child in making steady progress with their reading.

In our school, children read each Read Write Inc. book at least three times in class with their partner. Re-reading the same book helps children to become confident readers. Each time they re-read, they build their fluency/speed and comprehension.  They love reading and want to read because they can read all of the words in the book.  We do not send stories home the children cannot read because we always want them to be set up to succeed in their reading. We want to make sure they enjoy reading so that they want to read.  The more they read, the faster progress they will make.

So, after the third read in class, children bring the same Storybook home in their book bag.  They love this because they feel confident about reading it and can’t wait to read it to you, their grandparents or even their teddy bear!  Please  avoid saying, “This book is too easy for you!” but instead say “I love how well you can read this book!” They are meant to be able to read all of the words as the book is at the correct level.

Encourage them to share their enjoyment of the story with you and read it in their storyteller voice – again and again. If they hesitate over a word, remind them to read the word using ‘Special Friends, Fred Talk, read the word’. For example, this means they spot the ‘sh’, then Fred Talk and blend to read the word e.g. sh, sh-i-p, ship.

So, to recap, what can you do to help at home?

  1. Listen to your child read the same Read Write Inc. Storybook again and again.
  2. Encourage them to use ’Special Friends’, ‘Fred Talk’, ‘read the word’.
  3. Read through the Story Green words, Speedy Green words and Red words listed in the book.
  4. Discuss the story and encourage their storyteller voice.
     

Red Words
Red Words are also known as common exception or tricky words. They occur in stories regularly (said, what, where) but have unusual letter combinations (‘ai’ in the word ‘said’ makes the sound ‘e’).  Remind your child not to use Fred Talk to read Red Words but instead to ‘stop and think’.  Tell them the word if you need to.

Red words your child will need to know for Red Books: 

 

I

of

my

to

the

put

for

he

no

 

 

Moving On
In order to move on to Green your child needs to confidently use Fred Talk to read and write words with Set 1 Special Friends (sh, th, qu, ch, ng, nk) and words with 4 sounds (e.g. lamp, mist, wind).  The also need to read alien/nonsense words using their known sounds.  

Useful Resources
Parent Support Videos
 
 
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Set 1 Special Friends Lessons