Top tips from Rosie Instone, trainer in our development team
1. Act on the data, teach to the gaps!
Now more than ever, make sure you are using your sounds grid to inform daily teaching and extra practice.
If you use the RMT Online Assessment, the automatically populated sounds grid shows the sounds each child knows. The teachers I’m working with find it useful to turn the 1s green so they can see the sound gaps at a glance.
2. Get practising!
Children’s progress is directly linked to your expertise. If you’re a reading leader, weekly Set 2 and Set 3 sounds practice and coaching sessions are invaluable.
And if you’re a classroom teacher or teaching assistant, ask for this practice! If you have the RMT Online Subscription, you’ll find that the Set 2 and Set 3 sound films help you with this practice.
3. Time on the sounds matters
One of the best ways to give more practice is an afternoon Speed Sounds lesson – ideally splitting the class based on what they need to practise.The Virtual Classroom films on the RMT subscription are a big help if an extra pair of hands is needed. Schools like to create pathways for individual children to make it easier to find the right films in the afternoon.
Speed Sound cards from Oxford University Press are ideal for partner practice throughout the day.
4. Protect tutoring time for your lowest 20% – keep up, not catch up!
You know the impact tutoring has on your slowest progress readers.
If you’re struggling to protect the one-to-one daily time, it helps to talk to your leadership team about the impact it has had on individual children’s progress.
At this stage in the year, look at the steps in Part 6: Learning Set 2 and 3 Speed Sounds in the Tutoring Handbook. The Handbook is available on Oxford Owl, with training films on the RMT Online Subscription to support tutors.
5. Get going with teaching Set 3 as soon as possible!
Be confident that as soon as children can read Set 2 speedily, they are ready to be taught Set 3.
This may be in Purple or Pink group. This teacher is doing a great job of teaching o-e! Schools find that it’s a good idea to keep reviewing Word Time 1.6 and 1.7. You can find lots more in-action films like this on the RMT Online Subscription.
6. Get parents on board!
The Virtual Classroom – part of the RMT Online Subscription – mirrors each lesson.
The schools I speak to love how easy it is to send links home after each lesson for extra practice. Another popular option is to send home a pack of small Speed Sounds cards. You can buy a multiple pack of these cards (10 sets of both Set 2 and Set 3 sound cards). Do only send a few sounds home at a time.