Frequently asked questions
Experienced teachers of the programme Sometimes a word changes from being a Red Word to being a Green Word. Why? Red Words are high frequency words with a low frequency grapheme, e.g. ‘said’. In ‘said’, ai is the tricky grapheme that children will find hard to sound out: ‘‘It’s harder to Fred a Red’’. ‘Said’ stays as a Red Word as the ai grapheme rarely represents e. Some words start as Red but then turn Green, e.g. ‘he’. Because the grapheme e has not been taught to represent ee in Set 1, once ‘e’ has been taught in Set 3, ‘he’ becomes Green. In places the system is flexible to ensure the books are accessible for children and for ease of teaching. A few words have been designated Red, because they are Red in the south of England and not in the north! These change very swiftly from Red to Green once children can read the words.
Do the Red Word charts in the Storybooks contain Red Words from previous books? Yes, because it is important for children to revise Red Words and learn to read them speedily.
E
Occasionally we encounter a sound that isn’t on the sound chart. Why? The sound charts contain the highest frequency graphemes that occur in children’s books.
M PL
We do not clutter the chart with low frequency graphemes that might distract children’s attention from ones they really need to know. Once children know these, they are taught lower frequency graphemes in the Storybooks. Teachers write these on sticky notes and add them to the chart. Once children progress to Spelling (Year 2/P3) the chart contains all of the graphemes they may need for Spelling.
Sometimes a word changes from being a Story Green Word to a Speedy Green Word. Why?
SA
High frequency Story Green Words become Speedy Green Words in later stories. For example, in the early stages children practise sounding out ‘dog’ as a Story Green Word. Once children can read it easily they practise reading it at speed.
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