With school back in session recently in Australia, I know that some readers have children beginning the process of learning to read. One common strategy that forms the process of learning to read in many classrooms is the process of learning a list of sight words.
Sight words are high frequency words that we use a lot in both verbal and written communication, words like the, come, to, with and where. Unfortunately, they are also usually irregularly spelt, making them difficult for children to sound out phonetically. By learning these words by sight, children are able to read (and write) more fluently which is important to good comprehension. If your teacher is incorporating sight word learning into the class reading program, it is likely that they have already sent home word lists, flashcards and/or activity ideas for helping children to learn these high frequency words.
Helping your child to learn their list of sight words usually involves lots of repetition but it doesn’t have to be dull and laborious. As with all early learning, adding a touch of playfulness to your practice time can help to engage your child more fully with the learning experience.
Here are a few playful suggestions for learning sight words…
Head off on a word hunt to find their high frequency words. This can be done in number of different ways;
- Search for their sight words in a reading book or favourite book.
Make the words from single letters using;
- Scrabble letters
- Playdough
- Pipe cleaners or matchsticks
Draw the words;
- Make rainbow words, tracing each letter with lots of colours
- In a sand tray
- With chalk on the pavement
- Type the words on the computer
- Form the words with letter magnets on the fridge
Make a game of learning the words by;
- Jumping on the words (especially good for active learners)
- Making a set of matching cards containing the words and playing concentration
Do you have a child beginning the process of learning to read?
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- Learning to Read: What Does a Good Reading Program Include?
Christie blogs at http://childhood101.com.
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Oh I remember the magic and frustration of learning site words!
We had them stuck ALL over the house, but by far the best thing I did was make a set with old magnets stuck to the back so the girls could make sentences on the fridge.
You know, some days I thought they’d never learn them and we’d live in frustration land forever… but here we are 2 years later and they are reading chapter books in a day! Bring on the magic of reading!
I don’t think Miss M has started learning them yet (in Prep) but I will put this post somewhere safe so I can refer back to it when she does. So many great ideas, Christie. Thank you : )
Great! wish your blog with connected to Pinterest!
A very timely post for me! Nugget seems to have had a photographic memory with sight words. Looked at them once, never forgot them. Had ticked off his first 600 by the start of Year 1. Doo Dah brought his first chart home last week. He seems to be a much more ‘normal’ sight word learner. The fun and games begin. He will love some of those ideas so I will get cracking! x
These are GREAT ideas for sight words. I know children also enjoy finding them in things that are around them everyday, like signs you pass on your drive, boxes of food, and at the grocery store.
Another fun idea is to pull out old greeting cards from your child’s last birthday or a holiday and to make a placemat sight word collage! Then they can find the words at mealtimes and enjoy remembering who those words are from. Fun, fun!
I hate homework. But the basics, like sight words and times tables are so important. Making it fun is definitely the key. One I wish I’d read years ago….
Your ideas are ecxellent! I wii definately apply some of them in my class! Thank you!
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