Learning to read is one of the most exciting accomplishments your child will reach during early elementary school. Sight words are words that will appear frequently in text your child as your child learns to read. Joan Novelli, author of "40 Sensational Sight Word Games: Quick & Easy Games and Reproducibles That the Top 100 Sight Words That Are Key to Reading Success," writes that knowing sight words leads to more fluent reading and enhanced spelling skills. You can teach your child sight words using a few techniques that are fun and educational.
Step 1
Introduce the sight words to your child. Show her what each word looks like in print, say it out loud and then spell it for her, recommends Novelli. One way to increase sight word comprehension is to make each word very familiar to your child. Find a sentence in one of the books your child enjoys and read the word in a sentence to acquaint her with its meaning. Challenge your child to find each sight word as many times as she can in some of her favorite books.
Step 2
Use flashcards to build familiarity with each sight word. Ask your child's teacher for a list of sight words your child needs to know. Print each word on an index card. Novelli recommends laminating them for repeated use. Quiz your child by holding up a flashcard and encouraging him to tell you what the word is. You can select the cards that teach the words your child is having the most trouble with or you can include all of them at one time, says Novelli.
Step 3
Create a print-rich home. Sara Throop, author of "Success With Sight Words: Multisensory Ways to Teach High-Frequency Words," suggests writing sight words on index cards and placing them around your home so your child sees them often. Throop also suggests making a word wall and sorting each sight word into sections according to beginning letter. Hang the word wall where your child will see it. Spend a few minutes each day reading the words you have placed around your home or on the word wall.
Step 4
Use literacy tools for a hands-on way to teach sight words. Throop writes that literacy activities your child can become actively engaged with will help her learn sight words because she will be participating in an enjoyable experience. Magnet boards and letter tiles or rubber stamps with letters can encourage your child to spell sight words. Pipe cleaners can be bent to create letters to spell sight words. You can also use sand and glue as another way to encourage your child to learn her sight words by writing the words with glue and sprinkling them with sand. Throop suggests glitter or clay as other options.
Step 5
Play games that teach literacy. Pamela Byrne Schiller, author of "Creating Readers: Over 1000 Games, Activities, Tongue Twisters, Fingerplays, Songs and Stories to Get Children Excited About Reading," writes that games can motivate your child to learn sight words because they are fun and engaging. Sight Word Basketball encourages your child to pay attention to each word. Give your child a set of index cards with sight words and a plastic cup. Each time your child reads a word correctly, she places it in her cup. See how fast he can get all the words in her cup. Other ideas include sight word bingo, sight word memory and unscrambling different sight words.
Tips and Warnings
- If one activity does not work, do not hesitate to find an activity that encourages your child to be successful.
- Never get frustrated and take your impatience out on your child. She needs constant support to learn her sight words and she will be more likely to practice if it is fun.
Things You'll Need
- Index cards
- Marker
- Books
- Literacy tools
- Plastic cup
References
- "40 Sensational Sight Word Games: Quick & Easy Games and Reproducibles That the Top 100 Sight Words That Are Key to Reading Success"; Joan Novelli; 2002
- "Success With Sight Words: Multisensory Ways to Teach High-Frequency Words"; Sara Throop; 1999
- "Creating Readers: Over 1000 Games, Activities, Tongue Twisters, Fingerplays, Songs and Stories to Get Children Excited About Reading"; Pamela Byrne Schiller; 2001
