Overview
Learn the history behind Dolch and Fry sight words, and why they are important in developing fluent readers.
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Lessons
Follow the sight words teaching techniques. Learn research-validated and classroom-proven ways to introduce words, reinforce learning, and correct mistakes.
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Flash Cards
Print your own sight words flash cards. Create a set of Dolch or Fry sight words flash cards, or use your own custom set of words.
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Games
Play sight words games. Make games that create fun opportunities for repetition and reinforcement of the lessons.
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- Overview
- What Are Sight Words?
- Types of Sight Words
- When to Start
- Scaling & Scaffolding
- Research
- Questions and Answers
1. Overview
Sight words instruction is an excellent supplement to phonics instruction. Phonics is a method for learning to read in general, while sight words instruction increases a child’s familiarity with the high frequency words he will encounter most often.
The best way to learn sight words is through lots and lots of repetition, in the form of flashcard exercises and word-focused games.
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2. What Are Sight Words?
Sight words are words that should be memorized to help a child learn to read and write. Learning sight words allows a child to recognize these words at a glance — on sight — without needing to break the words down into their individual letters and is the way strong readers recognize most words. Knowing common, or high frequency, words by sight makes reading easier and faster, because the reader does not need to stop to try and sound out each individual word, letter by letter.
Sight Words are memorized so that a child can recognize commonly used or phonetically irregular words at a glance, without needing to go letter-by-letter.
Other terms used to describe sight words include: service words, instant words (because you should recognize them instantly), snap words (because you should know them in a snap), and high frequency words. You will also hear them referred to as Dolch words or Fry words, the two most commonly used sight words lists.
Sight words are the glue that holds sentences together.
These pages contain resources to teach sight words, including: sight words flash cards, lessons, and games. If you are new to sight words, start with the teaching strategies to get a road map for teaching the material, showing you how to sequence the lessons and activities.
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3. Types of Sight Words
Sight words fall into two categories:
- Frequently Used Words — Words that occur commonly in the English language, such as it, can, and will. Memorizing these words makes reading much easier and smoother, because the child already recognizes most of the words and can concentrate their efforts on new words. For example, knowing just the Dolch Sight Words would enable you to read about 50% of a newspaper or 80% of a children’s book.
- Non-Phonetic Words — Words that cannot be decoded phonetically, such as buy, talk, or come. Memorizing these words with unnatural spellings and pronunciations teaches not only these words but also helps the reader recognize similar words, such as guy, walk, or some.
There are several lists of sight words that are in common use, such as Dolch, Fry, Top 150, and Core Curriculum. There is a great deal of overlap among the lists, but the Dolch sight word list is the most popular and widely used.
3.1 Dolch Sight Words
The Dolch Sight Words list is the most commonly used set of sight words. Educator Dr. Edward William Dolch developed the list in the 1930s-40s by studying the most frequently occurring words in children’s books of that era. The list contains 220 “service words” plus 95 high-frequency nouns. The Dolch sight words comprise 80% of the words you would find in a typical children’s book and 50% of the words found in writing for adults. Once a child knows the Dolch words, it makes reading much easier, because the child can then focus his or her attention on the remaining words.
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3.2 Fry Sight Words
The Fry Sight Words list is a more modern list of words, and was extended to capture the most common 1,000 words. Dr. Edward Fry developed this expanded list in the 1950s (and updated it in 1980), based on the most common words to appear in reading materials used in Grades 3-9. Learning all 1,000 words in the Fry sight word list would equip a child to read about 90% of the words in a typical book, newspaper, or website.
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3.3 Top 150 Written Words
The Top 150 Written Words is the newest of the word lists featured on our site, and is commonly used by people who are learning to read English as a non-native language. This list consists of the 150 words that occur most frequently in printed English, according to the Word Frequency Book. This list is recommended by Sally E. Shaywitz, M.D., Professor of Learning Development at Yale University’s School of Medicine.
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3.4 Other Sight Words Lists
There are many newer variations, such as the Common Core sight words, that tweak the Dolch and Fry sight words lists to find the combination of words that is the most beneficial for reading development. Many teachers take existing sight word lists and customize them, adding words from their own classroom lessons.
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4. When to Start Teaching Sight Words
Before a child starts learning sight words, it is important that he/she be able to recognize and name all the lower-case letters of the alphabet. When prompted with a letter, the child should be able to name the letter quickly and confidently. Note that, different from learning phonics, the child does not need to know the letters’ sounds.
Before starting sight words, a child needs to be able to recognize and name all the lower-case letters of the alphabet.
If a student’s knowledge of letter names is still shaky, it is important to spend time practicing this skill before jumping into sight words. Having a solid foundation in the ability to instantly recognize and name the alphabet letters will make teaching sight words easier and more meaningful for the child.
Go to our Lessons for proven strategies on how to teach and practice sight words with your child.
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5. Scaling & Scaffolding
Every child is unique and will learn sight words at a different rate. A teacher may have a wide range of skill levels in the same classroom. Many of our sight words games can be adjusted to suit different skill levels.
Many of our activity pages feature recommendations for adjusting the game to the needs of your particular child or classroom:
- Confidence Builders suggest ways to simplify a sight words game for a struggling student.
- Extensions offer tips for a child who loves playing a particular game but needs to be challenged more.
- Variations suggest ways to change up the game a little, by tailoring it to a child’s special interests or making it “portable.”
- Small Group Adaptations offer ideas for scaling up from an individual child to a small group (2-5 children), ensuring that every child is engaged and learning.
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6. Research
Our sight words teaching techniques are based not only on classroom experience but also on the latest in child literacy research. Here is a bibliography of some of the research supporting our approach to sight words instruction:
- Ceprano, M. A. “A review of selected research on methods of teaching sight words.” The Reading Teacher 35:3 (1981): 314-322.
- Ehri, Linnea C. “Grapheme–Phoneme Knowledge Is Essential for Learning to Read Words in English.” Word Recognition in Beginning Literacy. Mahwah, NJ: L. Erlbaum Associates, 1998.
- Enfield, Mary Lee, and Victoria Greene. Project Read. www.projectread.com. 1969.
- Gillingham, Anna, and Bessie W. Stillman. The Gillingham Manual: Remedial Training for Students with Specific Disability in Reading, Spelling, and Penmanship, 8th edition. Cambridge, MA: Educators Publishing Service, 2014.
- Nist, Lindsay, and Laurice M. Joseph. “Effectiveness and Efficiency of Flashcard Drill Instructional Methods on Urban First-Graders’ Word Recognition, Acquisition, Maintenance, and Generalization.” School Psychology Review 37:3 (Fall 2008): 294-308.
- Shaywitz, Sally E. Overcoming Dyslexia: A New and Complete Science-Based Program for Reading Problems at Any Level. New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 2003.
- Stoner, J.C. “Teaching at-risk students to read using specialized techniques in the regular classroom.” Reading and Writing: An Interdisciplinary Journal 3 (1991).
- Wilson, Barbara A. “The Wilson Reading Method.” Learning Disabilities Journal 8:1 (February 1998): 12-13.
- Wilson, Barbara A. Wilson Reading System. Millbury, MA: Wilson Language Training, 1988.
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June 16, 2021
Sight Words
What is Sight Word? Definition and 900 Sight Words List
Sight Words
Sight words are detailed teaching activities and techniques given to establish the foundations of child literacy. These teaching activities and techniques are customized to assist people such as caregivers, teachers, and families who teach children in teaching. Sight words are of great importance in making teaching easier and more effective for children.
When children read Sight words, they have speed and fluency. In inSight words, kids don’t need to sound out letters. Instead, they immediately learn to recognize it. Sight words are widely used in English today. They are the most basic words used to build children’s vocabulary. When these words are combined with phonetics, children’s reading speed will also increase.
How Can Sight Words Be Used?
It is not right to give children a compelling education in teaching techniques in English today. Instead, it is more efficient to teach sight words to children through various activities and games. In this way, children will not forget to have fun while taking advanced education without difficulty.
Sight words most used by children are:
- the, of, and, a, to, in, is, you, that, it, part, he, was, for, on, are, as with, his, they, I, at, be, have, from, or, one, had, by, words, but, not, what, all
Such sight words are used in sentences. The use of these sight words in sentences is as follows:
- Put: I put my pens in my bag.
- Every: I study every day.
- Old: My cat is very old.
- After: I go out after dinner.
- Going: I’m going to the zoo.
- Walk: I walk with my dog.
- See: I see the approaching car.
- All: All my toys are beautiful.
- With: I play games with those kids.
- At: Look at my dog. She is beautiful.
- But: I like vegetables, but I don’t like carrots.
- She: She looks so beautiful, she.
- On: He is sitting at the table.
- They: They don’t want to go home.
- I: I will be a doctor.
How to Teach Sight Words?
Children can be taught flashcards, books, audio videos, and bingo-style games to learn Sight words. In this way, children will start learning sight words in a fun way. Words will be reinforced with the help of many books and videos. Reading and speaking of children who use these words in a sentence will be faster and fluent. Basic teaching and the use of sight words in English are important. Once kids have mastered sight words, they will now read words without pauses.
900 Sight Words List
1. north
2. four
3. the
4. touch
5. forest
6. knew
7. broken
8. exercise
9. hope
10. main
11. quickly
12. being
13. desert
14. developed
15. paint
16. their
17. ice
18. lady
19. himself
20. indian
21. on
22. consider
23. grass
24. apple
25. food
26. moment
27. remember
28. late
29. trade
30. electric
31. surprise
32. course
33. teacher
34. early
35. better
36. long
37. back
38. open
39. whose
40. position
41. far
42. government
43. road
44. red
45. wild
46. even
47. lead
48. about
49. than
50. farmer
51. different
52. common
53. row
54. consonant
55. ran
56. picked
57. plains
58. region
59. fit
60. well
61. bell
62. mouth
63. sky
64. don’t
65. take
66. however
67. strong
68. sometimes
69. book
70. language
71. guess
72. someone
73. why
74. choose
75. she
76. now
77. gave
78. voice
79. carefully
80. ocean
81. rather
82. fly
83. cow
84. complete
85. am
86. serve
87. certain
88. drive
89. birds
90. information
91. going
92. amount
93. name
94. built
95. written
96. many
97. compound
98. funny
99. property
100. quite
101. hole
102. also
103. industry
104. test
105. length
106. small
107. hurt
108. squirrel
109. elements
110. hold
111. read
112. site
113. ready
114. edge
115. mind
116. pay
117. both
118. exciting
119. little
120. cross
121. please
122. done
123. students
124. know
125. poem
126. french
127. everyone
128. meet
129. save
130. paragraph
131. tone
132. leg
133. soft
134. shall
135. example
136. under
137. soil
138. expect
139. seen
140. play
141. blue
142. fun
143. killed
144. army
145. story
146. necessary
147. return
148. instruments
149. passed
150. sound
151. street
152. object
153. dog
154. brother
155. in
156. blood
157. only
158. children
159. do
160. at
161. factors
162. have
163. noun
164. and
165. own
166. light
167. large
168. everything
169. party
170. drink
171. soon
172. send
173. difference
174. suppose
175. anything
176. got
177. chair
178. because
179. fat
180. draw
181. sure
182. mark
183. system
184. speak
185. winter
186. unit
187. thing
188. per
189. general
190. spell
191. hard
192. able
193. straight
194. window
195. an
196. west
197. sent
198. enjoy
199. smiled
200. cloud
201. across
202. measure
203. hunting
204. way
205. known
206. us
207. together
208. love
209. show
210. angle
211. mountains
212. did
213. mall
214. five
215. pushed
216. material
217. may
218. means
219. father
220. clothes
221. you
222. drop
223. happened
224. cut
225. is
226. look
227. bring
228. dictionary
229. strange
230. climbed
231. process
232. walk
233. into
234. robi
235. him
236. once
237. there
238. your
239. corner
240. shoulder
241. follow
242. supply
243. during
244. if
245. area
246. surface
247. lifted
248. human
249. this
250. while
251. instead
252. farm
253. thus
254. discovered
255. always
256. wire
257. how
258. weight
259. need
260. snow
261. law
262. begin
263. nothing
264. those
265. thank
266. wide
267. often
268. high
269. floor
270. compare
271. count
272. build
273. questions
274. round
275. dollars
276. came
277. which
278. been
279. song
280. three
281. caught
282. year
283. base
284. members
285. think
286. fast
287. middle
288. pulled
289. care
290. bad
291. upon
292. state
293. city
294. ship
295. sand
296. pick
297. rhythm
298. best
299. months
300. less
301. continued
302. current
303. addition
304. movement
305. very
306. said
307. shouted
308. tube
309. covered
310. waves
311. became
312. found
313. tiny
314. should
315. felt
316. was
317. leave
318. seed
319. idea
320. same
321. no
322. sum
323. dress
324. class
325. flowers
326. land
327. branches
328. rolled
329. warm
330. skin
331. horse
332. heat
333. section
334. observe
335. eggs
336. record
337. write
338. heavy
339. problem
340. that
341. cook
342. began
343. myself
344. separate
345. cost
346. nation
347. don’t
348. animal
349. distance
350. fly
351. meat
352. art
353. race
354. life
355. letter
356. doll
357. flower
358. new
359. mountain
360. wear
361. paper
362. week
363. before
364. maybe
365. never
366. eat
367. any
368. wash
369. toward
370. equal
371. around
372. couldn’t
373. ears
374. christmas
375. matter
376. call
377. wasn’t
378. eye
379. minutes
380. he
381. spot
382. value
383. second
384. ten
385. add
386. pull
387. pretty
388. change
389. eight
390. english
391. son
392. syllables
393. deep
394. black
395. direct
396. themselves
397. statement
398. feel
399. root
400. every
401. sister
402. carry
403. half
404. too
405. made
406. entered
407. reached
408. find
409. great
410. moon
411. summer
412. number
413. find
414. king
415. just
416. yellow
417. already
418. go
419. miss
420. six
421. turn
422. cold
423. white
424. scientists
425. for
426. off
427. would
428. hear
429. sight
430. like
431. produce
432. map
433. ball
434. single
435. as
436. last
437. trouble
438. report
439. things
440. some
441. can
442. let
443. brown
444. dry
445. space
446. me
447. clean
448. called
449. corn
450. it
451. happy
452. least
453. size
454. hit
455. music
456. green
457. received
458. nest
459. keep
460. east
461. start
462. hours
463. top
464. god
465. alone
466. finally
467. answer
468. understand
469. represent
470. sell
471. up
472. plan
473. stars
474. cake
475. dance
476. buy
477. off
478. full
479. body
480. suggested
481. result
482. fire
483. act
484. circle
485. uncle
486. sharp
487. visit
488. laugh
489. woman
490. grow
491. board
492. bird
493. direction
494. yourself
495. glass
496. interest
497. japanese
498. coat
499. its
500. heard
501. drawing
502. egg
503. copy
504. fight
505. spring
506. itself
507. science
508. laughed
509. divided
510. third
511. sat
512. cattle
513. floor
514. mine
515. goodbye
516. who
517. most
518. town
519. away
520. blow
521. loud
522. rabbit
523. her
524. lake
525. must
526. first
527. lay
528. vowel
529. of
530. control
531. duck
532. didn’t
533. almost
534. can’t
535. men
536. natural
537. spread
538. phrase
539. describe
540. bread
541. iron
542. rest
543. yet
544. tall
545. products
546. down
547. talk
548. temperature
549. type
550. young
551. step
552. birthday
553. america
554. sleep
555. are
556. wish
557. sign
558. bank
559. silent
560. not
561. rise
562. close
563. behind
564. let’s
565. case
566. free
567. big
568. face
569. i’ll
570. group
571. money
572. believe
573. pounds
574. people
575. school
576. equation
577. died
578. fine
579. clear
580. reason
581. heart
582. cool
583. wind
584. see
585. safe
586. usually
587. suddenly
588. feeling
589. will
590. europe
591. sea
592. sense
593. table
594. thin
595. contain
596. major
597. whole
598. park
599. provide
600. study
601. day
602. after
603. particular
604. cause
605. again
606. color
607. modern
608. bright
609. center
610. thousands
611. belong
612. string
613. oil
614. fact
615. remain
616. through
617. correct
618. each
619. water
620. it’s
621. soldiers
622. held
623. from
624. past
625. so
626. much
627. scale
628. machine
629. exactly
630. sheep
631. slowly
632. rule
633. village
634. key
635. else
636. fell
637. melody
638. short
639. whether
640. square
641. house
642. air
643. stop
644. room
645. boat
646. train
647. thick
648. next
649. low
650. period
651. travel
652. fish
653. other
654. with
655. out
656. wall
657. does
658. africa
659. sail
660. possible
661. we
662. stand
663. side
664. gold
665. probably
666. nouns
667. force
668. finished
669. family
670. yard
671. set
672. feet
673. subject
674. rich
675. took
676. head
677. energy
678. hundred
679. wife
680. century
681. wheels
682. stream
683. foot
684. live
685. tied
686. ask
687. when
688. cried
689. trip
690. you’re
691. oh
692. watch
693. wood
694. though
695. several
696. special
697. decimal
698. toy
699. filled
700. hat
701. verb
702. crops
703. field
704. planets
705. part
706. bit
707. different
708. jump
709. along
710. valley
711. car
712. fish
713. outside
714. terms
715. mother
716. ride
717. break
718. gas
719. hand
720. baby
721. boy
722. want
723. world
724. burning
725. doctor
726. stick
727. interesting
728. experiment
729. sun
730. fall
731. below
732. i
733. ground
734. run
735. england
736. work
737. these
738. picture
739. list
740. important
741. pair
742. bones
743. make
744. legs
745. then
746. point
747. job
748. solve
749. cat
750. gone
751. goes
752. a
753. seem
754. afternoon
755. plane
756. war
757. method
758. simple
759. by
760. years
761. without
762. mean
763. coast
764. page
765. morning
766. indicate
767. among
768. saw
769. figure
770. garden
771. jumped
772. engine
773. hair
774. were
775. symbols
776. real
777. my
778. power
779. form
780. sing
781. sit
782. where
783. kept
784. has
785. farmers
786. lost
787. line
788. seven
789. today
790. chicken
791. present
792. all
793. kitty
794. bear
795. here
796. listen
797. plant
798. poor
799. above
800. express
801. went
802. shown
803. beat
804. chief
805. put
806. practice
807. against
808. weather
809. business
810. pole
811. easy
812. time
813. numeral
814. million
815. told
816. learn
817. bottom
818. except
819. arms
820. first
821. captain
822. although
823. rain
824. piece
825. dark
826. cells
827. word
828. cannot
829. use
830. wait
831. something
832. box
833. wings
834. stood
835. history
836. such
837. friends
838. milk
839. girl
840. another
841. they
842. design
843. enough
844. words
845. stay
846. door
847. south
848. end
849. ring
850. wonder
851. kind
852. could
853. night
854. wrote
855. store
856. fruit
857. help
858. front
859. ago
860. become
861. try
862. speed
863. one
864. order
865. age
866. tell
867. include
868. be
869. what
870. block
871. joined
872. brought
873. team
874. move
875. might
876. two
877. ate
878. explain
879. our
880. check
881. won’t
882. bed
883. more
884. good
885. either
886. grew
887. child
888. island
889. quiet
890. hill
891. left
892. note
893. yes
894. still
895. famous
896. fraction
897. few
898. decided
899. lot
900. swim
901. appear
902. raised
903. or
904. beautiful
905. cents
906. river
907. mile
908. thought
909. true
910. seeds
911. building
912. rock
913. person
914. fingers
915. old
916. within
917. earth
918. over
919. near
920. crowd
921. bill
922. get
923. place
924. catch
925. had
926. game
927. notice
928. right
929. to
930. eyes
931. ever
932. until
933. president
934. tree
935. inches
936. since
937. insects
938. pig
939. inside
940. fire
941. follow
942. say
943. metal
944. country
945. but
946. between
947. five
948. shape
949. his
950. increase
951. beside
952. pattern
953. sentence
954. hot
955. give
956. shoe
957. home
958. man
959. come
960. perhaps
961. lie
962. them
963. stone
Planning for sight word instruction can be overwhelming. So many questions… Which sight word lists should I use? Why are there different sight words lists to begin with?!? Which one is better, Dolch or Fry? Does it even matter?!? Are sight words even that important? If you are an early literacy teacher just starting out, this can be so stressful! I mean, teaching kids is hard enough. Why do they make it even harder? Just tell me what to teach!
Where are Sight Words in the State Standards?
Where are they? Different states have different standards. Yes, several years ago there was a push toward a common set of standards nationwide. These were not to be confused with national standards as states had the option to choose to adopt them or not. (Nevermind the substantial federal grants that were tied to early adoption of the Common Core State Standards… but that’s another story for another day…).
Given that I live in Georgia, I’ll speak to my state’s standards.
Kindergarten Sight Word Standards
Sight word standards can be found in the Reading Foundations domain of the ELA standards in grades K-3. In Kindergarten, the standards actually spell out sight word mastery using the terms “sight words.”
1st Grade & Beyond Sight Word Standards
For first grade and beyond, the standards for sight words are a bit more cloaked. IT is important to realize that they are hidden within the Reading Foundations standards requiring first, second, and third graders to know irregularly spelled words for their respective grade-level.
Now, the super interesting part here is that there is no definition provided for exactly what constitutes a sight word or irregularly spelled word for a given grade level. This is not to mention that despite what so many teachers have taught in the past, MANY sight words ARE in fact decodable! (Look for an upcoming blog post about this specifically!
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Which Sight Words List Should I Teach?
So what are we to use to teach sight words? Admittedly, both the Dolch and Fry sight word lists are both very renowned and highly touted.
But, which one is the right one? Which sight word list should we be using?
What are Dolch Sight Words?
Dolch sight words, trademarked by Edward William Dolch, were developed through his work in determining the most common words in children’s literature at the time. Keep in mind that this was nearing 80 years ago. The Dolch sight word lists are comprised of 220 sight words divvied out into five lists. He also had a separate list for nouns, 95 to be exact. Even though Dolch developed his lists many years ago, a majority of the words (50-75%) of words are still relevant today.
What are Fry Sight Words?
The Fry sight word lists are quite a bit more up-to-date. They were compiled in 1956, but were revised in 1980. Dr. Edward Fry examined print that we encounter most in our day-to-day lives. From his analysis, he produced a list of the most common 1,000 words. Although there is not a separate list for nouns as Dolch included, nouns are interwoven throughout Fry’s 1,000 word lists.
What is more, you may even see the Fry sight words referred to as Fry’s Instant Word Lists. By and large, teachers and parents encounter the Fry lists most commonly separated into groups of 100. Many educational resources further break down the Fry lists into groups of 25 to make instruction and assessment more manageable. According to Dr. Fry, the first 300 Fry words make up 67% of all words most students encounter in their reading.
What are Fry Phrases?
Of course, the ultimate goal of decoding is to recognize words without hesitation. To be sure, this is a pre-requisite for reading fluency. Reading fluency is important because if students struggle pulling words off the page, then their reading comprehension suffers.
Without a doubt, reading fluency improves with practice. Once students can read the Fry sight words, teachers can address further fluency practice with the Fry Phrases. Even though there is an element of word recognition involved, the emphasis isn’t as much word recognition as it is in improving accuracy and speed with the most common of the high-frequency words. Actually, the Fry phrases include the first 600 Fry sight words.
An Efficient Way to Track Sight Word List Mastery
As a newbie first grade teacher, I didn’t quite realize the vast difference in prior knowledge my kiddos would bring into the classroom. In particular, there were kids who could whip through beginning reader materials in August and there were kids who were still working on letter sounds in November. In spite of the vast levels of first-grade readiness, I had to teach all of the students how to read using decoding and word recognition skills. In reality, I needed a tool to differentiate for the many levels of progress in my classroom. Thus, the Sight Word Folder was born.
Now, this wasn’t just any old folder. This baby had value. It had purpose. It had a place of special recognition in our room. You see, my school required all first graders to fluently read all of Fry’s first 300 sight words. This was no easy feat for many students at our rural Title I school. My kids knew I had high expectations for learning, and we were going to work hard to get there!
But, I needed a system. How in the world could I keep up with 20+ kids’ mastery of 300 very specific words? Read on to see how I tackled this challenge!
Step 1
It was very evident that I had to get parents on board. Without their support, this task would be impossible. That is to say, kids need to read at school AND at home. Furthermore, I needed to build parents’ capacity in helping their child learn to read. For this reason, I wrote a parent letter to give them very specific directions on what our learning objective was and how they could and should help. Then, I shared ideas for families to help their child master the Fry sight word lists. With this purpose in mind, I even shared other fun ways to incorporate sight word practice that was more than using flashcards to memorize them.
Step 2
At this point, I prepped the materials to send home with every child. I made class sets of the Fry sight word lists without reservation. Next, I hole punched the sight word lists and put them in a three-prong folder along with the parent letter (from step 1) on top.
Teacher Tip! It’s been my experience that plastic poly folders with prongs typically hold up for the entire school year. You can label them with markers, or print labels using sticker labels. I like using the Avery 2 1/3 x 3 3/8 inch labels with their free online templates. It’s really teacher preference.
*Some teachers like to include this in the students’ take-home folders instead of a separate folder. Again, it’s up to you and what works for your classroom and your kids.
The name badge label templates are a good size for folder labels, and Avery’s Design and Print online software allows you to customize it as much or as little as you’d like. There’s no charge. Just set up your free account and choose the “print your own” option after designing your label. I printed these on Office Depot labels using Avery template 5395.
Step 3
The next step in prepping the sight word folders was actually for me to use for my record keeping as the teacher. I made a class recording sheet. This could look different depending on your classroom calendar. You may want to track student progress on the sight word lists by month, by list, or both.
Some teachers may need a recording sheet with the school year starting in August or September. Some places even have a school calendar that mirrors the traditional calendar with the school year beginning in January. I kept my recording sheets in my data notebook to have record of student progress throughout the year. This especially helped me in providing evidence that I used data to differentiate instruction in my reading flex groups. All of my reading flex groups were working on different Fry sight word lists.
I wanted my students to take ownership in their learning. To work toward this ownership piece, my student had their own student data notebooks. Some people think of these as learning portfolios. This is where students show evidence of learning. After developing their recording sheet, each student received a copy for their data notebooks.
As students mastered each sight word list, they dated and colored the corresponding reading character and numbered circle. On this data tracking tool, the numbered circle aligned to the number of Fry sight words the students had mastered.
Step 4
I did not want my kids to memorize the lists in order. I wanted them to actually recognize and know the words (as all teachers do!). I knew that I needed to assess the students out of order. Y’all! Before I switched to this method, I had a little first grade baby who legitimately memorized the lists. He thought it was SO FUNNY to “read” the sight word lists to me with his eyes closed. You cannot make this stuff up! 
Anyway… I decided to make flashcards for teacher use during assessment. This made it easy to test students on the sight words out of sequence.
I must have organization in my life and having literally hundreds of sight words all printed on the same color cardstock would have me seriously bonkers. Color-coding is my go-to for keeping up with what’s what. I copied the different word lists on different colors of cardstock to help me differentiate among the lists.
Then, I hole punched each card and put each set of 100 on its own o-ring.
Teacher tip! I picked this #teacherhack up from an awesome kindergarten teacher. She stored the o-rings on command hooks near her teacher table. You could also keep these near a sight word bulletin board display if you have one. This made keeping up with everything just a little bit easier. Kids can even go get the set for you to test them!
This is an example of my rings of Fry Phrases for sight word practice and assessment. This also shows an example of how I track student data for my own records.
Teacher Tip! I like using a dot to mark student progress as they master lists. To me, this is a much cleaner look than check marks. I can easily see who has and has not mastered a given list. For privacy purposes, these are not my actual students’ names.
Step 5
Celebrating student success is so important, and mastering sight word lists is no exception! There are many ways to accomplish this, but a big shout-out board usually really gets kids excited about moving up. (Yes, I know that there is some hesitancy about this when it comes to your struggling learners. I always found a way to celebrate smaller success for this group.)
One example would be using an incentive chart with stickers. For this type of recognition, I set up my classroom data display on an open bulletin board. This specific photo is from when I taught math and used incentive charts to track math fact mastery. I used something similar for sight word lists when I taught first grade.
This is an example of a Math Fact Mastery Incentive Chart I used when I taught 4th grade.
I used the same system for sight words during some of the years that I taught 1st grade.
For the incentive chart with stars, students’ names are listed down the first column, just like the recording sheets. As students master the lists, they earn a foil star to put on their row on the chart.
This is a progress monitoring chart for the whole class to use. I have also used a bulletin board display with student photos. This display was used throughout the entirety of the school year. It was a focal point for daily celebrations. See the example below.
For the bulletin board display, I used number headers for each list. Directly beneath the headers are the student pictures. I took these pictures on the first day of school and used them throughout the year for various purposes. The photo is of the students’ face and upper body on a plain background. The pictures were printed 2×3 inches on cardstock and laminated. The photos were attached to the bulletin board using thumbtacks. This made it very easy for the students to move their own pictures as they mastered new word lists. (Of course, in the mock-up above you will not see my students’ photos, but a collection of pictures of myself. This is for demonstration purposes only!😂)
Bulletin Board Tips
These can be printed out on white cardstock if you’re printing on a color printer, or you can print out a blackline version on colored cardstock, if you prefer.
You’ll want to staple all elements onto your board except for the student pictures. I recommend using a thumb tack for these. The tacks make moving students from one level to the next very easy!
Step 6
Get started on the initial assessment! I always liked to use an extra copy of the Fry Sight Word folder or the teacher flashcards.
If using the teacher flashcards, make two stacks as you assess students – one for sight words the student can read fluently and another for those they need to work on. You’ll need to circle these in the student’s folder.
If using the actual folders for the initial assessment, have the student read from the extra copy while you circle each phrase the student misses in their folder.
Test until a student has missed the 5 or more sight words on a page and teacher judgement. The circled sight words indicate to parents that these are the focus sight words for their child.
I usually let my students “take” up to 5 sight words with them to the next page/list. This keeps students from being stuck on a list due to a few challenging words. I hand write these sight words in the upper right corner of the next list and they become part of that list’s assessment for that child only.
Teacher Tip! Use a sticky note to mark the page in the folder the student needs to work on. The sticky note moves as the students master new lists.
(As pictured below with the Fry Phrase folder)
The Fry Phrases folder is best for advanced first graders or on level second graders. The phrases help students to work toward true fluent reading objectives with expression instead of just word recognition.
Kindergarten sight word list with 5 words per page.
First grade sight word list with 25 words per page.
Step 7
Do you remember when I said get your parents involved? Well, not only do you have to get them involved… you also have to keep them engaged. There’s no better way than making them personally invested in this learning project by giving class shout-outs.
In the first couple of weeks of school, communicate the importance of daily practice at home with the folders to your students and their parents.
I liked to use Class Dojo to send a picture of the folders with a little message so families would know to look for them. I also used Class Dojo to send Shout-Outs home each time someone moved up a level.
Students received printed certificates at the 100, 300, 600 and 1,000 benchmarks along with their shout-out on Class Dojo.
Another idea is to share the photo celebration with whomever manages your school’s social media to post there also.
*Check with your school administrator if you are unsure of your school’s policy about social media, including Class Dojo.
So Many Sight Word Resources!
Let’s Get CONNECTED!
When you’re a new teacher, the number of buzzwords that you have to master seems overwhelming at times. You’ve probably heard about many concepts, but you may not be entirely sure what they are or how to use them in your classroom. For example, new teacher Katy B. asks, “This seems like a really basic question, but what are sight words, and where do I find them?” No worries, Katy. We have you covered!
What’s the difference between sight words and high-frequency words?
Oftentimes we use the terms sight words and high-frequency words interchangeably. Opinions differ, but our research shows that there is a difference. High-frequency words are words that are most commonly found in written language. Although some fit standard phonetic patterns, some do not. Sight words are a subset of high-frequency words that do not fit standard phonetic patterns and are therefore not easily decoded.
We use both types of words consistently in spoken and written language, and they also appear in books, including textbooks, and stories. Once students learn to quickly recognize these words, reading comes more easily.
What are sight words and how can I teach my students to memorize them?
Sight words are words like come, does, or who that do not follow the rules of spelling or the six types of syllables. Decoding these words can be very difficult for young learners. The common practice has been to teach students to memorize these words as a whole, by sight, so that they can recognize them immediately (within three seconds) and read them without having to use decoding skills.
Can I teach sight words using the science of reading?
On the other hand, recent findings based on the science of reading suggests we can use strategies beyond rote memorization. According to the the science of reading, it is possible to sound out many sight words because they have recognizable patterns. Literacy specialist Susan Jones, a proponent of using the science of reading to teach sight words, recommends a method called phoneme-grapheme mapping where students first map out the sounds they hear in a word and then add graphemes (letters) they hear for each sound.
How else can I teach sight words?
There are many fun and engaging ways to teach sight words. Dozens of books on the subject have been published, including the much-revered Comprehensive Phonics, Spelling, and Word Study Guide by Fountas & Pinnell. Also, resources like games, manipulatives, and flash cards are readily available online and in stores. To help get you started, check out these Creative and Simple Sight Word Activities for the Classroom. Also, check out Susan Jones Teaching for three science-of-reading-based ideas and more.
Where do I find sight word lists?
Two of the most popular sources are the Dolch High Frequency Words list and the Fry High Frequency Words list.
During the 1930s and 1940s, Dr. Edward Dolch developed his word list, used for pre-K through third grade, by studying the most frequently occurring words in the children’s books of that era. The list has 200 “service words” and also 95 high-frequency nouns. The Dolch word list comprises 80 percent of the words you would find in a typical children’s book and 50 percent of the words found in writing for adults.
Dr. Edward Fry developed an expanded word list for grades 1–10 in the 1950s (updated in 1980), based on the most common words that appear in reading materials used in grades 3–9. The Fry list contains the most common 1,000 words in the English language. The Fry words include 90 percent of the words found in a typical book, newspaper, or website.
Looking for more sight word activities? Check out 20 Fun Phonics Activities and Games for Early Readers.
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From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
High frequency sight words (also known simply as sight words) are commonly used words that young children are encouraged to memorize as a whole by sight, so that they can automatically recognize these words in print without having to use any strategies to decode.[1] Sight words were introduced after whole language (a similar method) fell out of favor with the education establishment.[2]
The term sight words is often confused with sight vocabulary, which is defined as each person’s own vocabulary that the person recognizes from memory without the need to decode for understanding.[3][1]
However, some researchers say that two of the most significant problems with sight words are: (1) memorizing sight words is labour intensive, requiring on average about 35 trials per word,[4] and (2) teachers who withhold phonics instruction and instead rely on teaching sight words are making it harder for children to «gain basic word-recognition skills» that are critically needed by the end of grade three and can be used over a lifetime of reading.[5]
Rationale[edit]
Sight words account for a large percentage (up to 75%) of the words used in beginning children’s print materials.[6][7] The advantage for children being able to recognize sight words automatically is that a beginning reader will be able to identify the majority of words in a beginning text before they even attempt to read it; therefore, allowing the child to concentrate on meaning and comprehension as they read without having to stop and decode every single word.[6] Advocates of whole-word instruction believe that being able to recognize a large number of sight words gives students a better start to learning to read.
Recognizing sight words automatically is said to be advantageous for beginning readers because many of these words have unusual spelling patterns, cannot be sounded out using basic phonics knowledge and cannot be represented using pictures.[8] For example, the word «was» does not follow a usual spelling pattern, as the middle letter «a» makes an /ɒ~ʌ/ sound and the final letter «s» makes a /z/ sound, nor can the word be associated with a picture clue since it denotes an abstract state (existence). Another example, is the word «said», it breaks the phonetic rule of ai normally makes the long a sound, ay. In this word it makes the short e sound of eh.[9] The word «said» is pronounced as /s/ /e/ /d/. The word «has» also breaks the phonetic rule of s normally making the sss sound, in this word the s makes the z sound, /z/.» The word is then pronounced /h/ /a/ /z/.[9]
However, a 2017 study in England compared teaching with phonics vs. teaching whole written words and concluded that phonics is more effective, saying «our findings suggest that interventions aiming to improve the accuracy of reading aloud and/or comprehension in the early stages of learning should focus on the systematicities present in print-to-sound relationships, rather than attempting to teach direct access to the meanings of whole written words».[10]
Most advocates of sight-words believe children should memorize the words. However, some educators say a more efficient method is to teach them by using an explicit phonics approach, perhaps by using a tool such as Elkonin boxes. As a result, the words form part of the students sight vocabulary, are readily accessible and aid in learning other words containing similar sounds.[11][12]
Other phonics advocates, such as the Common Core State Standards Initiative (CCSSI-USA), the Departments of Education in England, and the State of Victoria in Australia, recommend that teachers first begin by teaching children the frequent sounds and the simple spellings, then introduce the less frequent sounds and more complex spellings later (e.g. the sounds /s/ and /t/ before /v/ and /w/; and the spellings cake before eight and cat before duck).[13][14][15][16] The following are samples of the lists that are available on the CCSSI-USA site:[17]
| Phoneme | Sample only — Word Examples (Consonants) (CCSSI-USA) | Common Graphemes (Spellings) |
|---|---|---|
| /m/ | mitt, comb, hymn | m, mb, mn |
| /t/ | tickle, mitt, sipped | t, tt, ed |
| /n/ | nice, knight, gnat | n, kn, gn |
| /k/ | cup, kite, duck, chorus, folk, quiet | k, c, ck, ch, lk, q |
| /f/ | fluff, sphere, tough, calf | f, ff, gh, ph, lf |
| /s/ | sit, pass, science, psychic | s, ss, sc, ps |
| /z/ | zoo, jazz, nose, as, xylophone | z, zz, se, s, x |
| /sh/ | shoe, mission, sure, charade, precious, notion, mission, special | sh, ss, s, ch, sc, ti, si, ci |
| /zh/ | measure, azure | s, z |
| /r/ | reach, wrap, her, fur, stir | r, wr, er/ur/ir |
| /h/ | house, whole | h, wh |
| Phoneme | Sample only — Word Examples (Vowels) (CCSSI-USA) | Common Graphemes (Spellings) |
|---|---|---|
| /ā/ | make, rain, play, great, baby, eight, vein, they | a_e, ai, ay, ea, -y, eigh, ei, ey |
| /ē/ | see, these, me, eat, key, happy, chief, either | ee, e_e, -e, ea, ey, -y, ie, ei |
| /ī/ | time, pie, cry, right, rifle | i_e, ie, -y, igh, -I |
| /ō/ | vote, boat, toe, snow, open | o_e, oa, oe, ow, o- |
| /ū/ | use, few, cute | u, ew, u_e |
| /ă/ | cat | a |
| /ĕ/ | bed, breath | e, ea |
| /ĭ/ | sit, gym | i, y |
| /ŏ/ | fox, swap, palm | o, (w)a, al |
| /ŭ/ | cup, cover, flood, tough | u, o, oo, ou |
| /aw/ | saw, pause, call, water, bought | aw, au, al, (w)a, ough |
| /er/ | her, fur, sir | er, ur, ir |
Word lists[edit]
A number of sight word lists have been compiled and published; among the most popular are the Dolch sight words[18] (first published in 1936) and the 1000 Instant Word list prepared in 1979 by Edward Fry, professor of Education and Director of the Reading Center at Rutgers University and Loyola University in Los Angeles.[19][20][21][22] Many commercial products are also available. These lists have similar attributes, as they all aim to divide words into levels which are prioritized and introduced to children according to frequency of appearance in beginning readers’ texts. Although many of the lists have overlapping content, the order of frequency of sight words varies and can be disputed, as they depend on contexts such as geographical location, empirical data, samples used, and year of publication.[23]
Criticism[edit]
Research shows that the alphabetic principle is seen as «the primary driver» of development of all aspects of printed word recognition including phonic rules and sight vocabulary.»[24] In addition, the use of sight words as a reading instructional strategy is not consistent with the dual route theory as it involves out-of-context memorization rather than the development of phonological skills.[25] Instead, it is suggested that children first learn to identify individual letter-sound correspondences before blending and segmenting letter combinations.[26][27]
Proponents of systematic phonics and synthetic phonics argue that children must first learn to associate the sounds of their language with the letter(s) that are used to represent them, and then to blends those sounds into words, and that children should never memorize words as visual designs.[28] Using sight words as a method of teaching reading in English is seen as being at odds with the alphabetic principle and treating English as though it was a logographic language (e.g. Chinese or Japanese).[29]
Some notable researchers have clearly stated their disapproval of whole language and whole-word teaching. In his 2009 book, Reading in the brain, French cognitive neuroscientist Stanislas Dehaene wrote, «cognitive psychology directly refutes any notion of teaching via a ‘global’ or ‘whole language’ method.» He goes on to talk about «the myth of whole-word reading», saying it has been refuted by recent experiments. «We do not recognize a printed word through a holistic grasping of its contours, because our brain breaks it down into letters and graphemes.»[30] Another cognitive neuroscientist, Mark Seidenberg, says that learning to sound-out atypical words such as have (/h/-/a/-/v/) helps the student to read other words such as had, has, having, hive, haven’t, etc. because of the sounds they have in common.[31]
See also[edit]
- Dolch word list
- Dual-route hypothesis to reading aloud
- Fry readability formula
- Learning to read
- Literacy
- Most common words in English
- Phonics
- Reading comprehension
- Reading education in the United States
- Reading (process)
- Subvocalization
- Teaching reading: whole language and phonics
- Whole language
- Writing system
References[edit]
- ^ a b «What Are Sight Words?». WeAreTeachers. 2018-04-25. Retrieved 2018-11-30.
- ^ Ravitch, Diane. (2007). EdSpeak: A Glossary of Education Terms, Phrases, Buzzwords, and Jargon. Alexandria, VA: Association for Supervision & Curriculum Development, ISBN 1416605754.
- ^ Rapp, S. (1999-09-29). Recognizing words on sight; activity. The Baltimore Sun
- ^ Murray, Bruce; McIlwain, Jane (2019). «How do beginners learn to read irregular words as sight words». Journal of Research in Reading. 42 (1): 123–136. doi:10.1111/1467-9817.12250. ISSN 0141-0423. S2CID 150055551.
- ^ Seidenberg, Mark (2017). Language at the speed of sight. New York, NY: Basic Books. p. 147. ISBN 978-1-5416-1715-5.
- ^ a b Kear, D. J., & Gladhart, M. A. (1983). «Comparative Study to Identify High-Frequency Words in Printed Materials». Perceptual and Motor Skills. 57 (3): 807–810. doi:10.2466/pms.1983.57.3.807. S2CID 144675331.
{{cite journal}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link) - ^ «Teaching Sight Words as a Part of Comprehensive Reading Instruction, Iowa reading research centre, 2018-06-12».
- ^ «Phonological Ability», The SAGE Encyclopedia of Contemporary Early Childhood Education, SAGE Publications, Inc, 2016, doi:10.4135/9781483340333.n296, ISBN 9781483340357
- ^ a b «Sight Words». www.thephonicspage.org. Retrieved 2018-11-30.
- ^ Taylor, J. S. H.; Davis, Matthew H.; Rastle, Kathleen (2017). «Comparing and Validating Methods of Reading Instruction Using Behavioural and Neural Findings in an Artificial Orthography» (PDF). Journal of Experimental Psychology: General. Journal of Experimental Psychology: General, volume 146, No. 6, 826–858. 146 (6): 826–858. doi:10.1037/xge0000301. PMC 5458780. PMID 28425742.
- ^ «Sight Words: An Evidence-Based Literacy Strategy, Understood.org».
- ^ «A New Model for Teaching High-Frequency Words, reading rockets.org». 6 June 2019.
- ^ «Complete report — National Reading Panel, England» (PDF).
- ^ «Sample phonics lessons, The State Government of Victoria».
- ^ «Foundation skills, The State Government of Victoria, AU».
- ^ «English Appendix 1: Spelling, Government of England» (PDF).
- ^ «Common Core Standards, Appendix A, USA» (PDF).
- ^ «Dolch Words 220, Utah Education Network in partnership with the Utah State Board of Education and Utah System of Higher Education» (PDF).
- ^ Edward Fry (1979). 1000 Instant Words: The Most Common Words for Teaching Reading, Writing, and Spelling. ISBN 0809208806.
- ^ «McGraw-Hill Education Acknowledges Enduring Contributions of Reading and Language Arts Scholar, Author and Innovator Ed Fry, McGraw-Hill Education, Sep 15, 2010».
- ^ «Edward B. Fry, PH.D, Published in Los Angeles Times on Sep. 12, 2010». Legacy.com.
- ^ «Fry Instant Words, UTAH EDUCATION NETWORK».
- ^ Otto, W. & cester, R. (1972). «Sight words for beginning readers». The Journal of Educational Research. 65 (10): 435–443. doi:10.1080/00220671.1972.10884372. JSTOR /27536333.
- ^ «Independent Review of the Primary Curriculum: Final Report, page 87» (PDF).
- ^ Ehri, Linnea C. (2017). «Reconceptualizing the Development of Sight Word Reading and Its Relationship to Recoding». Reading Acquisition. London: Routledge. pp. 107–143. ISBN 9781351236898.
- ^ Literacy teaching guide : phonics. New South Wales. Department of Education and Training. [Sydney, N.S.W.]: New South Wales Dept. of Education and Training. 2009. ISBN 9780731386093. OCLC 590631697.
{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: others (link) - ^ Findings and Determinations of the National Reading Panel by Topic Areas
- ^ McGuinness, Diane (1997). Why Our Children Can’t Read. New York, NY: The Free Press. ISBN 0684831619.
- ^ Gatto, John Taylor (2006). «Eyless in Gaza». The Underground History of American Education. Oxford, NY: The Oxford Village Press. pp. 70–72. ISBN 0945700040.
- ^ Stanislas Dehaene (2010-10-26). Reading in the brain. Penquin Books. pp. 222–228. ISBN 9780143118053.
- ^ Seidenberg, Mark (2017). Language at the speed of light. pp. 143–144=author=Mark Seidenberg. ISBN 9780465080656.
Sight words are an essential part of the reading process. They are hard words for students to «break down» or «sound out.» Sight words do not follow the standard English language spelling rules or the six types of syllables. Sight words usually have irregular spellings or complex spellings that are hard for children to sound out. Decoding sight words is hard or sometimes impossible, so teaching memorization is better.
Sight word recognition is an essential skill that students will learn while in elementary school. They are the building blocks to creating fluent readers and a strong foundation of reading skills.
Sight words are words found in a typical book at the elementary level. Fluent readers will be able to read a complete sight word list for their grade, and sight word fluency builds strong readers.
What are the differences between phonics and sight words?
The difference between sight words and phonics is simple. Phonics is the sound of each letter or syllable that can be broken down into a single sound, and sight words are words that are part of the building blocks of reading, but students will not always be able to sound out the words due to sight words not following standard spelling rules or the six types of syllables.
Phonics instruction gives students a basic understanding of how letter sounds are made and sound out a new word. The rules of phonics are clear when students are learning, but do not always apply to sight words, which is why students memorize them. Phonics comprehension is needed to have a solid foundation and progress students’ reading capabilities.
Knowing both phonics skills and sight words will help students’ reading progress and help them create a lifetime of reading.
Sight words are also different from high-frequency words. High-frequency words are the most common words used in texts or a typical book but mix decodable words (words that can be sounded out) and tricky words (words that don’t follow the standard English language rules).
Each grade level will have a standard list of sight words and phonics rules that students will learn during the school year.
What are the types of sight words?
There are many types of sight words. Sight words are the most common words found in an elementary level book that don’t follow the spelling rules or six types of syllables.
Two common sight words lists are Fry’s sight word lists, created by Edward Fry, and the Dolch sight word lists, created by Edward William Dolch.
There is a foundation of sight words for each grade level in elementary school, and most of them are built using either Fry’s or Dolch’s sight words lists. Each list holds a unique set of examples of sight words, and is created for every level of student.
Written below are lists of sight words common to teach in elementary school.
Edward Fry Sight Word List Level 1
| the | of | and | you | that |
| for | with | his | they | have |
| from | had | words | but | what |
| all | were | your | can | said |
| use | each | their | them | these |
Edward Dolch Sight Word List Kindergarten
| all | black | eat | into | our |
| am | brown | four | must | please |
| are | but | get | like | pretty |
| ate | came | good | new | saw |
| be | did | have | now | say |
How to teach sight words
Many teaching strategies can help students learn sight words quickly and easily. The goal to learn sight words is to help students memorize every word.
Here is an essential guide to sight words teaching techniques. Listed below are the easiest ways to introduce students to sight words and help them become efficient readers.
Teaching sight words is a large part of the method of teaching reading that helps students become efficient readers.
1. Sight words lists
Teachers can assign a sight word list to students as a tool to take home and study. It is easy to print out a leveled list to send home with students to practice at home.
Depending on the level of students (e.g. advanced students), you can assign students new lists and levels if they have already mastered the sight word list for their grade or level.
2. Sight words games
All students love to play games. That includes sight words games and sight word activities. Students can practice sight words in a fun, interactive way. There are so many games you can play with your students, pick a game that works well for your specific class.
Games are also perfect for non-readers or reluctant readers! They are an effective strategy to expose students to sight words while having fun.
Many sight word games can be interactive, such as sensory bags to spell words, find words in the morning message or announcement, and build words with bricks and legos. These are examples of hands-on interactive games that are fun for both the student and teacher.
3. Sight word games online
There are many educational online games that help students learn their sight word lists. The best online games are usually free to educators and students. Students love playing games online, they might even be encouraged to play them at home.
Roomrecess.com has a great game called «Sight Word Smash» where students ‘smash’ the word they are looking for by clicking it. They win the game by showing they know and can find all of their sight words.
It is easy to find other online games, such as sight word bingo, sight word memory, and many other fun games.
4. Sight words flashcards
Students can make flashcards or you can print them out for the whole class. It’s an easy way to practice memorization. Just flip through the cards to test students on their sight word skills.
Don’t forget to correct mistakes while students are playing games, doing activities, or reviewing flashcards. Giving students opportunities for repetition will allow them to memorize the sight words more easily.
Sight words takeaway
Memorization is the main key to increasing reading fluency and helping students remember sight word lists.
Helping students memorize their words will assist students in their long-term reading goals. You will see student fluency in reading increase if students can memorize their sight words.
What are sight words? When teaching the English language to children, you always start with the basic words, naturally. These words are crucial for forming the foundations of sentences, so they will help to expand your child’s vocabulary and prepare them for more complicated words. Children recognize words more easily when they see them frequently, so consistent reading and writing is essential to teach them the basis of forming a sentence.
Sight words are a part of this learning process and they are quite easy to teach at home and at school.
What Are Sight Words?
Sight words are words that appear very frequently when we read and write, so they are words that children can quickly learn because they see them so often. A child will recognize these words on sight without needing to sound them out. A child’s language skills will develop at their own pace, but sight words are usually taught around the age of 4 or 5.
Teaching sight words is a great way to get children to memorize whole words at a glance and be able to recognize them in sentences that they read. These word-recognition skills are a critical part of growing a child’s reading and writing abilities, as well as extending their vocabulary. Sight words are easily decodable once children have learned them, so you can move on teaching longer, more complicated words once your child understands the basics and can recognize them by sight.
How to Teach Sight Words to a Child
There are 100 common sight words, so the thought of teaching all of them to a child can feel quite intimidating. The best technique is to separate those 100 words into lists of 5 or 10 and teach the shortest, simplest words first. This will avoid overwhelming the child and get them used to the basic words before you move onto longer words. Name the words and then have your child repeat them. If they recognize the words by sight then they will know what they sound like.
You could also start by teaching the sight words beginning with the letter A and work down the alphabet to cover the others. This is another easy way to teach the words at a slower pace. If your child is working towards recognizing pronouns, adjectives, and verbs, then you could group the sight words that way.
Children react well to clear, colored learning materials, so you could assign sight words to different colors to help the child recognize them. Ensure that you help your child distinguish between sight words that sound the same, such as “two” and “to”, to avoid any confusion with what they mean in a sentence. When your child starts school, they will have further teaching to develop their reading and writing skills, but it is important that you also continue to offer them support and teaching sight words is a great way to make learning activities at home simple and fun.
You can make flashcards with the words on and use them to give your child tests. Reading with your child is also a way to get them to recognize sight words by themselves. You can also do this by hanging the words around your home so that they get used to seeing the words on a regular basis. Make sure that you also teach them the meanings of the word so that they know when and how to use them in a sentence.
List of Sight Words
Below is a list of the 100 common sight words, categorized alphabetically.
A: an, are, a, at, as, and, after, all, about
B: by, be, been, but
C: could, can, called
D: do, did, down
E: each
F: for, find, first, from
G: go, get. give
H: he, his, him, her, have, has, had, how
I: in, if, I, into, is, it, its
J: just
K: know
L: long, like, little
M: may, made, my, more, make, many, most
N: no, not, now
O: one, of, on, or, over, other, only, out
P: people
Q: quite
R: rain, right, run
S: she, so, said, some, see
T: to, the, they, time, this, than, there, two, their, that, them, these, then
U: use, up
V: very
W: with, what, was, we, when, were, which, will, would, who, way, water, words, where
Y: you, your, yes
Common Sight Words | Image
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Last Updated on June 23, 2021
As your child finishes preschool, kindergarten sight words become an important part of their education. By the time they finish the year, they should have mastery of a certain list of sight words. Kindergarten moves from strictly observational learning to more concrete and complex instruction. Sight words for kindergarten are a vital part of this learning. Your child’s knowledge of these words will impact their future success in reading.
What Are Sight Words for Kindergarten?
Sight words are words kindergarteners should know by the end of the year. They are words that are found frequently in written text. Your child should be able to instantly recognize them on sight, hence the name sight words. Kindergarten-level readers should not have to sound out or ask for help in reading the words. This refers to pronunciation, spelling, and differentiation in meaning.
List of Sight Words for Kindergarten
- A, am, an, and, any, are, at, away
- Be, big, boy, but
- Can, can’t, came, car, cat, come
- Dad, day, did, do, dog, done, down
- Eat
- Find, for, fun
- Get, girl, go, going, good, got
- >Has, have, he, here, how
- I, if, in, into, is, it
- Jump, just
- Like, little, look, long
- Make, many, me, mom, must, my
- Name, nice, new, no, not, now
- Of, off, old, on, once, only, or, other, our, over
- Play, please, pretty
- Ran, read, ride, run
- Say, said, see, she, sit, so, soon
- That, the, there, they, this, to, too
- Under, up, us
- Very
- Walk, want, was, we, well, went, what, when, where, who, why, with
- Yes, you
More Information about Sight Words
Apart from this kindergarten sight word list, your child should also be able to spell, write, read, and instantly recognize their name. Your child should also be able to recognize certain math words. These include one, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine, and ten. Shape words are also important. Rectangle, square, triangle, and circle are a good place to start in kindergarten.
Sight words can also include colors. Red, orange, yellow, green, blue, purple, brown, black, and white are important. (Rest assured your child won’t have to worry about spelling the word “turquoise” or “cyan” in kindergarten.) Sight words list vocabulary seen at a high frequency in text. Without knowledge of these, their reading efficiency will be seriously slowed.
Sight Word Examples Info:
For example, if your child has trouble differentiating between “of” and “off,” they will face some confusion. They must know not only the difference of spelling, but the difference of meaning. It is also important that they understand the variation in pronunciation. Despite the similarities of the two words, they sound different when spoken. Getting comfortable with a list of sight words for kindergarten will alleviate these concerns.
Please note that this is only meant as an example of a sight words list for kindergarten. You may find others that have fewer words, more words, or slightly different words. You can find plenty of other examples on any educational pre-k or kindergarten site. Words list basic vocabulary and above all should create the essential framework of reading skills that your child can build upon.
What Should a Child Know by Kindergarten?
By the time your child enters kindergarten, they should have an understanding of basic colors. They should be able to count to ten on their fingers. They should be comfortable with the entirety of the alphabet.
Additionally, they should have some practice with writing, reading, and spelling their name. They should have the ability to recognize the most basic sight words. A few examples of these are he, she, the, and it.
Observation and
should be encouraged as early and as often as possible. The ability to identify objects and make observations will help them immensely with kindergarten sight words.
For example, knowing an object is blue will help connect the spelling and structure of the word blue to the color itself. This extends to identifying the object as a blue hat. They can then associate the object and the color to their corresponding words, and so on.
How Many Sight Words Should a Kindergartener Know?
Most children know approximately 50 sight words by the end of kindergarten. However, learning more is always helpful. If your child is comfortable with at least 50 words, try incorporating some new vocabulary to their sight word list. For kindergarten students, be aware that trying to learn too many at the same time may hurt rather than help.
Avoid studying a high number of sight words at a time. Instead, focus on groups of words. For example, if you’re studying over the summer, find or create a list of sight words for kindergarteners. If the list has 100 words, split them into groups of 10 or 20. This will ensure a steady and comfortable rate of learning and practice.
Fun Ways to Practice Kindergarten Sight Words
There are endless ways to study kindergarten sight words. Keep in mind that the suggestions below are just that: suggestions. They are not concrete and can be changed in any way to best fit your child and household.
Word hunting game
Use
or cutouts of kindergarten sight words. Hide them around your child’s room or the house. As they find words, have them call out the words. This involves not just reading, but exciting hide-and-seek feeling. Just make sure to hide the words in places that your child can reach!
Word searches
A fun twist on the traditional worksheet,word searches are perfect for students who love puzzles. You can print some out or make one up at home. If you’re making one, be careful that you spell the words correctly. Additionally, avoid writing backward words. Your child is still learning to read from left to right, after all.
Coloring pages
to help your student learn kindergarten sight words come in many forms. Some may display a matching game, wherein your child must find matching sight words in a table and color them in.
Some have pictures with a corresponding phrase that they must read aloud and fill in with the appropriate sight word. Others still are created similarly to “color by number” activities. A key is given with a list of sight words and colors assigned to them.
A simple illustration alongside the key will have words written in the spaces. For example, if your child is coloring a tree, the key will say something like “boy = brown” and “the = green.”
The trunk of the tree will have the word “boy” written inside of it, while the leaves will say “the.” Activities like this require your child to read as they proceed. As they complete the activity, encourage them to read the words out loud.
For even more ways to study, consider joining ArgoPrep’s subscription program. Their high-quality educational content is both interactive and expertly designed to guarantee your child’s success.
‘Sight words’ is a term associated with reading. It normally refers to a set of words that appear repeatedly on a page in books while reading.
Sight words form the basics of reading lessons for children. The child is taught to recognize these words quickly and accurately. This will help the child to attain fluency in reading. Only when reading is fluent can the child understand and comprehend the written matter.
SIGHT WORD LISTS – AN OVERVIEW
The Dolch word list and the Fry word list are the most popular sight words list.
Dr. Edward Dolch has 200 sight words used in teaching students from Kindergarten to third grade.
He prepared this list by studying words that frequently occurred in children’s books during the 1930s and 1940s.
Dr. Edward Fry developed a word list based on words that frequently appeared in reading matter used from Grades 3 to 9 in the 1950s.
This list contains the most widely used 1000 words in English. The list includes words found in current books, textbooks, and newspapers.
Though there are almost 1000 sight words in the English language, the most commonly used is around 100 of them.
Words like I, we, on, all, who, the, he, was, does, me, be, there, am, then, at, an, so, are examples of sight words.
TEACHING OF SIGHT WORDS
Basic understanding of sight words:
It should be understood that the sight words cannot be taught through phonics. They cannot be sounded. In phonics, the child is taught to decode each word and read. Decoding of sight words will not make sense.
The sight words cannot be associated with illustrations and hence pictorial flashcards cannot be used.
Flashcards with the words written on them can be used. Readers are expected to recognize the words by looking at them.
Teaching sight words focus on the reading words that occur frequently without having to decode each and every word.
Hence it is critical that the instructors spend time to teach the children the right usage and pronunciation of these words.
When:
The language skills of children develop between the ages of three and five. This is not a written rule and hence these words can be taught as and when the child is found to be receptive.
Literacy experts suggest that a child in Kindergarten should be introduced to 20 sight words. The child should have mastered 100 sight words by the end of First Grade.
The sight words have to be stated several times to a child till he gets to read, say and use it right. The students are taught to memorize these words by sight as these words do not comply with any spelling or grammar rules.
They have to recognize these words instantly while reading. In short, the readers need to learn to by heart these words. This way reading becomes simpler and comprehension easier.
Methods:
Sight words can be taught in different ways.
-The most common method is to see and say. The child sees the word on a card and says the word while underlining the word with his finger.
-Spell reading is another technique used. The child says the word, spells the word and reads the word once again.
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– Air writing or skywriting is another method used where the child says the word and writes the letters in front of the word in the air.
-Table writing is a method where the child writes the letters on a table, first looking and then from memory.
-Arm tapping is yet another way where the child says the word and then spells out the letters tapping on his arm.
– Creating a song the lyrics of which resemble a familiar nursery rhyme or tune. The words are replaced with spellings of sight words.
– Creating a story on how the letters of these words look and how they are connected. Children build associations quicker by listening to stories.
The frequency of lessons and the child’s attention span determine whether all techniques are to be used. Ideally, the use of all these techniques, are recommended in the teaching of sight words.
The repetitive seeing, hearing, speaking, spelling, singing and writing of the words will ensure long term memorization.
How:
A child can be taught three to five new words in a day. These words can be reviewed before the start of the next day’s lessons.
If the child is able to recognize the words he can be taught another set of three to five words.
The pace can be slowed down if it is found that the child does not remember the first set of words.
It is said that the child has to recognize the word in about three seconds.
This is not a universal norm that needs to be followed. The pace of learning is dependent on factors like the age of the child, memory skills, and varies from child to child.
The words can be taught through simple games where they get a turn to read the words.
The teacher observes the child for correct reading. When they go wrong, the teacher takes the turn to read correctly without offending the children.
Word walls are found to be very effective in the teaching of sight words.
The teacher and children together prepare colorful charts with the words displayed on them. It acts as an interactive, ongoing platform for the different words taught and used frequently.
Books with repetitive matter and word search books help the child to identify the sight words being taught. Children get excited when they come across words they have learned.
Follow up of the techniques:
It is imperative that the teacher or instructor know to what extent the children have understood the lessons that have been taught.
Manipulative techniques like mixing up the letters and getting the children to rearrange them correctly help the teacher to understand their level of grasping. Magnetic alphabets or letter tiles can be used.
The children can be asked to identify sight words in print on the page of a book. They have to point out the specific word surrounded by other words, spaces, and punctuation marks. Kindergarten children may be rewarded each time they find the word.
Alternatively, the children could be asked to perform an activity each time the teacher came across the sight word in small group reading sessions.
Play-acting can be done with children forming the letters with their bodies.
These activities will reinforce the child’s knowledge too. Learning to read is not easy.
Identifying sight words increases the child’s confidence to read. Fluency in reading is the key to the understanding of the reading matter.
Each word matters in language and literature. Words help us to read, write, think and talk.
Words help to communicate. Hence it is essential to provide children with the right basic education. Sight words have to be memorized as there is no other way to master them.
The initiative and creativity of the teachers go a long way in the teaching of sight words. Their dedication and motivation are paramount to the success of the child’s learning.
Автор: Горбушина Оксана Сергеевна
Организация: МБОУ «СОШ №18»
Населенный пункт: Челябинская область, г. Миасс
Обучение чтению на английском языке — достаточно сложное занятие, так как есть много слов, которые читаются не по правилам, в большинстве случаев это ставит детей любого возраста в тупик, и поэтому усложняется процесс обучения чтению.
Как следствие педагог, который обучает ребенка данному виду навыка, должен владеть не просто методикой преподавания иностранного языка, а желательно современными способами преподавания, чтобы процесс обучению чтению проходил быстро, эффективно и увлекательно для детей.
Мой педагогический опят в школе составляет 11 лет, за это время мы проходили разные курсы повышения квалификации, но, к сожалению, лично я не нашла той «изюминки», за которую хотелось зацепиться и начать использовать в своей практике. Но 2 года назад случилось чудо, я познакомилась с фонетическим подходом в обучении чтению и понятием «sight words». Если о фонетическом подходе я слышала, то о понятие « sight words » в университете и на курсах повышении квалификации не говорили, поэтому я стала изучать эту тему более подробно, чтобы понять, как знание sight words может облегчить процесс обучения чтению.
Понятие «Sight words» было введено американским писателем Едвардом Уиллиан Долч в 1930 — 1940 годах. Слово « sight » с английского переводится как «взгляд», а «words» — слова. В русском языке такого понятия не существует, но можно провести аналогию с высокочастотными словами. Так вот, sight words – это слова, которые ребенку важно запомнить, чтобы научиться читать и писать. Их нужно запоминать целиком как образ, без необходимости разбивать их на буквы. Изучение sight words помогает детям быстрее научиться читать на ранних этапах. Как правило, дети запоминают слова и при чтении не задумываются, почему буква в этом слове так читается, вследствие этого увеличивается скорость чтения. Дальше перечислены некоторые примеры sight words: I, you, she, he, one, two, this, that, have, some, come и т. д.
Теперь давайте поговорим подробнее, как мы знакомимся с этими словами на занятиях с детьми возрастом от 5 до 10 лет.
Я предпочитаю вводить sight word, когда оно встречается в контексте урока или искусственно создаю ситуацию, что бы нужное слово встретилось. Так, например, мы с детьми запоминали языковую конструкцию „She is …“, и на этом этапе я ввела sight word «she».
На доске я пишу изучаемое слово и прошу детей посмотреть сначала на доску, а затем видео, где показывается параллельно графическое написание слова и его звуковое произношение. Затем после просмотра видео дети должны сказать мне, как оно произноситься. В своей работе я использую видео с ютуб канала «Preschool Prep Company» . Каждое видео – это маленькая история о слове, которая воспринимается с удовольствием.
После того, как мы познакомились со звуковым содержанием слова, дети вырезают фигуру понравившегося им животного или фрукта из бумаги и клеят на нее печатный вариант слова. Затем с помощью скотча крепят эту картинку на тонкую шашлычную палочку и втыкают ее в коробку, где «живут» у нас все sight words. Такие веселые палочки повышают мотивацию детей и позволяют педагогу быстро повторить с детьми все изученные sight words.
На следующем уроке мы опять обращаемся к нашим коробочкам, сначала вспоминаем уже изученные слова, а потом продолжаем работу над новым словом. На втором этапе дети делают рабочий лист « worksheet », который помогает ученикам запомнить написание слова. Эти рабочие листы можно найти в интернете и распечатать. Обычно они включают в себя следующие задания: найди слово и обведи его в кружок, обведи буквы слова, раскрась буквы разными цветами, найди слово и выдели его маркером, напиши его, вырежи буквы слова и приклей их в правильном порядке. Работа с рабочим листом занимает максимум минут 10, но зато дети начинают его узнавать. Однако этого не достаточно, чтобы запомнить его окончательно.
Кроме того, периодически на занятиях мы возвращаемся к sight words и играем с ними. На листах формата А4 я печатаю по одному изучаемому слову, раскладываю листы на полу, предварительно вспомнив с детьми какое слово как читается. Задание заключается в том, что дети должны наступить на то слово, которое называет учитель. Здесь важно время от времени перемещать листы на полу, так как некоторые дети запоминают не слово, а место где лежит слово. Данная игра активная, позволяет детям подвигаться, отдохнуть и заодно выучить sight words.
И последнее, что я создала для лучшего изучения sight words – это была интерактивная игра на сайте Wordwall. Wordwall – представляет собой многофункциональный инструмент для создания как интерактивных, так и печатных материалов. Игры, созданные на этом сайте, очень удобно использовать при дистанционном обучении. Мной было создано вращающиеся колесо, которое делится на несколько разноцветных секторов. В каждом секторе написано определенное sight word. Задача детей — крутить колесо и называть то слово, на которое покажет стрелка. Ребята играют в эту игру с большим интересом.
После того, как мы проходим через все эти этапы, обычно дети без проблем узнают изученные слова и они не вызывают у них никаких трудностей на всех этапах обучения чтению и письму. Чтобы читатель мог прочувствовать и понять, как детям нравится изучать sight words, я создала презентацию, где можно проследить все этапы изучения этих « обычных необычных » слов.
Список литературы:
1. http://didaktor.ru/wordwall-zamechatelnaya-kollekciya-shablonov-didakticheskix-igr/
2. https://letterland.ru/cards/
3. https://vk.com/@english.stepbystep-sight-words-chto-eto-i-kak-s-nimi-rabotat.
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