Sight Words

What exactly are "sight words?" These are words that good readers should instantly recognize without
having to "figure them out."

Believe it or not, the 100 most common words actually make up about 50 percent of the material we read! The 25 most common words make up about one-third of our written material
(Fry, Kress, and Fountoukidis, 2000).

Dolch Word Search Puzzles

Many children have difficulty remembering to read from left to right and from top to bottom. Word search puzzles which do not follow this pattern can mislead beginning readers and children who tend to write and read words backward. If your children need help remembering right and left, use the Right and Left Links lesson plan.

On this web site created by Betsy B. Lee, words in the pre-primer and primer word searches are read only from left to right. Words in the first, second, and third grade word searches are read from left to right, or top to bottom, or diagonally from upper left to lower right.

On this web site, all word searches use lower case letters. Try to avoid puzzles which use only capital letters. Children benefit most from word recognition exercises using lower case letters because most writing is done with lower case letters.

One learning principle is to break information down into small chunks. It often helps to have children learn a few words well then move on to the next group of words. Each list (pre-primer, primer, etc.) is subdivided for the word search puzzles. Subdivisions do not represent order of difficulty. Use the same puzzles several times.

Practice with Sight Words

I wish that I could offer you some quick and clever tricks for the teaching of sight words. But sight words, almost by definition, rarely follow any rules or guidelines. They just have to be memorized. However, you and your students can still have fun practicing sight words and their spelling. Patricia Cunningham and many other creative teachers use activities like the ones described on this site.

Here's one example:
"Blast-Off" Children start spelling the word while squatting. With each successive letter they stand higher and higher. When the word is said in its entirety, the children jump into the air.

Sight Word Soup

Research based method to teach site words. Step by step ideas are described, including this tip:

Now I want you to say each letter in the word as I spell it aloud, and you write it in the sand (or using another kinesthetic method like shaving cream on a cookie sheet, chalk on the sidewalk, magnetic letters, cereal letters, etc) --Then have the child spell the word aloud while you print it in his Word Book(a small notebook having all this week's words on one page)

Sight Words
An AskERIC Lesson Plan

According to Robert Hillerich, "Just three words I, and, the account for ten percent of all words in printed English."

Flashcard Exchange

Home to 500,000+ Flashcards

The Flashcard Exchange is a community supported site where you, the user of the site, make flashcards for yourself, your students or your peers. It is this sense of community that really makes this site a valuable resource for all. Study to your heart's content, but also enter some flashcards before you leave!

There is a directory of available site cards already created for you to use.

Literacy Begins at Home
A letter that you may reproduce and distribute to parents.

What exactly are "sight words?" These are words that good readers should instantly recognize without having to "figure them out."
From 50-75% of all words used in school books, library books, newspapers, and magazines are in the Dolch Basic Sight Vocabulary of 220 words (preschool thru Grade 3). The Dolch word list is made up of "service words" (pronouns, adjectives, adverbs, prepositions, conjunctions, and verbs) which cannot be learned through the use of pictures. These 4 sites from KidZone have flashcards you can print out and activities to go with them: Dolch Word List - Kindergarten Dolch Word List - Grade One Dolch Word List - Grade Two Dolch Word List - Grade Three

Believe it or not, the 100 most common words actually make up about 50 percent of the material we read! The 25 most common words make up about one-third of our written material (Fry, Kress, and Fountoukidis, 2000).
Dolch Word Search Puzzles Many children have difficulty remembering to read from left to right and from top to bottom. Word search puzzles which do not follow this pattern can mislead beginning readers and children who tend to write and read words backward. If your children need help remembering right and left, use the Right and Left Links lesson plan. On this web site created by Betsy B. Lee, words in the pre-primer and primer word searches are read only from left to right. Words in the first, second, and third grade word searches are read from left to right, or top to bottom, or diagonally from upper left to lower right. On this web site, all word searches use lower case letters. Try to avoid puzzles which use only capital letters. Children benefit most from word recognition exercises using lower case letters because most writing is done with lower case letters. One learning principle is to break information down into small chunks. It often helps to have children learn a few words well then move on to the next group of words. Each list (pre-primer, primer, etc.) is subdivided for the word search puzzles. Subdivisions do not represent order of difficulty. Use the same puzzles several times.		Dolch Kit This website contains a "Dolch Kit" with many practice activities for students to use as they learn the Dolch, 220 high frequency words.You are free to print and use any of the activities on this site. Table of Contents Organization Record Keeping Student Practice Book Flashcards Phrase Cards Gameboards Bingo Pig Roll,Say,Keep Concentration Battleship Word Finds More Links
Practice with Sight Words I wish that I could offer you some quick and clever tricks for the teaching of sight words. But sight words, almost by definition, rarely follow any rules or guidelines. They just have to be memorized. However, you and your students can still have fun practicing sight words and their spelling. Patricia Cunningham and many other creative teachers use activities like the ones described on this site. Here's one example: "Blast-Off" Children start spelling the word while squatting. With each successive letter they stand higher and higher. When the word is said in its entirety, the children jump into the air.		High-Frequency Words: Classroom Activities Dr. Jean Feldman This site includes several activity ideas to reinforce site word recognition, including this one: Line Up Pass out a word to each child. When you call out their word, they may line up or move to a new activity.
Dolch Sight Word Games This is a site from TeachNet. It includes tips for introducing Dolch words, plus some ideas for instructions for several different activities to reinforce site word recognition. Here's a brief description one of the games: Its a simple one, but my kids love "BANG"...word cards are in a can. The student picks a card and reads it out loud. If he is correct he can keep the card, and it is the next student's turn. The object is to have the most cards at the end of the game. "Bang" is written on some cards. When a student chooses Bang he has to read BANG in a nice loud voice and put ALL of his cards back in the can. There is always lots of laughing and anybody can win, not just the best reader. " http://www.canteach.ca/elementary/beginning11.html This site includes a complete lesson plan description of the BANG game.		See & Say Sight Words for Elementary Kids A WebQuest geared to First & Second Grades. This site will provide students with mastery and recognition of the basic sight words. Also, they will build reading fluency and reading skills. Here, students will learn how to put sight words into sentences and find sight words in puzzles. Finally, students will also learn what sight words are and how to recognize and spell them, as well. This site includes a great rubric!
Sight Word Soup Research based method to teach site words. Step by step ideas are described, including this tip: Now I want you to say each letter in the word as I spell it aloud, and you write it in the sand (or using another kinesthetic method like shaving cream on a cookie sheet, chalk on the sidewalk, magnetic letters, cereal letters, etc) --Then have the child spell the word aloud while you print it in his Word Book(a small notebook having all this week's words on one page)		Sight Words An AskERIC Lesson Plan This is another site with downloadable PowerPoint presentations to reinforce sight word recognition.
		Fry's Instant Words This is another site word list, similar to the Dolch list.

According to Robert Hillerich, "Just three words I, and, the account for ten percent of all words in printed English."
Dolch Site Words - Mrs. Perkin's First Grade This site includes flash cards, which you can download in MSWOrd or PDF formats, plus PowerPoint slide shows using the Dolch Words. Even though Mrs. Perkins is a first grade teacher, she includes flashcards and slide shows for all thesight word levels (Pre-K through 3rd grade)! Note: Instructions for downloading these files are at the bottom of the page!	Flashcard Exchange Home to 500,000+ Flashcards The Flashcard Exchange is a community supported site where you, the user of the site, make flashcards for yourself, your students or your peers. It is this sense of community that really makes this site a valuable resource for all. Study to your heart's content, but also enter some flashcards before you leave! There is a directory of available site cards already created for you to use.

Literacy Begins at Home A letter that you may reproduce and distribute to parents.
Bingo Card Maker This generator (from Teach-Nology) can be used to make bingo cards with the words of your choice. Bingo cards can be used for just about any content area to reinforce definitions, new vocabulary, math problems, even long thought out questions. Just call out the definition. Students must then identify the word their bingo cards. This can be done also by calling out a word and students will then identify the definition on their bingo cards. You can use many variations with this game. Try it!!! There are two sizes of cards to choose from - 3x3 cards with 9 words or phases on them or 5x5 cards with 25 words or phases on them.		Dolch Sight Boards This section has the free Dolch sight boards. There are two for each Dolch list. These are great for review in small reading groups. We have the students find the words we call out. They can be run off on oaktag and laminated for durability. (Or you could run them off on transparencies to use with an overhead projector!)

Online Games!!!
Star Words This AWESOME online activity provides practice at sight recognition and spelling of the 200 or so high frequency words that are identified in the National Literacy Strategy Framework for Key Stage 1. It includes great graphics and sound (music & voice). Students drag words to the area showing the correct shape of the letters. The Teacher's Panel is accessed from the main start screen once loading is complete. The player's name may be entered and will appear on the printed sheet at the end of the game. Scatter feature (spelling practice) This feature can be turned on or off in any level, and is only switched on by default in level 3. When active, up to four consecutive letters from each word will move out of the word on screen and must be placed back in the correct order by clicking on the scattered letters one at a time. Glow assistance feature (help with word 'shape' recognition) This feature can be turned on or off in any level, and is switched on by default in levels 1 & 2. When active, a glow appears around each word making it easier to match to the correct shape. Levels Star Words can be played at 3 different levels of difficulty. A single game will feature 10 words which can either be chosen randomly by the software, or can be selected manually from a list of all the words available before the game begins.
Color Word Memory Game Children read the sight words and try to match them up with their corresponding partners.
Spelling Test Game (Grades 1-3) This is a game played online where students are asked to spell sight words! Click "Next Word" to hear a dictated word. Type the dictated word into the middle box. There's a repeat button just in case a student needs to hear the word again.
Animal Eyes 50 to 75 percent of all words in text material are common words which are repeated. These 220 words are called the Dolch Sight Words. Because these words are used to hold thoughts together, these words must be recognized at at glance before a child can read with confidence. Try this flashcard-like reading game where the visitor can be drilled on these words and hear on the internet any words he/she can't read. As each level is mastered a certificate is awarded. The word animal eyes is used as a theme to make this fun.
DOLCH - An Interactive Sight Word Game This flashcard-like activity flashes a different word (in a fairly large font) each time you click on a number. This would be a good group activity to show on a large screen.
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