Students are expected to learn to READ all 195 words. It is so important to help your child study the words and help them feel confident to pass them off weekly. Your child will need EXTRA practice with their high frequency words. High frequency words cannot be learned through pictures or by their sounds and appear frequently in all books. It is important that they learn these words and become automatic in identifying them, effortlessly. Please keep practicing the high frequency words with your child at home.
Because recognizing these words is so important during reading, using a variety of activities to teach, practice and memorize the words is critical in teaching children to read. Try using these activities to help your child learn and practice sight words:
Multi-sensory ways to learn and practice sight words:
- Have your child write sight words with glitter glue
- Have your child write sight words with wikki stix
- Have your child write sight words with playdoh Have your child write sight words with puffy paint
- Put craft sand on a paper plate. Have your child practice tracing sight words in the sand.
- Put hair gel in a zip lock baggie. Seal the baggie. Have your child write the letters of the sight word in the gel.
- Squirt shaving cream on a plate or table. Spread the cream. Have your child write the sight words in the shaving cream.
- Jump, hop, clap, tap out the letters of the sight word (t-h-e “the”).
Sight word games:
- Make sight word flashcards on 3 x 5 index cards and place them on a ring. Short and frequent practice with naming the words works better than longer sessions. Draw a star on the back of a 3 x 5 index card. Place this card and the flashcards face down on the table. Take turns turning over a card and reading the words. Try to be the player who finds the card with a star.
- Play “Slap Jack” with the sight word and star cards. When the star card is turned over, the first player to slap it wins.
- Make duplicates of the sight word cards and play the memory game.
- Make several 5 x 5 grids and put sight words in the squares. Make your own chips with the words written on them. Play bingo.
- Write the sight words on sticky notes and place them on a wall. Turn down the lights and give your child a flashlight. Have your child shine the light on the words and read each word.
- #1 FLASHCARD FLIP = Create a set of “flash cards” with all of your High Frequency Words. Make a flashcard for each word to practice nightly.
- #2 WRITING RALLY = Write all of your High Frequency Words 3 times each in pencil.
- #3 TOTALLY TYPING = Type all of your High Frequency Words 3 times each on the computer.
- #4 RAINBOW RUN = Write each of your High Frequency Words using “Rainbow colors” with 3 different colored pencils or crayons. Trace over each word 3 times in 3 different colors.
- #5 SHAPE MAKER = Draw a simple picture or shape (star, heart, etc.) – parents may help with this part to be sure that the shape is the right size, simple enough, etc. Draw the shape on one side of a piece of paper using dark lines (a marker works great for this). On the other side of the paper, follow each of the lines by writing the High Frequency Words using small lettering. Continue until the entire shape is recreated using spelling words.
- #6 ALPHABETICAL SPELL-I-CAL = Write all of your High Frequency Words in alphabetical order, or ABC order.
- #7 SCRIBBLE DIBBLE = Create a scribble with a black marker. Make sure you create enough spaces to fit all of your High Frequency Words. Write a word in each section and then use your crayons to fill in each section with a High Frequency Words for a colorful creation!
- #8 GLORY STORY = Create a story using your High Frequency Words for the week using your computer
