“Sight Words” are just that — words that are so frequently used in reading and writing that we can’t waste our time sounding them out each time we encounter them; we want to know them by sight.
Your child can tell you all you need to know, but just in case, here’s the drill for regular sight-word practice.
Your child’s Sight Word list and current set of 9 sight words were sent home for you to monitor so that they can progress as fast as they want before the year’s end.
- Every day, flash your child’s 9 cards for them to read — FAST! NO thinking, NO sounding out, NO “I meant where, not when!” They must be automatic to get a check on the card; if there’s any hesitation, make a dot on the card, saying “This one still needs practice.”
- Once a word card has 4 checks for (over at least 4 days), consider it mastered. Time to replace it with a new word to practice. Which words should they practice? Only the ones they need to!
- Take out your child’s list and locate the line where they last left off. Take 2 cards to cover all other words and start gliding down a column with your child reading each word in the column, sandwiched between the cards for laser-light focus. Same practice: if there’s ANY hesitation, make a dot next to the word.
- When you’ve collected at least 9 dots, draw a new line with a date. Use these words to make new cards as needed.
- You can make cards out of index cards, colored or not, but be sure to WRITE the words in green, yellow or red as determined by your child. They themselves will have a sense of whether these words follow the rules of phonics or don’t, and they get to decide which color to make them:
- Green-light words play by the phonological rules. Just go!
- Yellow-light words play by the rules but have some ambiguty (usually they could potentially be pronounced two different ways, like “that” with a voiced or unvoiced /th/). Slow down!
- Red-light words break the rules (ie, “laugh”). Stop! These words cannot be sounded out and must be memorized.
Be sure your child is pronouncing each new word correctly before practicing.
Ways to practice:
Tic Tac Toe
Arrange the 9 cards in 3 x 3 game board. Use 2 different markers like beans & buttons or pennies & dimes. Read the word aloud as you claim your spot.
Play again, with the winner rearranging the board.
Sight Word “I-Spy”
While reading, keep a tally of how many times you find each of your sight words. See which one “wins.”
Make up new ways and share them! I’ll add them to the list here 🙂
Thank you for taking over this routine — your child’s reading will grow and flow because of it!
Ms. Kulkarni's 2nd Grade 