Sight words (also known as high-frequency words) are words that good readers should instantly recognize. These “workhorse” words make up 50 to 75 percent of the words children encounter in early reading materials. By the time children begin to read, most sight words are already in their speaking and listening vocabularies. The goal is to help readers recognize these printed words. Flashcards are a common teaching tool. But do you notice that your students are becoming adept at flash cards and still stumble upon those same words when they encounter them in text? Here are three easy ways to improve your sight words program and create some fun to build sentences.
1. Create sight word sentence frames
Give students opportunities to read sight words in context by creating sight word sentence frames. For example, write each of the following seven visually recognizable words on a small card: give, me, that, to, put, on, my. Then lay out the cards to create this prayer frame:
Give me that ______ to wear my ______.
Invite students to fill in the blanks with ideas that make sense. For example, “Give me that mitten put on my hand. “ or “give me that hat put on my head. “ By creating a variety of sentences, students will reread the same seven sight words many times to develop fluency.
2. Introduce new vocabulary to complete sentence frames
Reading instruction layer combining sight word practice with vocabulary development. Use pictures to introduce new words that students can use to complete sentence frames. For example, create a picture card to introduce the word saddle. Write the word below the image. Create another card for the word horse. Then invite students to use these vocabulary words (supported by picture clues) to construct the sentence: “Give me that. saddle put on my horse.
3. Encourage students to use active comprehension strategies
Comprehension is the reason for reading. Give students a variety of vocabulary picture cards to make decisions to complete each sentence frame. Challenge students to use active comprehension strategies to make sense of what they read. If a student constructs the sentence, “Give me that mitten put on my football.” ask if the sentence makes sense and explain why or why not. Of course, students can also have fun building silly sentences as long as they know the difference.
Don’t limit your sight-word instruction to cards and bingo games. Visually recognizable words instruction layer with vocabulary development and comprehension strategies by teaching sight words in context. Your students will enjoy the fun of building sentences!
