Sight Words

Post 211

What are “sight words”? How do they help young students learning to read? And are they really that important? Simply put…sight words are what used to be called “high frequency words”. (In my class we call them “popcorn words” because they pop up all the time.) They are important to learn because of just that…they keep reappearing in everything readers read. Words such as I, my, see, said, here, etc. are so common that it is easier if they have been memorized so that reading can be more fluent. Also, quite a few cannot be figured out using letter sounds (for example here, my, look, the, etc.) That’s why so many early reading programs have a word of the week or something similar. Practice makes perfect and the more a child sees a word, the sooner they will recognize it when reading.

So how can you help your little reader become more comfortable with their popcorn words? An easy, fun way is to give them a highlighter in the color of their choice and an old newspaper or magazine. Ask them to find as many as they can and to highlight them. Or send them on a word hunt highlighting a specific high frequency word “The” is a good one to start with 😀. (I once let my 5 year old son highlight “the” in the NY Times while we were waiting for our food in a restaurant. You wouldn’t believe how many people there thought he was reading it! Lol.)

Flash cards are fun to use and easy to make. Just use index cards and a magic marker. Your child reads each word and puts the ones they know in a pile. They then add an unknown word to that pile and go through them all again. If they get the new word, they add another. If not, put it in with 5 known words and read them. When they can read it with 5 words, add it to the whole pile and try again. Once it becomes a known word, they can try another unknown one. If you can spend 15 minutes a day doing this with your child, you’ll be amazed at how proficient they will become.

Another way to reinforce sight words is when you are reading with your little one. Let them read any of the popcorn words they know in a story while you read the other ones. It’s a fun way to read together. And your child will love sharing the reading with you.

So, sight words are basic words that appear frequently when reading. Are they important? Yes. Does knowing them help young readers with fluency and understanding? Yes. Should you encourage your child to learn to recognize them? Yes. Can you both have fun doing that and will your little student be proud and read better? Yes. So, what are you waiting for?! Happy Reading!😀

Take Care. :)