How To Introduce Sight Words to First Graders
"Sights words" are words that are memorized instead of being phonologically sounded out. Words like "the" and "has" are two examples of sight words. Students start learning sight words when they begin learning to read. Since most students in the United States begin learning the alphabet in kindergarten, introducing sight words early on is necessary. Make the task easy for students by providing creative activities for them to do.
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Things You'll Need
- Oversized children's books
- Sand
- Easy reader booklets
- Manuscript paper
- Pencil
- Sight word flash cards
- Sight word matching game
- Computer with Internet access
Instructions
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Read an oversized book to a classroom of first-grade students. At the end of the story, tell the class that they are going to go back and highlight the word "and" every time they see the word appear in the story. The word "and" is a good sight word to introduce to the students. Other good sight words include: "the," "a" or "as." Practice spelling the sight word in sand as a center activity that day.
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Reinforce that sight word by giving each student an easy reader booklet and have the students go through and highlight the sight word each time they see it. Spell the word aloud a few times, and have the students write it when they practice their manuscript writing that day.
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Introduce one new sight word every two to three days. Make a flash card for each sight word when it is introduced to the class. Review the sights words each day by going through the flash cards and having the class read aloud each sight word.
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Play games to introduce and review sight words. Games for students to do at their desks should be a big hit. Try creating a matching game with the sight words. Students turn each card face down in rows and then turns over two at a time. If they match, the student removes them from the rows. If they do not match, the student turns both cards back over and turns another two cards over. This continues until all the cards have been matched.
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Allow students to play online games that reinforce sight-word recognition. Online sites such as Family Learning and Readquarium have free online games for students to play. This method works well with all students, but especially well with students who have a hard time paying attention in class. The students will not know they are learning through play.
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References
Resources
- Photo Credit little boy reading a book image by Renata Osinska from Fotolia.com
