Sight Words Teaching Activities in Pre-K
Learning to read can be a challenge for small children. Phonics helps them to grasp the relationships between letters and sounds, but many words do not follow the phonetic rules. Some words are used very frequently, and it helps if children learn to recognize them by sight, rather than trying to figure out what they are every time they come up. A variety of methods can help kids associate sight words with the things they represent.
Other People Are Reading
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Sight Word Flash Cards
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The Dolch sight words are a set of 220 words that are used frequently in writing. Print each word on a card and flip through them with children to help them memorize the words they see.
Sight Word Bean Bag Toss
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Spread flash cards out on the floor and toss bean bags onto the cards. Have the kids read the card their bean bag landed on.
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Sight Words on a Walk
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Take a walk with students and have them point out words they see that are on their Dolch sight words list. A variation on this is for the teacher to label items in the classroom with the sight words list so the children can associate them with the object.
Computer Activities
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Many websites provide computer activities to help kids learn sight words. Gamequarium.com offers a list of games to play online, as does the Mansfield, Ohio/Richland County Public Library site.
Sight Word Snow Balls
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You can print some sight words on several sheets of paper and crumple them into balls. The kids can have a snowball fight with the balls and read the sheet closest to them.
Fishing for Sight Words
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Tie a magnet to the end of a fishing rod and put paper clips on fish with sight words written on them. Have the children fish for the sight words.
Trash Can Basketball
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Crumple pieces of paper into balls, or use bean bags. Each child takes a turn throwing the object at the trash can until someone makes it in. Then the child can read a flash card with a sight word on it.
Clay Words
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Let the kids use modeling clay to make objects and a Popsicle stick to carve the sight word for the object into it. It helps the children associate the words with the objects they represent.
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