Basic Sight Word Activities

Beginning readers need to learn sight words visually.

While learning to read, kids learn that not all words can be sounded out phonetically. According to Dolch Sight Words online, Edward William Dolch, PhD in his 1948 book, "Problems in Reading," found 220 "service words" which children need to recognize to read. Many of the Dolch sight words cannot be "sounded out", and need to be learned visually. The sight word lists are available at the resource section below, in order of difficulty.

Sight Word Soup

Each player gets his own bowl and spoon for "sight word soup."

Sight Word Soup is one of the fun ideas that Joan Novelli describes in her book, "40 Sensational Sight Word Games." This activity involves writing sight words on uncooked noodles and placing them in a pot. Using a fine point permanent marker works best. Then each person scoops out some noodles and places them into their own bowl. Each person writes down the sight words which they find in their bowl.

Create a Story

Use a white board or chalkboard for this storytelling activity .

Pass out paper and pencils to the students along with a list of Dolch words (including the nouns). Write down a title for the story on the board. Mrs. Perkins suggest titles like, "My Favorite Pet; A Trip to the Park; The Big Red Dog; or Santa Claus Lives at my House." Instruct the kids to look at the Dolch word list and use the words to start the story. Write it out on the board and ask students to add at least five sentences to complete the story. Have the class read the story aloud together. Then instruct the children to write the story down on their own pieces of paper.

Reading and Writing

Help beginning readers identify sight words.

While learning to read, all kids stumble upon some words that are frequently used in reading. Each time the child learns a new word while reading aloud to an adult, he can make a flashcard for the word and add it to their growing sight word collection. Making their own lists of sight words on flashcards is fun for children. The flashcard may then be used for other learning activities, like quizzes.

References

• Mrs. Perkins: Create a Story
• Learning Books: Dolch Sight Word Activities
• Amazon: "40 Sensational Sight Word Games" By Joan Novelli
• Dolch Sight Words:

Resources

• The School Bell: List 1