The more sight words your child knows, the stronger his or her reading and
writing skills will be. Sight words are words that appear frequently in
print. These same words are among those most frequently used by children in
their writing. When children build their sight word vocabulary, they become
better readers and spellers. Try these easy activities for strengthening
your child's sight word vocabulary.
- Sing a Song of Sight Words
- Jump On It!
- Which Word Wins?
- Rainbow Letters
- Read My Back!
- On the Run
- Spill a Sight Word
- I'm Thinking Of
- Skip
- Clap the Word
- Letter Addition
- The Tortoise and the Hare
Sing a Song of Sight Words
Practice sight words by singing them to a familiar tune or making
up one of your own. If you run out of words before you get to the
end of the song, just start at the top of the list again. Some
songs to try include "Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star" and Row, Row,
Row Your Boat."
(W H E N spells when)
Jump On It!
Copy sight words on index cards (one word per card). Make a
second set of the same words. Scatter one set faceup on the
floor, leaving about a foot between each card. Place the other
set in a stack facedown. Turn over the first card in the stack.
Have your child read the word (offer help as needed) and then jump
on the corresponding card on the floor. Turn over the next card
and have your child read it and jump to that word. Continue until
your child has jumped on all of the words. Mix up the cards and
play again!
Which Word Wins?
Sit with your child and look at a newspaper to see just how often
sight words pop up in print. Ask your child to choose a sight
word from the list and an article from the paper. Look for the
word together. Highlight or color the word each time it appears.
Try the same thing with a second sight word. Which word appears
more often?
Rainbow Letters
Turn sight words into rainbows! Ask your child to write a sight
word on a paper in big letters. Using different-colored crayons,
your child can then trace around the word again and again, reading
the word each time.
Read My Back!
Using your finger, "write" a sight word on your child's
back. Can your child guess the word? Trade- let your child trace a
word from the list on your back. Continue taking turns tracing and
guessing sight words.
On the Run
The next time you are going somewhere with your child, play a
sight word game. It's easy-- just have your child find as many
sight words as he or she can on billboards, signs, and so on. If
you don't have a sight word list with you, invite your child to
read the "little" words. You can play this game in a car, on a
walk, or even at the grocery store!
Spill a Sight Word
Copy sight words onto small cards. (You can cut up index cards
in fourths or cut sturdy paper into pieces.) Place the word cards
in an empty container, such as a tall plastic tumbler or an empty
tennis ball can. Invite your child to shake the container, spill
out the words, and read the ones that fall faceup. Give each word
your child reads a score that is equal to the number of letters in
the word. Record the total, then place the remaining words back
in the can and shake and spill again. Add the total to the first
score. Play until your child has spilled and read all of the
words.
I'm Thinking Of
Play a game of "I'm thinking of..." One player starts
by giving a clue about one of the sight words-- for example, "I'm
thinking of a word that begins like horse and has three letters."
The other player looks at the list and tries to identify the word.
(his)
Skip
Skip-count with words: Start with the first word on the list.
Say it, skip the next, read the next, and so on. Repeat the
activity, this time starting with the second word on the list.
Clap the Word
Say each word, then spell it, clapping once for each letter.
Letter Addition
Give each letter in the alphabet a number from 1 to 26. Guess
which sight word on the list will be worth the most points. Find
out!
(is i=9 s=20 is=29)
The Tortoise and the Hare
Read the sight words as slowly as you can. Try it again. This
time say it as fast as you can!