Games To Teach Sight Words – As I sit here writing this blog post, I am still surprised that Miss Paige started school this year. Like, seriously, where have the last five years gone?
And as most of you with school-aged (or not-so-young!) little ones know, starting school usually comes with some sort of “homework” to do at home, whether it’s reading, practicing phonics or practicing sight words.
Games To Teach Sight Words
For Paige this term, it is an expectation that she does regular sight word practice at home. And that doesn’t necessarily mean daily, but of course, the more you practice, the more confident you’ll become in recognizing those words.
Low Prep Sight Word Activities
But the teacher in me knew full well that going through a set of flash cards every night wasn’t going to cut it! Sooner or later you would get bored and lose interest, and then suddenly what was once super exciting becomes a chore.
So what did I do? I came up with tons of word games and activities we could do together that would keep learning FUN!
A sight word is a word commonly found in written text that usually does not follow the usual spelling rules and patterns, so it is best to learn it by sight, rather than sound. The bigger the bank of words that your child can instantly recognize, the easier it will be for them when they start reading.
Sight words are often explicitly taught to your child when they start school, and practicing these words at home can be part of their homework. Sight words are generally learned through rote learning, which means that repetition leads to memorization, and what is the most common way to do this? flashcards
Sight Word Games
As I said before, I realized very quickly that going through a set of flashcards every night was NOT going to keep Paige engaged in learning these words, so I started finding new and interesting ways to make it fun!
And when I did these activities at home with Paige, I started sharing them on my Instagram page (along with the visual word games I do as part of my literacy rotations with my reception class at school) SO MANY of you said you wanted more! So I came up with a variety of word games that will hopefully get your little one hooked and learning FUN!
Well, if you’ve been following me for a while, you’ll probably be well aware of my love for sensory play! And of course, when it comes to learning, you probably already knew I was going to include some sensory play ideas in this post. BUT the truth is that I don’t really have the time or energy to do those kinds of activities
I stuck a piece of tape to the side of the Duplo blocks and wrote Paige’s sight words with permanent text on the tape. So I challenged Paige to build a tower with the blocks, and when she was done, I asked her to read the words on her tower.
Sight Word Game And Worksheets In Kindergarten
By using blocks of different shapes and sizes, Paige not only enjoyed the challenge of making sure the tower was stable, but also made for a simple and engaging STEM activity.
I’ve seen this done by writing directly on the blocks, but I prefer it this way because I can play the tape back when we’re done, plus it also gives me a chance to write the words on the blocks to change as Paige learns each set of views. words
This activity was TOTALLY inspired by this activity by Beth@dayswithgrey, who used it with her son to practice name recognition. When I saw it I knew it would be a great word activity for Paige because she loves our Playmager Magnetic Blocks.
I wrote each sight word on a mini Post-It note and stuck them all on the magnetic blocks. Then I rolled out a piece of paper, lined up the blocks, drew them and wrote the words in each square. Paige’s task was to start on the left (to encourage the left to write the progression, which is how we read), say the word, find the appropriate block and put it on top. The click of the chips when they came together made it a little more exciting!
Heart Words: A Better Way To Teach Sight Words
Something very important to keep in mind when learning to recognize sight words is that the child must recognize them in different contexts, and not just in the memory cards or the notebook they get from school.
The important context that children need to see words at first sight is in written texts such as picture books. Some nights, Paige’s sight word practice involves looking at books and finding her sight words in the text. This is really exciting for Paige because she feels a sense of accomplishment that she actually reads.
I’ve also done this as an independent activity at school during our guided reading rotations: I give each student a sheet of paper with their words written in a grid and when they look at books and find their words, they color them. in the corresponding word of your paper. Your challenge is to get all your words colored in before that rotation ends. It’s a wonderful way to encourage reading words in books instead of looking at pictures.
Paige: I point to each word as I read, and when I get to one of Paige’s words, I stop and have Paige read that word. For them, participating in reading is the best. Thing. ALWAYS!
Dab It! Sight Word Games & Phonics Practice
Tic Tac Toe, a simple game I first learned at the school I teach now, is a real winner because it only uses the tiles we get from school, so it requires absolutely ZERO preparation from my side at home. It is also perfect for use with small groups of children, so it is great for the classroom.
To start, all the cards are face down on the floor or table, then one person sings “Tik, tok, toe, tok, tok, toan, where I fall, I don’t know!” while pointing to a different card for each word. they say They turn the card they land on and read aloud. If they identify the word correctly, they get to keep the card, otherwise the card goes back with the others. Then the next person has a turn, and this continues until all the cards have been turned over.
This is another easy activity that requires zero preparation (as long as you have tokens!). Spread the cards in a long line with the words facing up, then challenge your child to start at one end of the ‘river’, jump over the first word and say it, then jump to the second word and read it, and keep going all the way across the river! This game is perfect for kids who have endless amounts of energy or who like to move while learning.
We got Paige these Coko letter blocks for her birthday and they were another wonderful tactile way to incorporate practice words each night. As the focus for her right now is recognizing the words (rather than spelling them – they are two very different skills!!) I built the words on our Duplo base and Paige read them again. As she gets more confident with these words, I imagine she’ll start trying to build them herself, but like I said, reading the words and spelling the words are two different skills, and right now their focus is simply to recognize the words. by sight
Fun Sight Word Activities That Work
This activity only came about because Paige was really reluctant to do anything with her sight words the other night. So I just asked her to place them on our wooden mailbox (like this one) that was in the living room and asked her to say the words as she placed them. Well, that was enough for me to post these words about three times, saying each one as I went! #Winning!
Of course, if you don’t have a toy mailbox, you can always make a simple one by cutting a slot out of a shoebox or any other box you have in the recycling!
And now the sensory play ideas!! Keep in mind that these ideas take a little more prep time than the others, but honestly, they’re worth it!
Paige wasn’t interested in this game at first, until she saw Samuel use the magnetic stick to find the little counters, and then she wanted to join. I stuck pieces of masking tape with a metal edge and wrote the visible words on each one. I then threw them into a bowl of rice for Paige to find with the magnetic wand. You can also play a similar game by sliding clips over the tiles and fishing with magnetic rods.
Multi Sensory Approaches To Teaching Sight Words
Another activity you can do with it
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