In this post I’ll show you exactly how to teach sight words using easy-to-follow lessons.
But first things first …
What ARE sight words, anyway?
It depends whom you ask.
When reading researchers use the term sight words, they’re referring to the words that a reader recognizes instantly, on sight.
Sight words can also refer to words that our readers encounter frequently when reading. That’s the definition I’ll be using here. We want our readers to know these words instantly as they work to become fluent readers.
It’s time to rethink how we teach sight words.
I used to think that when we teach sight words to young readers, we should teach them as whole words. This is why I used to share a collection of sight word books that taught the words through repeated exposure. (I’ve since removed them from the site and my shop.)
But research tells us that this isn’t how the brain learns to read.
In order for kids’ brains to make new words a part of their permanent sight word vocabulary (the fancy word for this is orthographic mapping), they need to connect the sounds to the letters.
In other words? Sound it out.
Integrating high-frequency words into phonics lessons allows students to make sense of spelling patterns for these words.
I know what you’re thinking.
What about words that we CAN’Tsound out?
We call attention to the parts of the word that are phonetic (and there’s usually at least 1-2 of them). Then, if possible, we explain why the tricky parts are spelled as they are.
And – always – we come back to meaning. We make sure students know what the words mean and have heard it used in multiple contexts.
How to teach high frequency words to young learners
First, know our goal here. Our goal is not to teach loads of high frequency words as whole words, because kids need to connect the sounds to letters when reading. Instead, our goal is to integrate high frequency word learning with phonics instruction.
All set? Great. Name the new word, and have your learner repeat it.
Use the word in a sentence.
Name the individual phonemes (sounds) in the word. For example, in the word is, there are two phonemes: /i/ and /z/.
Spell the sounds. Call attention to any unexpected spelling. In is, we spell /i/ with i and /z/ with s.
Teach your students the meaning of the word and use it in different contexts.
Have your students write and spell the word.
Have your learner read connected text. Connected text can be decodable sentences or books.
Free high frequency word lessons with decodable text
If you’re like most teachers, you probably don’t have the time to prepare all these lessons yourself.
Good news – you don’t have to. You can get the full set of 260 lessons in our shop.
Want to try before you buy? Download the 15 free samples below! Simply click on an image, enter your information, and the file will be sent right to your email.
High Frequency Word Lessons with Decodable Texts
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