Kids sight word

Teach Your Child to Read

Print your own sight words flash cards. Create a set of Dolch or Fry sight words flash cards, or use your own custom set of words.

Follow the sight words teaching techniques. Learn research-validated and classroom-proven ways to introduce words, reinforce learning, and correct mistakes.

Play sight words games. Make games that create fun opportunities for repetition and reinforcement of the lessons.

Learn what phonological and phonemic awareness are and why they are the foundations of child literacy. Learn how to teach phonemic awareness to your kids.

A sequenced curriculum of over 80 simple activities that take children from beginners to high-level phonemic awareness. Each activity includes everything you need to print and an instructional video.

Teach phoneme and letter sounds in a way that makes blending easier and more intuitive. Includes a demonstration video and a handy reference chart.

Sightwords.com is a comprehensive sequence of teaching activities, techniques, and materials for one of the building blocks of early child literacy. This collection of resources is designed to help teachers, parents, and caregivers teach a child how to read. We combine the latest literacy research with decades of teaching experience to bring you the best methods of instruction to make teaching easier, more effective, and more fun.

Sight words build speed and fluency when reading. Accuracy, speed, and fluency in reading increase reading comprehension. The sight words are a collection of words that a child should learn to recognize without sounding out the letters. The sight words are both common, frequently used words and foundational words that a child can use to build a vocabulary. Combining sight words with phonics instruction increases a child’s speed and fluency in reading.

This website includes a detailed curriculum outline to give you an overview of how the individual lessons fit together. It provides detailed instructions and techniques to show you how to teach the material and how to help a child overcome common roadblocks. It also includes free teaching aids, games, and other materials that you can download and use with your lessons.

Many of the teaching techniques and games include variations for making the lesson more challenging for advanced students, easier for new or struggling students, and just different for a bit of variety. There are also plenty of opportunities, built into the lessons and games, to observe and assess the child’s retention of the sight words. We encourage you to use these opportunities to check up on the progress of your student and identify weaknesses before they become real problems.

Help us help you. We want this to be a resource that is constantly improving. So please provide us with your feedback, both the good and the bad. We want to know which lessons worked for your child, and which fell short. We encourage you to contribute your own ideas that have worked well in the home or classroom. You can communicate with us through email or simply post a response in the comments section of the relevant page.

Top 100 Sight Words and How to Teach Them

Sight words is a common term in reading that has a variety of meanings. When it is applied to early reading instruction, it typically refers to the set of about 100 words that keeps reappearing on almost any page of text. “Who, the, he, were, does, their, me, be” are a few examples.

In addition to their being very frequent, many of these words cannot be “sounded out.” Children are expected to learn them by sight (that is, by looking at them and recognizing them, without any attempt to sound them out.)

Unfortunately, this means minimal teaching. Often, little is done other than to show the word and tell the child what it is “saying.” For many children, this is not enough, with the result that their reading of these critical words is laden with error.

What does this mean for parents who are helping their children master reading? Basically it means spending some time in truly teaching these words so that your child gains real mastery of them. The key to achieving this goal is accurate writing (spelling)—via memory. That is, the child writes the word when the model is not in view.

You can do this by creating simple sentences that the child reads. (By using sentences, you will automatically be using many “sight words.” In addition, you will be giving your child the opportunity to deal with words in context—a key to meaningful reading) After showing the sentence and having your child read it, turn it over and then dictate the sentence. If there is an error, you immediately stop your child and take away the paper. Then you show the model again and repeat the process. In other words, the writing of the sentence has to be fully accurate, starting with the first word.

If you want a list of those words to help guide your efforts, here is the top 100 according to the American Heritage Word Frequency Book by John B. Carroll.

A: a, an, at, are, as, at, and, all, about, after

B: be, by, but, been

C: can, could, called

D: did, down, do

E: each

F: from, first, find, for

H: he, his, had, how, has, her, have, him

I: in, I, if, into, is, it, its

J: just

K: know

L: like, long, little

M: my, made, may, make, more, many, most,

N: not, no, now

O: or, one, of, out, other, over, only, on

P: people

S: said, she, some, so, see

T: the, to, they, this, there, them, then, these, two, time, than, that, their

U: up, use

V: very

W: was, with, what, were, when, we, which, will, would, words, where, water, who, way

Y: you, your

Click here to download our Recommended Top 100 Sight Words.

Literacy and reading expert, Dr. Marion Blank

Dr. Marion Blank is answering your questions about reading and learning. If you have a question for Dr. Marion, visit the Reading Kingdom Facebook Page and let us know how we can help.

If you think the Reading Kingdom program can help your children learn to read, enjoy a free, 30-day trial here.

Top 10 word games with children • Ursa Major School of Parenthood

The game is for joy. And the game that pleases, in itself, often provokes the development of the child much more than a specially organized educational game. Zhenya Katz tells how to play with letters and words to make it fun.

Riddles

Very many games that develop verbal or sound thinking are oral. You can think of a certain object, but answer the question only “yes” or “no”. Let's say I guessed what is on my table. And the child starts asking:
− Is it big?
I say:
− No.
− Is it larger than a glass?
- No.
− Is it square?
- Almost.
− Is it iron?
- No.
− Is it wooden?
- No.
− Is it rubber?
− Yes.
− Is it black?
- No.
− Is it white?
− Yes.
− Is that an eraser?
− Yes, it's an eraser. You guessed it, well done. Now you tell me, and I'll ask.

You can guess some simple things and suddenly it turns out that it is not so easy to guess them even for an adult, although the hidden object is completely simple, everyday.

You can make word riddles. But not classical, folk, which everyone knows and which are printed in collections: a girl is sitting in a dungeon, and a scythe is on the street. Modern children have not seen how carrots grow, so they cannot guess what kind of scythe it is on the street, why the girl is sitting in a dungeon and why this has to do with carrots. That is, they are ready to learn both this text and this answer. But they cannot correlate, they did not see it, this is not an easy metaphor.

By riddles, I mean something completely different. You can describe an object by naming several of its features, giving a definition. For example, a beast that meows.
- I thought of a striped beast that eats grass.
Child says:
− Tiger?
- Not a tiger. The tiger does not eat grass. And this beast also has hooves and a mane.
− Aaah, a horse!
− Striped!
Or I can say:
− Yes, only the name of the beast begins with the letter "z".
- Striped horse on the "z" ... Aaah, a zebra!
Or I can say:
- Sour, yellow and oval.
Child:
− Oh, I know it's a fruit.
− Yes, fruit. Which one then? It is also put in tea.
− Yeah, yellow, lemon!
Or:
- Red, round, put in a salad.
I could mean a tomato, and the child says, "Radish." Great, that's fine too.

It is useful to come up with such riddles. Nothing less useful than guessing.

Tongue twisters and poems

It is not so easy for an adult to pronounce them. Therefore, if you play tongue twisters with your child, start with yourself. Try to say it yourself quickly and quickly and show the child how you practice, how you train, how you learn it.

You can play with some verses: you start, and the child remembers the right word at the end.
− Where did the sparrow have lunch? At the zoo,…
− … animals.
While the child remembers the right word, you can offer funny options.
- Stayed with a rhinoceros, ate bran ... the road.
- No, - says the child, - not the road.
− What is it? From the threshold.
− No-no, not from the threshold.
− What?
− Not much!

Extra word

You can also play - name some groups of words and guess who is extra. Significantly, there can be multiple correct answers in this game. You can play it on the go, invite your child to come up with such riddles. But it is important that he explains his decision. For example, I can say: "bus, tractor, trolley bus, tram. " Which of these words is redundant? Someone can say that the bus, because it is on the "A", and all the others begin with the letter "T". Someone will say that the tram, because only he goes on rails, and everyone else does not. Someone will say that it is a tractor, because it is not public transport, but everyone else carries people. Do you understand? Any explanation is fine.

It is important that it is also useful for the child to come up with such problems. After all, only adults are always the bearers of the ultimate truth: first you guess, then the child. And this is not only a game, but also a process of communication. If you like to invent, then that's great.

Snowball

There is such a wonderful game "Snowball". It is both verbal and developing memory. One says:
- Cat.
Second:
− Cat, dog.
Third:
− Cat, dog, hare.
Fourth:
− Cat, dog, hare, tiger.
Any words can be spoken. There is also another version of this game. Let's say the first one says:
- I'm going camping and I'm taking a spoon with me.
Second:
− I am going camping and I am taking a spoon and a bowl with me.
And so on. Everyone adds their own. But at the end, not at the beginning. That is, initially he must remember all the words that were said before him, then add his own.
When we play with a group of children, I suggest not only naming the words, but also, if someone has forgotten, you can prompt, but only with gestures.
You can name the first letter in each word, and this is also not so easy for some children. But when you have already done it, then some riddles are all one letter. For example, we think of all the words with the letter "M". I say:
- It's so big, with wheels, you can ride on it.
− Machine.
− Okay, then I'll make another guess with the letter "M". It's so tasty, cold and comes in a waffle cup.
− Oh, that's ice cream!
− It's also so sweet and made by bees.
- Med.
− And now let's try to come up with something on "M".
And this is much more difficult: to come up with a word that begins with this letter, and then describe it - this is a serious job for a child.

Contact

This game is suitable if the child already knows what the first letter is and understands the definition: “this is such a beast that meows”. If he does not name the word itself, but pronounces the description, then after that it is already possible to play. I think many people know the rules, but I'll tell you again just in case.
Contact - a game for several people, you need at least 3-4 participants. The host thinks of a word and tells all the other players the first letter, for example "K". The rest of the players begin to come up with their own words that begin with "K", for example, one says:
- Isn't this the kind of animal that meows?
The host says:
− No, it's not a cat (if he really didn't think of a cat).
The other one says:
− Isn't he like that, Cheburashka's friend?
Host:
− Gena. No, wait, "K". It's not a crocodile.
And so all the players are trying to come up with such a definition that they understand, but the leader does not understand. And if suddenly they succeed, for example, one of the players says:
- She is sweet and is eaten boiled.
The host says:
- Porridge.
− No, she grows in the field, she is tall and has hairs inside her.
The host says:
− Oh, I don't know.
Then the rest of the players start counting: up to 3, up to 5 or up to 10, as you agree. And they say “Contact!”, And then they pronounce the guessed word in unison. If the one who gave the definition and the one who said “corn” agreed, then the driver should tell them the next letter.
− All right, then I'll tell you the second letter. The second letter is "O".

And then all the players who guessed come up with “Ko”. And then, say, they came up with some other definition that the driver did not guess, then they already have three letters. And so little by little they guess the word. And whoever guessed it in the end becomes the next driver.

This game is not as easy as it might seem - it can be difficult even for adults to play it. But if you are not in a hurry, do not try to beat the child without fail, then the game process will give everyone pleasure.

If you don't try to measure who won and who lost, then it works quite well. For example, it allows you to find out how words are spelled. It can be very funny to play with children, they come up with non-trivial spelling and do not always understand which letter is next in the hidden word.

Kuzovok

There is a similar game when it is not the beginning of the word that is important for us, but the end: everything starts with “-ok” - “Kuzovok”.
“Sasha walked into the woods, took a box truck with him.
What's on "-ok", puts everything in a box.
And we tell the child that a box is such a basket
− I found a fungus and put it in a box.
You can draw and sculpt everything you find.
− What else can be put in the container?
- Leaflet (put in box).
− What else?
- Boot.
− All right, that's fine.

Chain of words

Many people play cities when they think of a city with the last letter, but cities for young children are too difficult, they do not know so many names. Therefore, you can play with ordinary words. And I say, for example:
- Cat. What is its last letter? "T". So, now you need to come up with a "T". Come on.
- Tractor.
− Yeah, then I'll come up with an "R". I say "rukaV", come on, let's think about what his last letter is?
And here comes an interesting thing. The child says:
- "F"?
I say:
− You know, this can be checked. Let's think, the jacket has one sleeve, and if there are many? Two sleeves. We say "two arms" and not "two arms"
The child agrees:
− Of course, armVa.
- Great, now you know. The sleeve is the last letter "B". See, we checked it out.
It is absolutely not necessary to say that later you will learn this at school. And this is a great way to understand, to check which letter to write.

Hidden letters

I guess some letter, and then the children suggest words, and I say if this letter is there, and if so, how many times it occurs. For example, they say:
− Cat.
I answer:
− There is no such letter, none.
Children continue:
- Mountain.
I confirm.
- One.
They say:
- Pineapple.
Me:
None.
They say:
− Fish.
Me:
− One.
And then they can already guess what letter it could be. For example, now I thought of "R".
Or you can ask the child to think of a letter, and then it will be his turn to try to understand which letters are and which are not. And this is a pretty serious analysis.

Author: Zhenya Katz, educator, author of the method of playing teaching children
Series of online lectures "Play and Children"

Watch the free open lesson "Play and Children" with Zhenya Katz.

13 word games - for traveling with children

In the summer we are constantly going somewhere. To the cottage by car, on vacation by train or plane. If you have children with you, there must certainly be games at the ready that you can play directly without getting out of your chair. How about word games? How much do you know?

1 "Twins" (Doublets)

They say that the game is D oublets , invented by Lewis Carroll, author of Alice in Wonderland. It is not difficult to play it, besides, this game perfectly trains the skills of recognizing vowels and consonants.

Rules: select a word (from three to five letters) and change only one letter in it. For example: t umba - r umba, m uk - r eka. Then we change the letter in the second word again, it turns out: t umba - r umba - s umba (dance), r uka — m uka-mu r a. Next, we try to extend the chain. Whoever has the longer one wins!

We complicate: we take words from 6-8 letters and play by the same rules.

2. Cities

Everyone seems to know this game. What could be easier? But options are possible.

Rules : the first player revs the city, the next player must match the name of the city with the last letter of the previous one: Moskv a - A shkhabad. The downside of this game is that cities with the letter A will run out pretty soon. In this case, you can switch to the game "Cities and Countries" or "Cities and Rivers" . By the way, you can also play with an atlas in your hands, because children do not know so many geographical names. And with the atlas it is convenient, informative and useful!

3. Guess who/what

Depending on the complexity of the hidden word, the game can be suitable for any age.

Rules: the host thinks of a word - it can be a historical character, a fairy-tale hero, a cartoon or movie hero, one of the people known to everyone (a family member, a classmate) or something inanimate - a household item, a natural phenomenon, etc. . Next, the participants in the game ask leading questions to which the leader can only answer “yes” or “no”. The player who guesses the word first wins.

4. Who am I?

Variation on the theme of the game "Guess who/what".

Rules: Each player writes a word on a self-adhesive piece of paper that can mean an object, phenomenon, person, character of a fairy tale, movie or cartoon, and sticks the piece of paper on the neighbor's forehead. Thus, the word is seen by all participants in the game, except for the one who has this word on his forehead. Each player, in turn, can ask others any questions about himself, the answer to which can only be “yes” and “no”. The winner of the game is the one who discovers "who am I" first. The game continues until all players have guessed themselves.

5. Crocodile

Good old game for a fun company of children and adults.

Rules : Players are divided into two or more teams. The host chooses (or the players themselves nominate) one candidate from the team, to whom, in secret, the host tells the word, which he must demonstrate to his team in any way. Pantomime, antics and jumping, waving arms and any grimaces are allowed. It is not allowed to pronounce and even articulate the hidden word without sound, write, draw, pronounce consonant words. The players themselves decide how much time is given for an explanation, usually 1 minute.

The older the players, the more difficult the presenter makes a word. How would you, for example, depict the word inflation?

6. Snowball

Great memory training game. Counselors in children's camps often use it to enable the guys to get to know each other and remember the names of everyone in the squad.

Rules : In clockwise order, everyone begins to give their names. When all the names have been sounded, on the second round, each participant calls his name and the name of the neighbor on the right, for example: Natasha, Slava. The next player says his name and the previous two, and so the snowball of names grows until someone makes a mistake. If the company of players is small (for example, a family is traveling in a car), you can add funny unusual nicknames to patronymic names that everyone comes up with.

7. Diagonal

Game with pen and notepad. It is possible - for a while.

Rules: draw a square of 7x7 cells on a notebook sheet or in a notebook. Diagonally write a 7-letter word, for example - CARABAS. Passing the notebook to each other, each participant must enter the word horizontally in such a way that the already existing letter becomes part of it.

8. Association bag

This game is good to play with family or close friends or relatives.

Rules: Each player writes on a piece of paper a word with which he has some memory, association or story associated. The papers are folded and placed in a bag. Then each player pulls out a piece of paper and tells their story related to this word. It is very unexpected and interesting when there can be completely different responses to the same word. And how nice it is to remember something long forgotten or to hear a story told by a child that you did not even suspect!

9.

Nonsense

This game is loved by children aged 5-10 precisely because real nonsense comes out in the process and you can laugh heartily.

Rules: Each participant whispers any made-up word in the neighbor's ear. The host (preferably an adult) asks everyone a question, the answer to which will be the very word spoken in the ear. For example,

- What did you eat for lunch today? - A cat.

– Where do you live? - In car.

The next host is the one whose answer turned out to be closest to reality - that is, NOT nonsense .

10. Edible-Non-edible

An attention and reaction game for toddlers and younger teens.

Rules : the guys stand or converge in a circle, the leader holds a small ball in his hands and throws it selectively to the players. Saying the word at the same time. The “edible” player must catch, the “inedible” should be discarded. There are many variations of this game. For example, about animals: "Flies, crawls or swims. " We agreed that we catch everyone who flies, which means that there is no need to “catch” the rest. You can play various objects in the same way, classifying them according to some attribute.

11. Contact

A very gambling game in which, if you play with children, it is very easy to forget yourself and start pulling the blanket over yourself, preventing the children from understanding what's what.

Rules: the host thinks of a word and tells the rest of the players only the first letter. For example, this word is "zebra". Each of the players comes up with their own word with the letter Z called by the leader and tries to explain it to others with the help of gestures and pantomime (without words!), what exactly he has in mind, without naming it. If one of the players understood what the word was intended by the one who explains, he says "There is a contact!" and both (the one who explained and the one who responded) start counting down aloud from 10, and then each say their own word at the same time. Matched - the host calls the players the second letter in his word and the game continues, only now the players need to invent and explain the word with the initial letters Z and E already set. In case the word does not match, the players continue the game.

12. The pile is small

Useful game for developing imagination. It is very good for children who have difficulty with presentations and essays. But, alas, it is not suitable for those who have not yet learned to read.

Rules: All players take turns throwing words that come to their mind - any, not just nouns. The facilitator writes them down on a piece of paper in a chaotic manner, trying to fill the entire sheet, while leaving “air” between the words. Then each of the players takes turns picking up a piece of paper and connecting a line of 5-6 words that can become the basis of a sentence, invent and voice it. The next player chooses his 5 words and the game continues until the last player has no words left for a coherent sentence.