I can remember my first attempts at cooking chicken without the supervision of my mom. As I prepped the chicken for baking, I added my meager dash of seasoning, extremely careful not to add one extra cube of salt or seasoning that would create a sodium overload. When my dish was ready, I sat down to the table, excited and eager to taste my prized poultry dish. Instead, I tasted nothing.
Absolutely nothing.
In my extreme caution of not adding excessive salt, I didn't add enough, and my chicken was so bland that it did not taste like chicken. Perhaps it tasted like paper. It just wasn’t chicken.
I’m sure we all have tasted a dish that lacked sufficient seasoning. We were then presented with two options: 1) add seasoning, or 2) manage to eat it in its most bland state. Food is not the only thing that can be bitten by the bland bug. We often find ourselves adding seasoning, or a little something extra, to spice up musical arrangements, wardrobes, art, and even our writing to make it more palatable or to spice it up. As we spice up the many areas of our lives, let us not withhold the very important seasoning from an often bland component of our reading programs – sight word study.
Sight words and high-frequency words. They are the words that occur most frequently in primary-level texts that students should recognize when they see them because they have yet to study the phonics rules for decoding the words, or because the words simply do not follow the rules at all. How can we make these words more “delicious” for students as they interact with them? How can we make sight word study enjoyable and even craveable? We can increase engagement during sight word study using the five tips below that can have students coming back for more.
1. Show Relevance
Rather than simply displaying these new, foreign words to students on notecards or red backgrounds, attach the words to items relevant to students. Label items in the classroom or around the house with the sight words. For example, for the word little, place it on a label or small colored piece of paper and affix it to something that is little. Some may be a bit more challenging than others, and that's when creativity is essential. Consider allowing students to define and attach relevance to the words because they are the ones learning them. Summa School's sight word stickers are perfect for this task. These stickers can also be familiar companions on lunch boxes, books, or any other items that students frequently use. You can shop our sticker collection that includes sheets for preschool, kindergarten, and first grade.
2. Sing the Sight Words
I’m pretty partial to this tip. Music seems to make everything more palatable, especially when it’s music you can dance to. Make up a simple song to help learn the sight word that students can easily remember and sing. Include the spelling of the word in the song to help them remember the letters that compose the word. Here’s my simple example of a song for the word the that I penned in under 20 seconds.
T-h-e spells the,
T-h-e spells the,
T-h-e spells the, the, the
T-h-e spells the.
Of course, I must highlight the Beatbox Beats sight words songs. They are proudly packaged in YouTube videos with colorful graphics and include beats that encourage movement. Sing and dance along and then go back for more. Be sure to subscribe for the latest hits!
3. Characterize the Sight Words
Children and adults alike relate to characters. When inanimate objects or ideas take on character form, they immediately become more relatable to children. Take a toothbrush for example. When the dreaded toothbrush gains a name, personality, and life story, he becomes a more welcome companion during the morning and evening brushing sessions. Create a story for the sight words. Better yet, allow students to craft stories about the sight words themselves. What does the word and like? Oh, she loves bringing people together. Her favorite number is 2, and she is always at birthday parties along with cake and ice cream.
Be sure to check out the book Don’t Be Tardy to the Sight Word Party which features 92 Dolch sight words for preschool and kindergarten. After reading the story, throw your own sight word party and make sure all the sight words arrive on time. Greet each one by name and give introductions based on each sight word’s meaning. (Then watch the Sight Word Party Beatbox Beats YouTube video for more fun.)
4. Play Games with the Sight Words
Who doesn’t love a fun game? There are many games that students can play with sight words. I will not list all of them here, but some of my favorites include the SWAT fly swatter game, matching card game, and board games. For years I have been a fan of the resources and games at sightwords.com. I frequently used them with my students to make sight word study engaging and fun. I am not an affiliate; I just love it there!
5. Mix It Up
One of the best practices for sight word study is mixing it up. Provide students with various exposure to the words. Implement the tips above and give students additional opportunities to interact with the sight words in print. Activity books are great resources that help students write the words, spell them, and differentiate them. Summa School has Beat Books that feature the Dolch sight words and high-frequency words for preschool, kindergarten, and first grade. The books are designed to be used as a supplement to sight word study and not a stand-alone resource. They include handwriting and spelling practice, word identification, word search puzzles, coloring pages, and connect-the-letter activities.
Hopefully, these tips will help spice up your sight word study. I want to strongly encourage parents to use them as students usually have more time to devote to fun sight word activities at home. Because primary-level texts feature a high concentration of sight words, helping your child develop sight word fluency will help propel him into early reading success. Let’s end the foot-dragging drudge toward sight word study by adding plenty of seasoning and spice that will have our students craving seconds…and thirds!
Kathy Smith is a former elementary teacher and instructional coach. She enjoys creating fun educational resources for students and inspiring teachers to harness the power of their creativity to foster student engagement.
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