When you want to teach your child to read sight words are only one small part of the reading equation. If you are teaching reading and you are doing it in a truly comprehensive manner then teaching phonics will probably be the main part of your reading program. However, there are a number of words that cannot be taught phonetically and they are considered the group of words that need to be memorized by the children. They are short, very common words and in order for the children to learn them there are many sight words games you can use to help them memorize them. There are 220 sight words and you can download this dolch sight words list for free.
You may see sites listing kindergarten sight words games, Dolch sight words games, and first grade sight words games. They are all one and the same, the basic Dolch sight words list. Once you have the list you can use it to start doing sight words games with your child or students. It is recommended to work on only about 10 words at a time. I am going to give you some tips in helping the children remember the sight words and will then give you some sight words games to do with the words. I am also going to give you a list of sites that have online sight words games when your child wants to practice at the computer.
It is not a good idea to have your child only use the online sites to practice their sight words. Children need lots of variety and in general kids spend too much time at the computer and in front of video screens. You will need to vary the games and activities they do to learn their sight words so they won’t get bored too easily.
Teaching sight words needs lots of repetition
The variety of sight words games materials
There are many various materials you can use to teach children their sight words. The first you need to do is to give the children a few tips on how to remember their sight words. they need to look to the beginning of the letter and ask them themselves three questions before attempting to read the words.
- Can I sound out the word or even just part of it?
- Is the word in a word family like: come/some or where/there or could/ should
- Can I find a little word inside a big one like an, in animal or in, in inside
If they can’t do any of those then its just one of those words that they have to memorize. One of the ways of memorization is for them to remember the configuration of the the words. There are flash cards that have sight words on them, there are sight words worksheets and then there are a host of games that you can play with the sight words flashcard. It’s actually a good idea to have to sets of cards for some of the games.
Sight words flashcard games
- One great game is the simple memory game. For this game you will most definitely need 2 sets of cards and the children will probably be very familiar with the memory games from their reading readiness activities they have done in the past. It is important to only use about 10 cards at a time so the children don’t get overwhelmed.
- Tape a number of words to the wall call out a word at a time and have the child point to which word it is
- Put 10 cards face down, have the child pick up random cards and read each one. As they read it successfully have them put them into an envelope. If they don’t read it successfully then put it down again after going over the word with the child. When they get it the next time around they can then put it into their envelope.
- Every day that they collect more cards in their envelopes let them read out what the words say in their envelopes.
- Put the cards in rows and have them read rows up and down and then across.
- Write the words one at a time on a white board, let them read it and then make a picture out of the word.
- Wordo- This game is played like bingo but, instead of using the number on the card you use the sight words.
- go fish- that is very much like memory and you need to sets of cards to play this
- Magnets. Using the magnetic boards and alphabet magnets, you say the word and have the child spell it out on the board.
Sight words worksheets
If you are looking for free sight words worksheets, then I found the prefect sight for you. Many of the sights just don’t seem to have easily down loadable worksheets but this site of worksheets fit the bill perfectly. Just remember that the worksheets should be used sparingly and should only be used as extra practice and as variety between the flashcards, workbooks and online games.
Sight words games online
A great way for your child to get some practice with his or her sight words is to go to some of the sites that have games that the very easy and the children can play them themselves with almost no adults input. Sometimes you may have to start them off but, most of them are self explanatory. I have listed a few sites below that have sight words games on them.
http://www.mrcpl.org/literacy/lessons/sight/index.html
http://www.dolchword.net/dolch-pre-primer-memory-game-1.html
http://www.starfall.com/n/matching/sight-words/play.htm?f
http://www.netrover.com/~crose/dolch/dolch.htm
I’m sure you can find many more if you do a search yourself online.