(You can adjust the number of words based on your students’ needs.) Divide the list into groups of five words to teach each day. Then, make a list of the 25 words your students missed most often. For example, you can have students read grade-level words from Dolch or Fry word lists. Assess how well your students recognize sight words using a simple pre-test.

K (Common Core Literacy RF.K.2: Know and apply grade-level phonics and word analysis skills in decoding words RF.K.3.C: Read common high-frequency words by sight)ġ (Common Core Literacy RF.1.3: Know and apply grade-level phonics and word analysis skills in decoding words RF.1.3.G: Recognize and read grade-appropriate irregularly spelled words)Ģ–5 (Common Core Literacy RF.2.3, RF.3.3, RF.4.3.A, and RF.5.3.A: Know and apply grade-level phonics and word analysis skills in decoding words)Ĭhoose words to teach. Watch this video from Literacy How of a teacher using sound-letter mapping to teach her students the high-frequency word lit.

Watch: Sound-letter mapping for sight words Use this three-part strategy, which starts with sound-letter mapping, then moves to a flashcard activity, and ends with other ways to keep reinforcing the sight words with repeated exposure. Students can read with better fluency when they recognize these words right away.īy explicitly teaching sight words, you can help cement the words into students’ memories. It’s especially important for these frequently used words to become sight words. These are words that appear very often in what students read. You may hear other educators use the term high-frequency words. Some sight words are regularly spelled words, and some are spelled irregularly. With the right support, students can become so familiar with these words that they no longer need to pause and try to decode them. Sight words are words that students are expected to recognize instantly.

Tracing sight words