Sight words are common words that break the phonetic code. They are used frequently and make up about 60% of the written language. Although they are commonly used, they are a tiny fraction of all the words in English in total. There are about 120 sight words worth memorizing and about 170,000 words in English that are in usage. However, these 120 words are critical for early readers. Since sight words are used so often, a lack of sight word knowledge will make reading books laborious and nearly impossible.
Sight word lists include words like: the, they, would, could…etc. These words often cannot be associated with a picture because most are not concrete nouns. Since these 120 words are so common, early readers have great difficulty reading without them. In this passage, taken from Frog and Toad by Arnold Lobel, I’ve eliminated the sight words, switching them to the word “blank.” See if you can read the passage. As you read, imagine what a child that struggles with sight words would experience:
Blank morning toad sat in bed.
“I blank blank blank blank blank,” he blank.
“I will write them all down on a list so that I can remember them.”
Toad wrote on a blank of paper:
A list of things to do today
Can you imagine what a child would feel like if he didn’t read all of the words that said blank? This is the full passage:
One morning toad sat in bed.
“I have many things to do,” he said.
“I will write them all down on a list so that I can remember them.”
Toad wrote on a piece of paper: a list of things to do today
What do you do if your child struggles with learning sight words?
Since sight words do break the phonetic code a lot of people advocate rote memorization. Have your child spend enough time with sight words and she will learn them right? If you are here, you’ve probably already figured out that this method does not work for many children. Many kids spend hours with sight words and never learn them.
In order to learn sight words, struggling readers need a more strategic approach.
First, focus on phonics.
Phonics can unlock many sight words even though sight words break the phonetic code in some way. Every sight word contains at least one phonetic component and this phonetic component is often at the beginning or end of the sight word. Many kids simply need systematic phonics instruction in order to start deciphering sight words. Kids can decipher sight words with just a few key hints. Why don’t you try to decipher the following sight words with access only to their phonetic components and length:
th_
c___d
s__d
th_r_
The above words are the, could, said and there. While that may have been a challenging activity, imagine trying to break the above words with no hints at all. I’ve worked with many students who struggled to decipher sight words until they learned some phonics.
Dyslexic kids and other kids with learning disabilities seem to be blind to sight words. Many parents are befuddled when their child comes across a word like “there” many times and still cannot read it. One child I worked with, for example, could not read sight words until he became a master of consonant digraphs. He had to learn quite a bit of phonics including, letter sounds, short vowels, and consonant digraphs before he could read a sight word.
Thus, parents and educators who are confounded by a child that is not learning sight words, even after many exposures, may need to focus on phonics first.
Walk through Reading Elephant phonics books in order to learn how to introduce phonics in the proper order.
Introduce 2 to 4 sight words at a time.
Many kids are sent home with long sight word lists. These lists can be overwhelming and set the child up for failure. Instead of encouraging a child to learn 100 at a time or 20 at a time, instead encourage your child to learn 2 to 4 sight words at a time. When your child masters the first 2 to 4, introduce 2 to 4 more. Do not take the old words out of the pile. Allow your student to review until these words are in their long-term memory.
Encourage your child to spell the sight words out loud.
Since sight words break the phonetic code, your child needs to learn how to spell them as well. These words cannot be “sounded out.” Since sight words are so common in writing, you want to make sure your student can spell them. If she can’t spell sight words, her writing will be inscrutable. Learning how to spell them will also help her learn how to read them.
Make sure your student’s sight words are truly phonetic.
Your student should not have to memorize words like see, did, just, no, but, up, play, time…etc. These words are totally phonetic! Sight word lists should strictly be made up of words that break the phonetic code in some way. If a sight word list becomes littered with phonetic words, the child will spend ample time memorizing words that she could simply read sound-by-sound with phonics strategies. Don’t allow your struggling reader to waste even more time. Make sure your sight word list only contains words that break the phonetic code in some way.
Reading Elephant offers printable phonics books for struggling readers in our shop.
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