Let's talk about sight words, those 14% to 16% of the English language that can’t be sounded out.
According to a study conducted by Stanford professor of education Paul R. Hanna, only 16%, but possibly as little as 4%, of words in English are not possible to sound out and must be memorized. And did you know that many children can read sight words, but can’t spell them when asked. That’s because they don’t follow any rules. Sight words need to be taught, and memorized, one by one.
That’s why this month’s freebie for those signing up for my email list is a free sight word lesson for the word ‘heart’, as my Valentine’s gift for you.
In my Facebook Live earlier today (Thursday Feb 2 https://www.facebook.com/595263254/videos/1357015361722381/) I talked about sight words in more detail, and walked through the Sight Word lesson materials in this Valentine’s freebie.
On a related topic, have you heard about Dolch words or the Fry’s First 100 Words list? These are often sent home from school with young learners, and are used to evaluate them.
If you look at this list, sight words are mixed into the list, alongside words far above their reading level as well as words that can be sounded out (phonetic words). But there are no clues as to which words can actually be sounded out and which ones can’t.
Imagine how confusing this is for our little learners who are just being newly exposed to the written language.
While I believe we should just scrap these lists altogether, if you really feel you must use them then I suggest that you make it easier for kids by underlining the sight words in red. This will act as a visual clue to the reader that this is a word that can not be sounded out. Then I would underline the phonetic words that are beyond their reading level in a different colour leaving the phonetic words at their level without an underline. Having these visual clues will help to alleviate their anxiety and reduce frustration, both theirs and yours, as a teacher.
I am often asked, when should I start teaching sight words? Should I wait until after I have taught all the alphabet letters and a few words?
My advice may surprise you. I start teaching sight words after I’ve taught just the first 5 letters in my teaching sequence. The child doesn’t even need to have learned the letters in that sight word before learning the word as these are words that can’t be sounded out - they only need to learn the name of the letter!
I have created a Sight Word Drill Deck and have it available to help parents and educators know which are the most common sight words to teach, and to make it easy for you to do a daily review with the children. (https://www.timetoshineteaching.com/sightwords-deck). You will find this deck in both the digital format (you download, print and prepare) and in a pre-printed, ready to use deck.
If you have been watching my videos or have attended one of my webinars then you would know that I don’t teach the alphabet in the singsong order. I teach in a particular order that makes it easier for children to start blending sounds into words after they know just a few letters. This gives them a huge sense of accomplishment.
In fact, each letter lesson in my Phonics Level 1 Course includes a little story that is decodable based on the letters and sight words the child has learned to date. The children are excited and proud to read to their parents! I love teaching children, and am thrilled to hear success stories from teachers using my Time to Shine Teaching Phonics courses.
Happy Valentine’s Day everyone, and I hope you love teaching with my materials this month.
Norma Jean Maxwell.
コメント