Making Sight Words Fun!

In my last post I talked about the value of teaching reading with whole words along with Orton-Gillingham phonic instruction.  I am not interested in engaging in the reading wars, I just want to make people aware that there is no one guaranteed right or wrong way to teach reading.  The right way is the one that works for your child.

Whole word, or sight words, is a method I used with my children that was an important part of our reading program.  We also used Orton-Gillingham phonics instruction, and both methods were very helpful in teaching them to read.

Sight words can be made into a variety of games that can be fun to play, just be careful not to turn it into a drill.  Keep it light and fun.  You don’t need to spend a lot of money buying sight word cards, and in fact those cards will not have all the words you will want anyway.  All you need is some cardstock, a paper trimmer, and a thick black sharpie.  Each 8.5″ x 11″ piece of cardstock can be cut as shown below to make 8 flashcards.  You want to print your words clearly, boldly, and as large as you can to fit the card, without distorting the shape of the word.

It is important to make cards for words that are relevant and important to your child, as well as words that are commonly used or needed for the book you want them to read.  For example, if your child loves animals then include the words for their favourite animals (dog, cat, snake, tiger, etc.).  If they have a favourite sport, include words relevant to the sport (hockey, puck, net, stick, etc.).  Make sure you have a selection of action words (look, jump, run, hide, wave, etc.) as well as objects or places (table, chair, floor, hall, kitchen, etc.).

Game #1: Go and Do

My kids loved this game and they played it all together.  Start with about five of the action words and the object/place words.  Show them the word and say it out loud.  The challenge is to be the first one to do the action or go to or touch the place/object word.  Keep the game moving at a steady pace.  Don’t wait too long between words.  Only play for about 5 minutes . . . long enough to have fun, not so long that it gets boring.  Mix up the word cards each time so the order changes.  After you’ve played several times, start to pause very slightly before telling them the word.  This will give them a bit of time to get the word on their own.  Gradually increase the length of time you wait before giving them the word.  As they start to know the words, add in one or two new ones at a time.  Always give them the new words, but don’t give them the words they know too quickly.  Of course as they know more words, your stack of cards will get bigger.  Make sure that new words get lots of repetition in order to help get them into memory.

Game #2: Concentration

For this game you will need two identical sets of cards with your words on them.  Select five different words and have both copies of each word in the set, for a total of 10 cards.  Place the cards face down.  Take it in turns to turn over two cards to see if they match.  Each time you or your child turns over a card, say the word.  As in the previous game, after your child becomes familiar with the words pause a little before saying the word to see if they already know what it says.  If the person playing can match two cards together (the same word is on both cards) then that person scores a point and gets to go again.  If the cards don’t match then the other person takes a turn.  As your child gets to know the words, add in new sets of word cards to expand the number of cards being used.  As in the previous game, only play for about 5 minutes so that it doesn’t get too repetitive.

Game #3: Silly sentences

Go through your word cards with your child and each pick out 3 or 4 words.  Read the cards out loud as you go through them to pick out your words.  Take turns to make up a silly sentence using one or two of your words.  As the person says their sentence, they point to the word being used when it is said in the sentence.  The point of this game is the sillier the better!  This will give your out-of-the-box thinker a chance to really let loose!  See if you can make each other laugh.  Once you’ve used up your words, switch words with each other.  Now you will each make up silly sentences using the other person’s words.

Mix and match these games using the same basic set of words until they are familiar.  Try to play a game every day.  Repetition of the words is the goal, but playing different games keeps the repetition from being too dull.  As you see that they know certain words well, start to move those words into less frequent rotation, but make sure they are still being used on a regular basis, for example every second or third day rather than every day.  If a word is forgotten when being used less frequently, put it back into the daily rotation again.  Don’t forget, games that are light and fun are more effective than monotonous drill.