Sight word activities

We make a typing game, not a reading program, so this page is about practice, not about how reading is taught. Schools differ in how they teach these words. Ask the teacher how the class is learning them and which words it is on, and practice those.

Before you start

• Get the list. Use the words the teacher sent home. If you have none, the Dolch lists are sorted by level, from pre-primer to third grade.
• Make the cards. Print sight word flash cards for a level, or type in your own words. Eight cards a page.
• Pick a handful. A few words are easier to keep track of than a whole list. Add more as the first ones become easy.

Games with word cards

1. Three piles. Hold up a card. It goes on the "know it", "nearly" or "not yet" pile. Next time, start with "not yet".
2. Find the word. Lay six cards face up. Say a word, and your child picks it up. Swap places: they say one and you find it.
3. Pairs. Print two sets, lay them face down, and turn over two at a time. A pair is kept only if the word is read aloud.
4. Go fish. Two sets again. "Do you have said?" Asking for a card means reading it.
5. Word hunt. Hide ten cards around a room. Each card found is read before it goes in the basket.
6. Stepping stones. Lay cards in a path across the floor. Step on a card, read it, step to the next.

Games for a group

7. Bingo. Print sight word bingo cards, up to 40 at a time, each one different. The calling list prints with them.
8. Around the circle. Pass the pile round. Each child turns a card and reads it, and the group reads it back.
9. Chalk hop. Write the words in chalk outside. Call a word, and everyone hops to it.

With paper and pencil

10. Read it, write it, type it. The sight word worksheets give each word a row: read it, write it twice, then tick the box when it has been typed.
11. Rainbow writing. Write the word in pencil, then trace over it in three colors.
12. Word search. The sight word word search hides twelve words from a level in a grid, to solve on the screen or print.
13. Build it. Make the word from letter tiles or fridge magnets, mix the letters up, and build it again.

On a keyboard

14. Type the words. The sight word game puts a level's words on a road, twelve a lap. Each word has to be finished with the right letters.
15. Type phrases. Sight word phrases are short groups of sight words, such as "we can go now", read whole and then typed.
16. Type the class list. Spelling practice takes any list you paste in and makes the same game from it.

Keeping track

Print the sight word checklist for the level. Every word has three boxes, one for each day you check. The empty boxes are next week's handful.

Keeping it light

• Stop while it is still fun. A few minutes is plenty.
• Mix old and new. A pile with some easy words in it feels better than a pile of hard ones.
• Let them win. In pairs and go fish, the reading is the point, not the score.

Questions

What is a good first sight word activity?

Start with word cards: "find the word" with six cards face up, or three piles. For a class, sight word bingo with a 3 by 3 card.

How many sight words should we practice at once?

There is no rule. Use the handful the teacher sent home, and add more as the first ones become easy.

How do I practice sight words at home?

Print a set of word cards and play a card game for a few minutes: three piles, pairs or a word hunt. A checklist shows which words to come back to.

Are the printables free?

Yes. The flash cards, bingo cards, worksheets, word searches and checklist all print from their pages, with nothing to sign up for.

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