Sight Word Fun

Learning the Dolch sight words is like flipping the switch for young readers, so help them out with lots of practice! What's the best way to start? 

• Reading: Well, of course, by reading Dr. Seuss! Legend has it that Dr. Seuss was challenged to use the 220 Dolch sight words in a book, and the classic The Cat in the Hat was the result.

· 87% - Green Eggs and Ham by Dr. Seuss
· 78% - Go, Dog. Go! by P.D. Eastman
· 78% - Are You My Mother? by P.D. Eastman
· 82% - I Want to Be Somebody New! by Robert Lopshire
· 83% - A Fly Went By! by Mike McClintock
· 78% - The Cat in the Hat by Dr. Seuss
· 81% - The Cat in the Hat Comes Back by Dr. Seuss
· 75% - One fish two fish red fish blue fish by Dr. Seuss & Ten Apples Up on Top.
These books are all shelved in my beginning reader section. You'll find many other books with controlled vocabularies there, for grade levels K-3, including lots of books about kid friendly subjects like Monster Trucks, Sharks, and Fly Guy.

• Writing: 

Does it count as writing if you're playing with Duplos and it's really fun? I'm not denying that doing these games with your child will involve some prep work on your part. But how would you rather spend your time -- going over rote lists of words or flashcards or playing games with them? (And I would color code the parts of speech -- red for nouns, yellow for verbs, etc.)

These are duplos repurposed by the brilliant blogger filthwizardry.com. For more on Lego Literacy, check out her site here: Repurposing Legos  

• Games

There are tons of printable card games available at Games to Make, based on characters like Cars, Spongebob, and Cinderella and Uno.  Your child won't learn all the sight words by playing one game, but it's a long school year, isn't it? 

My grandson likes to play a running game recommended by Family Fun.  I post a batch of sight words on one wall of the house, and post myself at the other. Sitting on the couch in comfort, I ask him to bring me a "when" or a "round" and he rushes off to fetch it. 

Add the sight word challenge to moronic traditional games like Candyland and Chutes and Ladders. Children would still roll the dice or pick the card to advance, but mark the board with the Dolch words for their grade level.  They don't get to stay advanced unless they can read the word on their space!

Make up some Dolch bingo games at DLTK bingo.  I printed out all the levels so I could play simultaneously with kids at diffferent reading levels.

• Horsing Around and Being Silly

Craft foam sticks to tile walls when wet. Write your child's words on some fun foam and give him a squirt bottle. Ask him to squirt the words you name!

"When I pick up the boys from school, I put their "stories" in the DVD player. As long as they can listen, they don't fight!" -- Neshia.

"Turn on the close captioning! It's how I'm learning Spanish." -- Ms. Travis

"My daughter Madeline 'owes' me 1/2 hour of reading for every hour of TV watching. She's now very competent about planning what shows she really wants to watch and budgeting her time. She sets the timer on the microwave and goes into her room. Finishing her school reading log is no problem!! -- Andrea