School Sparks - Kindergarten Readiness

Sight word games are great for learning sight words

Many people think that learning sight words needs to be a boring, painstaking chore as you show your child one flashcard at a time until he has memorized each word. Fortunately, creative sight word games can be great ways to keep your child engaged and having fun as he learns sight words.

Successfully learning sight words does depend on seeing each word numerous times, together with hearing the sound of the word. Through this process, your child can begin to associate the letters, in a particular order, with the specific word they represent. While sight word flashcards are an easy way to give your child exposure to different sight words, additional games and activities can solidify knowledge of sight words while your child is having fun.

For example, a sight word bingo card is nothing more than a list of sight words written on one piece of paper rather than on individual pieces of paper. And a sight word sentence is simply a collection of sight words formed into a sentence. In this way, playing sight word games such as sight word bingo and reading sight word sentences is a fantastic way to give your child practice seeing sight words and to ensure he has the repeated exposure he needs to commit the sight words to memory.

Tips for using these sight word games

The sight word bingo cards provide a fun way to practice reading and learning sight words. Each card has 25 sight words on it and the cards are color-coded to correspond to a specific set of Dolch sight words. In this way, your child only needs to be familiar with a single group of Dolch sight words (the kindergarten sight words, for example) to play this sight word game.

After you and your child select your sight word bingo cards, ask your child to point to each word on his card and read it aloud. The put the stack of sight word flash cards face down on the table and let your child pick one and read it.

After reading the sight word, ask your child to place the sight word flash card on the table face up so that the players can refer to the printed word as they scan their bingo card. Direct your child to use his pointer finger to move along each row of his sight word bingo card as he looks for the selected word.

Keep the used cards in a separate pile, face up. When a player gets a bingo, ask your child to be the “card checker” by reading each word in the winning bingo row and finding that word in the pile of words that have been picked. Not only will this ensure there are no “false” claims of bingo (affectionately called “bongos” in my house) but this will also give your child a second opportunity to practice reading the sight words off the sight word bingo card.

A sight word game such as sight word bingo is particularly effective because it can be tailored to a variety of ability levels. For example, since the game requires you to turn over one sight word flashcard at a time, an older child can read the sight word flashcard and then search for the word on his card by actually reading all the words on his card.

On the other hand, a younger child can pick up the sight word flashcard after it has been turned over and hold it in his hand as he compares the word to the other words on his sight word bingo card. In this way, a child who is still gaining comfort with a group of sight words will get exposure to the sight words as you say them aloud without having the pressure of needing to read each sight word on his bingo card.

When playing sight word bingo, there may be times when your child hesitates upon seeing a word. Sometimes it is helpful to ask him to stop and decode the word using his knowledge of phonics rules. Even if the word does not entirely follow the rules of phonics, some letter sounds may provide clues to help your child recall the sight word from the list of sight words he just learned.

Extra sight word games and activities to try at home

• Make a list of the sight words that your child is learning. After he reads all of the sight word sentences, ask him to read each word on your list and then count how many times that sight word is used in the sentences. To make this activity more fun, begin by asking your child which word he thinks was repeated the most.
• When riding in the car with your child, give him a list of common words found on street signs such as ONE, WAY, STOP, HERE, PARK, NO, WALK, TURN, or RED. As you drive with your child, challenge him to call out these words as he sees them.
• Read books to your child that have just one sentence on each page. Every time you come to a sight word that he knows, stop and let him read the word.
• Brainstorm with your child and think of one or two short sentences for each sight word he learns. Let your child dictate this sentence to you and write it down clearly so that he can read the sentence to you.
• Ask your child to pick a sight word sentence that he likes and draw a picture illustrating that sentence. Cut the sentence out and paste it under his drawing or write the sentence under the drawing.