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How to Learn Sight Vocabulary

Learning new words is the key to becoming a fluent and efficient reader. The process of learning sight vocabulary words, or sight words, begins in kindergarten. These words need to be automatically recognized because they are repeated frequently in primary reading texts and many of the words are not decodable. For example, words such as "one," "does" and "people" do not follow phonetic rules. Students cannot sound them out. Gail Tompkins, the author of "Literacy for the 21st Century," states that students need to read and write high-frequency sight words instantly and have them secure by third grade.

Instructions

    • 1

      Write the word clearly in all lower case letters on a piece of paper. Alternatively, use magnetic letters on a metal baking tray.

    • 2

      Ask the child to look at the word as you run your finger under it and say it slowly.

    • 3

      Tell the child to look at the word and say it slowly.

    • 4

      Have the student close his eyes and try to visualize the word. Ask him to see the first part and the second part.

    • 5

      Ask the child to look at the word again as he runs his finger under the letters left to right.

    • 6

      Ask him to write the word and say it slowly without looking at the model. Further practice of writing the word several ways will help cement the learning. A few examples are writing the word with a different color, writing it in chalk, using a finger to trace it in sand or sugar, or on a different texture such as carpet or a wall. Increasing the number of senses used is helpful to the learning process.

    • 7

      Show the student the word in a text.

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