Monday Motivation: Sight Word Scratch!

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It’s that time of year again… We’ve got just a few short weeks left with our kiddos.
Let’s be honest though, we’re all tired.  More like exhausted.  Summer can’t come soon enough!  BUT, everything worth starting deserves a strong finish, right?
Well, the other day I was thinking about how far my kiddos have come in reading.  From the time I joined them in October until now I’ve witnessed astounding growth.  But, I know some of my struggling kiddos are still behind in many basic reading pre-reqs, such as recognizing sight words.
 That got me searching around on Pinterest (no surprise) and I was inspired by [this] blog post.  I tweaked the activity a bit to meet the needs of my classroom.
For Monday Motivation this week I want to share a simple, cheap, and effective strategy for practicing sight words.  The key word here is effective (and let’s be honest, cheap and simple are great, too).  I like to call this game Sight Word Scratch.
My district has us introduce sight words in “bundles.”  Usually a bundle is 5 or 6 words and we teach the bundle over a 2-3 week period and periodically spend some weeks reviewing.  Now that we’ve exhausted all the bundles, it’s time to review and make sure we are filling any gaps!
I wrote each word from the first bundle on chart paper (I, an, can, red, blue).  Then I made a corresponding note card for each word.
Monday Motivation:  Sight Word Scratch!
To start out, we reviewed the sight words by using the flash cards and by finding them in text.  Then I gave each kiddo in the group a Scentos marker (instant motivation) and we went to town practicing sight words with Sight Word Scratch!
Monday Motivation:  Sight Word Scratch!
I rotated showing each kiddo a flash card and allowing at max 3 seconds for them to respond.  If the kiddo recognized the sight word correctly, he/she got to place an X on that word on the chart paper.  So, not only were we practicing reading the sight word, but also finding it in a sea of other words!  We played until each word on the chart paper had been X’ed out.
Monday Motivation:  Sight Word Scratch!
I can see this being adapted in so many ways!  You could even just have the words on a regular sized paper, although I preferred the novelty of have the kiddos writing on chart paper and up out of their seats.  I could even see groups doing this independently during Daily 5 as a word work.  The interventionist who visits my room said she is going to try it out with numbers tomorrow to help kiddos who are still struggling with recognizing written numbers.

7 Comments

  1. Totally FUN! I think I know what we will be doing tomorrow. We have just a few days left in our year and I know my kinders love the scented markers! Thank you for the great idea!

    BTW: Love your blog design!!!

  2. Great idea! Thanks for sharing!! I look forward to including it in my stations with my 3rd graders this coming year. I love the font you used for the title of the activity, “Sight Word Scratch”! Could you please share how you got the effects to make it look so fun!

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