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.
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!
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.
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.
If you’re still with me, you’re in for a treat! To celebrate my new blog design I’m giving away a $25 gift certificate to Teachers Pay Teachers just in time for the big teacher appreciation sale (I told you a giveaway was coming)!
Entering is easy – just visit my [Facebook] page, like the giveaway post and leave a comment with your favorite strategy to teach sight words (free or paid product)! The giveaway will end on Tuesday, May 5 at 8:00 PM.
