5 EASY MINI-LESSONS TO TEACH SIGHT WORDS

By Leslie @KindergartenWorks

When it comes to teaching sight words there a lot of different approaches. Here’s how I like to teach a sight word in 5 minutes for 5 days to kindergarten. Teach sight words interactively with these five easy mini-lessons.

Let me share why, how and what sight words we focused on – that way you get the entire picture.

WHY TEACH SIGHT WORDS IN KINDERGARTEN

In kindergarten, we teach how to read/recognize words simply by seeing them. Just as you see a face and recognize it with someone’s name attached.

It’s automatic. It’s an instantaneous response.

Well, it may not be that automatic in kindergarten (or at least at the beginning, for sure) but that’s the goal of teaching sight words anyways.

Sight words are usually words that our kindergarten students will run into over and over and could potentially see them in print dozens of times in a day. Sometimes people call them high-frequency words, popcorn words or even star words. Teachers like to come up with many names for things like that, don’t you know?

The reason we teach sight words in kindergarten? Because they are reading in kindergarten! Teaching sight words helps them to read more fluently, fluidly and write more efficiently too.

HOW TO TEACH SIGHT WORDS

Let me preface that this is my routine that I planned and then tweaked over the years. It was my goal to teach a sight word each week and I wanted to use repetition to my advantage.

My thinking was – the more they see it, use and can be it – the quicker they’ll learn it… and the increased likelihood that it’ll stick past just that week.

Of course this little list I’m including isn’t the only time I ever mentioned sight words. But for the sake of sharing with you – it’s the bulk of my teaching sight words whole group.

I simply did one of these each day and fell into a Monday-Friday routine.

It made lesson planning easy for the entire 5 minutes each of these mini-lessons took.

1. CREATE A TUNE OR A STORY

Can you sing Mary Had a Little Lamb? Then you can totally use this strategy to teach sight words.

Simply replace the lyrics of a nursery rhyme or familiar tune with the letters spelling the sight word.

Want me to make all of the songs up for you? Check out my sight word songs. Your students will come away with a strong core of 24+ words they can read and spell.

Another option is to create a story for the way the word looks.

The “story” is simply a meaningful way to attach the visual look of the word to the spelling.

Here’s an example:

When teaching said – I’d say, “Listen to what these vowels are trying to say. /e/ /e/ The a and the i are trying to be the letter e. They aren’t allowed to do that. They are so naughty they should be locked up in jail. And I would talk draw a square with vertical lines (like a jail cell door) on top of the ai.

I’m creating a story to go with the visual look of the word.

That way can cue them to remember that they are being naughty when a kinder comes across it when reading. I can also cue them, “You want to write the word said? Aren’t there some naughty letters in that word that are trying to say /e/? Who was it that we needed to lock up in jail?”

Often they can recall the look of the word and remember it’s an a and an i hiding behind the jail door. Of course that isn’t expecting a very automatic response from my students, but it’s a strategy to build up the skill.

Basically for the first day, I’d introduce and sing. Or I’d introduce and create a story for the new sight word based on its graphemes (like I did for said) or its look.

2. USE MANIPULATIVES TO BUILD IT

Just because you taught a song, chant or story to “teach” what the sight word looks like or remember how it’s spelled – that’s not enough.

You need to explore what it looks like by changing it and come back to the original.

Pull out your magnetic letters, playdough or letter tiles under your document camera. Review your song or story and have students help build the word.

Then choose a letter (or letters) to switch out. So – take your word “the” and turn it into “tne”. Have students identify what’s wrong.

You can also mix up a letter or two and have them identify and rearrange them back into the correct order. Repeat.

Pull this off with a little teaching drama (like they are contestants on The Price is Right) or have them close their eyes in between the switcheroo.

Be sure to always come back to the correct spelling and review your song or story as discussed earlier.

3. FIND IT IN PRINT

Your kinders need to see the word in print. That means not just on a word wall card (though that’s good too) but in actual print, surrounded by other words, separated by spaces.

There are a couple different ways to do this. You can do one or do them all.

You attack this one whole group using a big book or shared reading experience. I liked to have my students clap, snap, stomp or wiggle (something kinesthetic) when my finger landed on the sight word as we were reading.

It’s easy to have them finger frame or use word windows to find the word in print during small group reading lessons.

Reward kinders for finding the word in print during some independent reading time. You could give out high fives, smelly spots or even a single M&M (some kinda incentive) for finding it.

Review the song or story when wrapping up your whole group or small group mini lesson for good measure.

4. FORM THE LETTERS WITH BODIES

Ah, this one speaks to that fact that kinders need to move.

Sometimes we’d form letters in teams to make sight words – but more often than not – we’d simply transform ourselves into letters right there on our classroom rug.

After I’d sprinkle or blow some letter dust across my classroom, we’d magically become letters.

I’d invite a student or two to share with us how they think each letter could be formed with their body. Picture: “How could you make the letter f with your body? Is it easier to make the uppercase F or lowercase f?”

We’d sing the song or spell out the word slowly, morphing from one letter into another and giggling the entire time.

It was fun. Lowercase e’s were always the trickiest {wink}

5. SKYWRITE

Writing the letters of the sight word in the air using GIANT letter strokes is what I like to call skywriting. It’s another kinesthetic way of teaching how a sight word looks in print.

We skywrite the word while singing or spelling the word out slowly.

I’d change it up from just using arms for skywriting every once in a while to using another body part – like feet, elbows or tummies – just to keep things fresh. Or try it with eyes closed. That’s a good one.

An alternative version of this is playing a partner-style game. They are going to be tracing the word (or last week’s sight word) onto the partner’s back with their finger. The partner has to guess which word was spelled out.

THAT’S IT?

Pretty much.

The only other whole group activity we did was go over the entire list of sight words using a chant. Kinda like you’d review the alphabet chart everyday – well, we did that with our sight words too. That’s also included in my sight word songs bundle and is super handy.

I will say that in addition to these mini lessons listed here we talked about sight words in our reading groups and our writing time too. I’m not going to miss out on a chance to reinforce the word!

They’d also see the sight word the following week in the abc center and our pokey pinning center.

Of course I didn’t have to teach just one sight word a week. There were a dozen weeks that we doubled up and I taught two a week to the whole class (like I’d add a color word).

And I’d add more words in our small reading groups for those who were ready for it. Makes sense, right?

WHAT SIGHT WORDS TO TEACH IN KINDERGARTEN?

This seems to be a very subjective question. Ask 12 kindergarten teachers and get 12 different answers.

But since you’re here on my blog, let me share my list with you {wink}

I started with a core set of 24 sight words.

first name, I, me, my, the, like, a, see, so, to, am, an, and, at, do, he, no, we, in, it, is, can, up, she, go

Once most of the class had that list mastered, we’d move on to learning 24 more. Some students would already be working on this list in small groups (or have worked past it).

these, down, yellow, purple, they, said, are, there, day, love, blue, black, green, look, red, pink, this, have, brown, you, here, play, orange

Many teachers have to follow what their curriculum says. Others like to use the Fry word list of 100 words to work from. I happened to have some flexibility with picking my list.

SIGHT WORDS ON DEMAND

Today’s kindergarten is yesterday’s first grade. In fact, I never wanted to teach first grade because I didn’t want the weight of having to teach someone how to read. Ha, little did I avoid that {wink}

No matter what sight words in kindergarten you teach – make them meaningful and get them in front of your kinders as much as possible.

Here’s an idea that you can do to keep words rotating in front of your kiddos – literally.

Create a slideshow with your sight words and have them be the screensaver on your classroom computers.

I hope you were able to get the entire picture on how I teach sight words in our kindergarten classroom with those mini-lessons and thoughts. And I hope you are able to take away something to help you think, organize and teach the way you want to.

If you like what I do here on KindergartenWorks, then be sure to subscribe today. I look forward to sharing ideas with you weekly.

MORE SIGHT WORDS

EASY “FLASH CARD FLASH” GAME

By Leslie @KindergartenWorks

Simple is my style. So when you find a game or tool that is simple and can be used for many things – it’s a keeper in my book. One of my favorite examples is a game called “flash card flash.” It only takes 3 colored pieces of craft foam or construction paper and you’re set to go. Here’s how it works.

HOW TO PLAY FLASH CARD FLASH

Lay out a red, yellow and green piece of craft foam from the Dollar Tree {already cut to size – score}. You can use one set for a partner version, or each child can play on his/her own set.
Students flip through a pile of flashcards and identify what is on the card.
If they get it correct right away the card is placed on the green mat. If they get it correct but it took a while (or maybe had to rely on a classroom chart for help) it goes on the yellow. If they didn’t know it or got it wrong it goes on the red.

Of course, this is kindergarten we’re talking about so often times they are very gracious to themselves when playing alone. Playing in partners is humorous because they enjoy being the teacher.

The goal is to practice identifying the cards 1-3 times (depending upon the time you have) and learning how to find a solution if the answer is unknown. Students can celebrate the cards on the green (count them as points if you will) and work through the yellow and red again.

FLASH CARD TIPS

USE SPARINGLY

I’ve used this game mainly for letter identification, sight words and for ten frame and teen frames. That’s simply because I am very choosy about where I use flash cards – they have value in a few cases but it is limited.

PROVIDE “INDEPENDENT” SUPPORT

Keep a resource nearby that they can use “independently.” Here are some examples: Using the photo above, the students are singing the alphabet using a chart they are familiar with in order to find the letter to name it. I say “independently” because even if you have to support them while using the resource (like if they could sing the alphabet but couldn’t touch 1:1 while singing), you are giving them the tools to be able to try it on their own later. For sight words, we always had a sight word chant that they could rely on. And for the teen and ten frames – well, they could count if they needed support.

Flashcards work best when limited in number and are individualized. So in the photo example above, each student would ask the partner about letters he/she needed and there was only ever a handful at a time.

KEEP CARD SETS ORGANIZED

As a side note, different colored sets for each student in this group made it easy to keep track of which cards belonged to each kinder. But – I wouldn’t use that organization strategy all the time! Most often, I had students put their initials on the back of each card to mark it as theirs.

How to speak so students listen

How To Speak So Students Listen

Smart Classroom Management

by Michael Linsin on January 23, 2016

It’s common for teachers to bemoan the state of listening in their classroom.

“Sometimes I feel like I’m talking to myself.”

“I say it over and over again, and they still don’t get it.”

“It’s almost as if they’ve completely tuned me out.”

But rarely will they point to themselves as the reason.

Rarely will they look inward and analyze their own practice.

They assume that students either listen well or they don’t, and that they have little to do about it.

But the truth is, you have a profound effect on listening.

Consistency, temperament, likability, clarity, presentation skills, and even tidiness are all important factors.

There are also strategies that can improve listening almost instantaneously, which you can find in our archive.

But one of the most important factors is how you speak when giving directions. What follows are three simple changes that can make a big difference.

1. Talk less.

Most teachers talk too much. Their voice is a looping soundtrack to every day—reminding, warning, micromanaging, and guiding students through every this and that.

If you cut the amount of talking you do by a third, and focus only on what your students need to know, then what you say will have greater impact.

Your words will reach their intended destination, and your students will begin tuning you in rather than tuning you out.

2. Lower your voice.

It’s common to increase your volume to get students to listen better. But a loud voice is unpleasant and too easy to hear. It causes them to look away and busy themselves with other things.

When you lower your voice, however, and speak just loud enough for students in the back of the room to hear, they instinctively lean in. They stop moving and rustling.

They read your lips, facial expressions, and body language. By requiring a small amount of effort, your students will listen more intently.

3. Stop repeating.

When you repeat the same directions over and over, you train your students not to listen to you the first time. You encourage apathy and lighten their load of responsibility.

Saying it once creates urgency. It motivates action and causes students to stay locked in to the sound of your voice.

It also invests them in their learning. They begin to understand that education isn’t something that is done to them. Rather, it’s something they go out and get for themselves.

Stay The Course

If you’re struggling with listening, the above strategies will do wonders. At first, however, they may cause things to get worse.

Because your students have grown accustomed to you taking on the burden for their listening, they may very well ignore you.

They may become even slower to action.

This is normal. It tells you how far learned helplessness has taken root in your classroom. But once they feel the shift in responsibility from you to them, they’ll begin to change.

They’ll begin looking at you, tracking your movements, and anticipating what you want them to do next.

They’ll begin nodding their heads and eagerly completing your directions.

They’ll become empowered to do for themselves because responsibility feels good. It’s important. It fills with pride.

It makes good listeners.