What are sight words?

The phrase “sight words” is used to describe a set of frequently occurring words that children are encouraged to recognize by sight, rather than decode using other word identification strategies. Also called high frequency words, these terms make up 50-75% of the words included in reading material published for young learners. When a child truly knows a sight word, he or she can recall it within three seconds and will not need to sound it out. This level of immediate recall is essential in developing a usable sight word vocabulary.

Why is it important for children memorize sight words?

Learning to recognize sight words quickly and accurately leads to greater oral reading fluency and allows young readers to save their mental energy for the more challenging words they encounter while reading. Developing a sight word vocabulary can also boost children’s confidence in their own reading abilities, resulting in an increased motivation to engage in independent reading endeavors.

Which words should my child be practicing? What are Power Words?

This year, we are utilizing the IRLA Framework (Independent Reading Level Assessment), which refers to sight words as “Powers Words” due to their importance to early readers. There are three lists of IRLA sight words that we will cover in kindergarten that span the various levels of the IRLA system: 1 Green Power Words, 2 Green Power Words, and 2 Green Category Words. These lists are pictured below.

Our kindergarten Power Word lists will be broken down into manageable chunks and sent home on a weekly basis. Please plan to set aside five to ten minutes for Power Word practice each night, or as often as possible.

A few special notes:

*If you find that your child already knows the words on the weekly lists or learns them very quickly, he or she can then practice spelling them! However, please note that the goal is to recognize the terms at "flash speed" (less than 3 seconds) on a consistent basis.

*Your child will likely have IRLA Power Words in his/her IRLA bag as well. These are highly individualized and selected based on his/her needs as demonstrated in our regular IRLA conferences. 

Kindergarten is truly a pivotal year when it comes to developing a sight word bank and by doing so your child is building a foundation for further literacy development.

Thank you in advance for your support with these endeavors!