Grade 1
Sight Words
It is important for students to learn to read sight words effortlessly and automatically because they will encounter them often when reading and writing. The more sight words that a student can read automatically, the easier it will be for him/her to read because sight words are found in most of the sentences that they read every day.
Sight words are sometimes called irregular words because many are spelled irregularly (they don't always follow spelling rules). This can make it difficult for young learners to remember and recognize sight words when they are reading. This year, I will be using an approach called Heart Word Magic when teaching sight words. This approach teaches students to analyze the letters in sight words and determine which letters are not making the correct sounds. Those are the letters that students must learn by heart. Here is a video to show you the Heart Word approach: https://vimeo.com/368428974
Below you will find the Grade 1 Sight Word Lists for Trimester 1, Trimester 2, and Trimester 3.
How to practice sight words at home
Games like Memory, Tic-Tac-Toe, and Sight Word Slap are fun ways to practice sight words at home with your kids. Two great things about these simple games is that most kids already know how to play them and they don't require much planning. Refer to your child's sight word ring to choose words to practice when playing these games. Have fun!
Memory/Concentration
1. Write pairs of your child's sight words on index cards.
2. Place all the index cards face down in rows on a flat surface.
3. Player 1 flips over one index card and reads the sight word. Player 1 flips over one more index card and reads the sight word.
4. If the sight words are the same, Player 1 keeps both index cards. If the sight words are not the same, Player 1 flips the cards back over.
5. Now it is Player 2's turn. Player 2 completes steps 3 and 4.
6. Continue taking turns until all index cards have been read. Count up the number of words that each player collects. Play again!
Tic-Tac-Toe
This game is best to practice reading and writing two sight words. Write two different sight words on two different index cards. That way your child can refer to the index card when writing his/her sight word. It is best if Player 1 writes in one color and Player 2 writes in a different color.
1. Draw a Tic-Tac-Toe grid on a piece of paper or a whiteboard.
2. Player 1 and Player 2 each choose a different sight word.
3. Player 1 chooses a square to write his/her word in. As Player 1 writes the word, he/she says the letters out loud and, then, the whole word. For example, say, "S-A-I-D" and then the word, "said!"
4. Player 2 chooses a square to write his/her word in. As Player 2 writes the word, he/she says the letters out loud and, then, the whole word. For example, "H-E-R-E" and then the word, "here!".
5. Now Player 1 takes another turn.
6. Continue taking turns until one player writes 3 of their words across, down, or diagonally (for Tic-Tac-Toe!) or until there are no more squares available. Have fun!
Sight Word Slap
This game is a good way to review many words that your child is learning. It can be played with more than 2 players.
1. Write pairs of sight words on index cards. The more cards the better.
2. Deal out the cards equally to all players.
3. Each player makes a pile of his/her cards. Keep the pile of cards face down.
4. On your turn, flip over the top card from your pile, read the sight word, and put the card in the pile in the middle of the group (still facing up).
5. The next player, flips over the top card from his/her pile, then reads the card, and puts it on top of the pile.
*If the cards match, the first person to slap the top card gets to keep all the cards in the pile.
6. Continue taking turns reading the sight words and slapping matching cards until all the cards are gone.
Best Literacy Apps for Kids
Reading Rockets has a web page that outlines the best literacy apps for kids. For the link to the full list of literacy apps, click Literacy Apps
This web page organizes the apps into the following topics:
comprehension
dyslexia and learning disabilities
emotional regulation
language and communication
phonics
print awareness
routines, schedules, and organization
social skills
Below are good literacy apps for phonics, spelling, and beginning reading that you will find on the ReadingRockets website listed above.
Endless Alphabet
$4.99-$6.99
Alphabytes
$1.99
Learn with Homer
FREE
Writing Wizard
$4.99
Bookworm
$2.99
ABC Mouse
FREE
Montessori Crosswords
$2.99
Sight Words Hangman
$0.99