FIRST GRADE SIGHT WORDS

Why Sight Words Are Important to Learn

Sight words are very important for your child to master because, believe it or not, sight words account for up to 75% of the words used in beginning children’s printed material.  Here are some other benefits of learning sight words:

• Sight words promote confidence.  Because the first 100 sight words represent over 50% of English text, a child who has mastered the list of sight words can already recognize at least half of a sentence. If your child begins to read a book and can already recognize the words, chances are he won’t feel discouraged and put the book down, rather he’ll have more confidence to read it all the way through. And, choose another!

• Sight words promote reading comprehension.  When your child opens her book for the first time, instead of trying to decipher what ALL of the words mean, she can shift her attention to focus on those words she is not familiar with. She will already know at least half of the words, so focusing on the other half helps strengthen her understanding of the text.

• Sight words provide clues to the context.  If your child is familiar with the sight words, she may be able to decode the meaning of the paragraph or sentence by reading the sight words. And, if a picture accompanies the text, your child may be able to determine what the story is about and come away with a few new words under her belt.

• Many “sight words do not follow the basic phonics principles, thus they cannot be “sounded out.

K-2 WCS Sight Word Lists

Students will be tested on their sight words also referred to as trick words multiple times throughout the year (at the beginning of the year, for progress reports, and for report cards).  By the end of the year, first-grade students are expected to identify the 93 sight or trick words listed below.

Click Here to view the complete list of K-2 Trick Words.

First Grade Trick Words: