Developing literacy skills is an essential component to young students’ success in reading. Skills such as comprehension, fluency, and vocabulary must all be mastered in order for a child to advance in reading. As stated by Kaşkaya (2016), “Reading fluency and reading comprehension are the most prominent characteristics of a good reader” (pg. 281). These areas of reading are often heavily focused on in classrooms across the United States in hopes to increase reading levels and scores on standardized tests. In order to read fluently, one must be able to read orally with speed and accuracy, including word recognition, and use decoding strategies (Jasmine & Schiesl, 2009, pg. 301).
In the elementary setting, many words are not decodable and simply must be memorized in order to achieve reading fluency. Recognizing these irregular words, in conjunction with high frequency words, are an important part of reading instruction that contribute to reading words fluently in connected text, which in turn will aid in comprehension (Sullivan, Konrad, Joseph, & Luu, 2013, pg. 102). The term “high frequency words” is often used in combination with the term sight words, meaning it is a word that one should recognize in an instant. Understanding what sight words are, how they can increase reading achievement, and identifying engaging ways they can be practiced in the classroom are important concepts for elementary school teachers.
Sight Words
According to Broz, Blust, and Bertelsen (2016), “Some people limit the term sight word to refer only to high-frequency words or to irregularly spelled words. However, that is not accurate. Any word that is read sufficiently often becomes a sight word that is read from memory” (pg. 39). Once students recognize all letters and sounds, it is typical that they are exposed to individual sight words before they practice using them within a text.
It may be appropriate for students to work with isolated sight words from time to time, but students become readers by reading sight words in connected text (Alberto et al., 2013, pg. 334). Research suggests that sight words comprise 50-60% of the words children encounter while reading (Johns, Edmond, & Mavrogenes, 1997, as cited by Broz et al., 2016, pg. 39). Because sight words make up more than half of the words that students read, the overarching goal for students is to display automaticity when encountering sight words.
Sight word automaticity naturally coincides with reading fluency, as quickly recognizing words increases reading speed. Recognizing sight words automatically while reading text is an important part in reading fluency because developing automatism will ensure that one deciphers and understands the reading simultaneously (Kaşkaya, 2016, pg. 282).
Linguistic intelligence focuses heavily on words, so naturally, it coincides easily with sight word instruction. One way to engage students who learn best through linguistic intelligence is through simple flash cards. I implemented a small-group game I call "Popcorn" which consisted of flashcards put inside of a popcorn bin. Students would pull out a sight word or "popcorn" from the bin and say the word. For an additional challenge they could spell the word after saying it.
Utilizing a word wall is another strategy that was useful for students with linguistic intelligence. A word wall is “a collection of high-frequency sight words that are age appropriate, classified into groups or categories, and is located on the wall of a classroom for children to easily see and learn.” (Brabham & Villamue, 2001 as cited by Jasmine & Schiesl, 2009, pg. 302). Word walls promote fluency and allow students to have visual access to sight words. The core purpose for word walls is to aid students in developing sight word recognition so they can cultivate automaticity (Huebner & Bush, 1970 as cited by Jasmine & Schiesl, 2009, pg.302).
One particular activity explored by Jasmine and Schiesel is “Rainbow Writing”. In this activity, students write the words from the word wall in different colors, focusing on the formation of the word while writing (Jasmine & Schiesel, 2009, pg. 304). For students with linguistic intelligence, writing sight words in multiple colors can be interesting and engaging. I adapted this concept into a game for students to play during literacy stations and it proved to be both effective and engaging.
Linguistic Activities
Songs
Research shows support for the positive contribution of music to students’ general cognitive abilities, particularly, to their acquisition of reading and writing (Stufft, 2015, pg. 22). Because we know music has positive effects on students’ intellectual abilities, it only makes sense to incorporate music into sight word practice. In fact, Stufft explains, “The use of music in the language arts classroom can support students’ fluency, vocabulary, and overall reading comprehension” (Diamantes, Young & McBee, 2002 as cited by Stufft, 2015, pg. 22).
To aid students who benefit learning through music, I created a song that we sing each morning during our calendar time to the tune of "BINGO". Below are the lyrics:
"There was a snap word of the week and (sight word) is our snap word. (spell word), (spell word), (spell word), and (sight word) is our snap word."
When we were spelling the specific word, we would hold up fingers for every letter in the word. This intentional movement allows students to put an action to the word as well as count the letters in the specific word. Singing our sight word song has proven to be an effective strategy for spelling and decoding sight words.
Research has shown benefits of using a hands-on approach to sight word instruction. Sight word instruction can be incorporated in ways that include movement, dance, or even athletics.
In my classroom we used kinesthetic activities such as sensory bins to allow students to explore sight words using their senses. Sensory bins are filled with various materials such as sand or cotton balls. Students would dig through the bin to pull out cards with sight words listed on them.
Another way we practiced spelling our sight words is through whole-body spelling. In this activity, we would say the word and practice spelling it by saying each letter while touching our left elbow to our right knee, and vice versa. Whole-body spelling gets students up and moving while utilizing both sides of a students' brain to practice sight words.
Write the room activities were also used to enhance automaticity by traveling around the room to provide practice of sight words through spelling.
Kinesthetic Activities
Strategies
Reinforcement Structures
Students reinforced their learning of sight words through various classroom activities. During literacy stations, students had the opportunity to visit our classroom library, play educational games on the computer, engage in instructional iPad apps, reinforce learning through our writing station, and work on various skills in a small group with me.
The library allowed students to read books at their own reading level as well as explore books above their level. This exposed students to sight words they already knew and reinforced skills in reading.
Our classroom laptops provided opportunities for students to engage in educational reading games. These games focused on various reading skills while providing practice with letters, sounds, and sight words.
iPads were utilized in our classroom to provide students access to online story-books. Students would simply scan a QR code to listen and watch an online story. These books allowed students to listen to stories with sight words they were familiar with and exposed them to new vocabulary.
In the writing station, students were encouraged to use words they knew to write stories, letters, notes, and silly messages. Students loved using the mystery word box to create silly stories and use sight words to create complete sentences. Students had access to the word wall to practice writing sight words correctly.
While students met with me in a small group, we focused on reading a story with newly introduced sight words. These stories also included previously-taught sight words which allowed for opportunities to gauge students' retainment of sight words. After reading our story, we engaged in various sight word games to reinforce previous and new sight word learnings.
