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Reading Research & Reports | Reading Rockets

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Reading Research & Reports | Reading Rockets

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Whenever possible, we've provided a link to a free, online version of the research article, study, or book. Or, you'll find a link to a publisher, journal, or online bookstore where you can purchase the resource.

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PowerSchool Learning : Teacher Literacy Connection : Essential 3: High Frequency Words

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Fontus & Pinnell's thoughts

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"By the end of kindergarten, most children are able to identify approximately 50 words."

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Acquiring sight words is an important part of learning how to read. By the end of kindergarten, most children are able to identify approximately 50 sight words. There are many fun ways to help your child learn sight words. For example, word hunts can be a fun way to encourage your child to find sight words in a favorite book, magazine, or road signs. You can also make practicing sight words fun by writing them in unexpected materials such as shaving cream, sand, raisins, beans, chalk, or magnetic letters. Another great way to help children learn sight words is simply incorporate reading and writing into the everyday fun activities that you share. For example, ask your child to help your write a grocery list, or help you read the recipe when you bake together.

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How many sight words should my kindergartner be able to read?

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Acquiring sight words is an important part of learning how to read. By the end of kindergarten, most children are able to identify approximately 50 sight words. There are many fun ways to help your child learn sight words.

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How many sight words should Kinder know?

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How many sight words should Kinder know?

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A: There is no set answer to the number of words to teach a child each day. Factors such as the child's age, motivation, memory skills, and whether the child is learning a specific list for a school assignment affect this decision. But remember: it is much better for a child to have solid knowledge of 50 words than to kind of know 300 words. It is not enough for children to kind of know their sight words. They need to be able to recognize them instantly and accurately in order to build reading fluency and comprehension of written material they will read in books.

It is much better for a child to have solid knowledge of 50 words than to kind of know 300 words.

We recommend that you start by thoroughly teaching your child three to five words in a lesson. On the first day, introduce three to five new words. In the next day's lesson, start by reviewing the previous day's words. If your child remembers those words, move on to introducing three to five new words. If he struggles with, let's say, two of the previous day's words, go through our full sequence of teaching techniques with those two words and then introduce just one to three new words.

If your child aces the review part of each lesson, then you can probably introduce more new words per day. If he repeatedly struggles to remember the previously covered words, then slow down the pace.
Q: When teaching sight words, should I use pictures together with written words?
A: The research indicates that most typically developing children learn sight words better without accompanying pictures. However, children who have cognitive delays, such as Down syndrome, seem to benefit from sight words being accompanied by picture cards.
Q: Should I correct mistakes immediately, or wait until the end of the lesson or game?
A: All errors should be corrected immediately. Please see our corrections procedure for instructions on how to correct mistakes in a positive, constructive way. It only takes a few seconds, so it won't disrupt the flow of your lesson or game.
Q: What does it mean to "master" a sight word?
A: A child should recognize the presented target word three times in a row for three days in a row. The child should be able to identify and say the word quickly, showing that they know the word by sight and do not have to sound it out letter-by-letter.
Q: My child is doing a great job with these activities! How much praise should I give her after each correct answer?
A: Actually, very little. Gushing praise ("You are so smart," a high five, "That's wonderful!") can be a major distraction to a young child with a short attention span. By the time you've finished praising her, she may have totally forgotten what she learned!

Stick to a simple affirmation of a right answer ("Correct" or "That's right"), and then continue with the activity. Similarly, if the child gives a wrong answer, point out the mistake and the correct answer in a simple, direct manner. You're not being mean, you're just staying focused!
Q: What's the best way to keep track of which sight words my child has mastered and which ones are still being studied?
A simple way to organize the child's sight words that have been mastered or on which the child is presently working is to use a 5″x8″ card file box with A-Z file dividers. Place a card marked CURRENT WORDS in the front of the box, and place another card marked MASTERED WORDS that will separate current words from mastered words. Then file mastered words alphabetically behind the A-Z file cards. The words currently being learned are best filed in random (non-alphabetical) order.
Q: My child enjoys the games a lot more than the lessons, so I'm tempted to just do the games. Is that okay?
A: No. Our sight words games are excellent tools for reinforcing the knowledge your child has acquired from the lessons, but they are not a replacement for the sight words lessons. If a child gets bored or distracted easily, consider shortening the lessons (by covering fewer words), but do not eliminate them!
Q: Why are sight words sometimes called "service words"?
A: Sight words actually service the reader by improving the child's fluent, smooth reading of connected text in phrases, sentences, and paragraphs. Research has strongly shown that fluency in reading is a vital prerequisite for good reading comprehension. If the process of reading print is too slow and laborious, the reader's comprehension of printed material will be seriously impeded.
Q: When is it developmentally appropriate to teach sight words? At what age are children ready to learn sight words?
A: Children's language skills develop at different rates, so we can't give you hard-and-fast age rules. Most children will be able to master a few sight words in Pre-K (four years old). You can teach sight words earlier if your child is receptive to the material. But if your 2- or 3-year-old is uninterested and has difficulty retaining the words, then it's probably too early, and you should wait a few months before trying again.

A good goal, according to child literacy expert Timothy Shanahan, is that children should master 20 sight words by the end of Kindergarten and 100 sight words by the end of First Grade.
Q: Should I be teaching my child sight words instead of phonics?
A: No! Sight words are a supplement to phonics instruction, not a substitute! Phonics teaches your child the rules for decoding and reading most words. Sight words instruction is a strategy of focusing extra attention on the words that occur most frequently, so that your child doesn't have to stop and decode every single word.

Leave a Reply

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A: There is no set answer to the number of words to teach a child each day. Factors such as the child's age, motivation, memory skills, and whether the child is learning a specific list for a school assignment affect this decision.

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http://www.fastbridge.org/sight-words-in-early-reading-instruction/

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A: There is no set answer to the number of words to teach a child each day. Factors such as the child's age, motivation, memory skills, and whether the child is learning a specific list for a school assignment affect this decision. But remember: it is much better for a child to have solid knowledge of 50 words than to kind of know 300 words. It is not enough for children to kind of know their sight words. They need to be able to recognize them instantly and accurately in order to build reading fluency and comprehension of written material they will read in books.

It is much better for a child to have solid knowledge of 50 words than to kind of know 300 words.

We recommend that you start by thoroughly teaching your child three to five words in a lesson. On the first day, introduce three to five new words. In the next day's lesson, start by reviewing the previous day's words. If your child remembers those words, move on to introducing three to five new words. If he struggles with, let's say, two of the previous day's words, go through our full sequence of teaching techniques with those two words and then introduce just one to three new words.

If your child aces the review part of each lesson, then you can probably introduce more new words per day. If he repeatedly struggles to remember the previously covered words, then slow down the pace.
Q: When teaching sight words, should I use pictures together with written words?
A: The research indicates that most typically developing children learn sight words better without accompanying pictures. However, children who have cognitive delays, such as Down syndrome, seem to benefit from sight words being accompanied by picture cards.
Q: Should I correct mistakes immediately, or wait until the end of the lesson or game?
A: All errors should be corrected immediately. Please see our corrections procedure for instructions on how to correct mistakes in a positive, constructive way. It only takes a few seconds, so it won't disrupt the flow of your lesson or game.
Q: What does it mean to "master" a sight word?
A: A child should recognize the presented target word three times in a row for three days in a row. The child should be able to identify and say the word quickly, showing that they know the word by sight and do not have to sound it out letter-by-letter.
Q: My child is doing a great job with these activities! How much praise should I give her after each correct answer?
A: Actually, very little. Gushing praise ("You are so smart," a high five, "That's wonderful!") can be a major distraction to a young child with a short attention span. By the time you've finished praising her, she may have totally forgotten what she learned!

Stick to a simple affirmation of a right answer ("Correct" or "That's right"), and then continue with the activity. Similarly, if the child gives a wrong answer, point out the mistake and the correct answer in a simple, direct manner. You're not being mean, you're just staying focused!
Q: What's the best way to keep track of which sight words my child has mastered and which ones are still being studied?
A simple way to organize the child's sight words that have been mastered or on which the child is presently working is to use a 5″x8″ card file box with A-Z file dividers. Place a card marked CURRENT WORDS in the front of the box, and place another card marked MASTERED WORDS that will separate current words from mastered words. Then file mastered words alphabetically behind the A-Z file cards. The words currently being learned are best filed in random (non-alphabetical) order.
Q: My child enjoys the games a lot more than the lessons, so I'm tempted to just do the games. Is that okay?
A: No. Our sight words games are excellent tools for reinforcing the knowledge your child has acquired from the lessons, but they are not a replacement for the sight words lessons. If a child gets bored or distracted easily, consider shortening the lessons (by covering fewer words), but do not eliminate them!
Q: Why are sight words sometimes called "service words"?
A: Sight words actually service the reader by improving the child's fluent, smooth reading of connected text in phrases, sentences, and paragraphs. Research has strongly shown that fluency in reading is a vital prerequisite for good reading comprehension. If the process of reading print is too slow and laborious, the reader's comprehension of printed material will be seriously impeded.
Q: When is it developmentally appropriate to teach sight words? At what age are children ready to learn sight words?
A: Children's language skills develop at different rates, so we can't give you hard-and-fast age rules. Most children will be able to master a few sight words in Pre-K (four years old). You can teach sight words earlier if your child is receptive to the material. But if your 2- or 3-year-old is uninterested and has difficulty retaining the words, then it's probably too early, and you should wait a few months before trying again.

A good goal, according to child literacy expert Timothy Shanahan, is that children should master 20 sight words by the end of Kindergarten and 100 sight words by the end of First Grade.
Q: Should I be teaching my child sight words instead of phonics?
A: No! Sight words are a supplement to phonics instruction, not a substitute! Phonics teaches your child the rules for decoding and reading most words. Sight words instruction is a strategy of focusing extra attention on the words that occur most frequently, so that your child doesn't have to stop and decode every single word.

Leave a Reply

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A: There is no set answer to the number of words to teach a child each day. Factors such as the child's age, motivation, memory skills, and whether the child is learning a specific list for a school assignment affect this decision.

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http://www.proedinc.com/Downloads/PRP-L1L2_ResearchSummary.pdf

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http://www.sightwordsgame.com/sightwords/benefits-of-sight-words-sight-word-instruction/

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https://www.google.com/search?q=high%20frequency%20words%201st%20grade&rlz=1CADEAC_enUS747US747&oq=high%20frequency%20words%20&aqs

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https://www.literacyworldwide.org/blog/literacy-daily/2014/10/09/should-we-be-teaching-100-sight-words-to-kindergartners-

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Is it beneficial to teach 100 words to Kinder? 

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Is it beneficial to teach 100 words to Kinder? 

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Should We Teach 100 Sight Words to Kindergartners?

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Literacy Daily-the blog of the International Literacy Association (ILA)-features education stories, teaching tips, book reviews, and more.

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Grade Level Application of Dolch Sight Words 

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Grade Level Application of Dolch Sight Words 

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Reading Worksheets, Spelling, Grammar, Comprehension, Lesson Plans

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While Dolch created specific lists of sight words to learn at each grade level, each Dolch word list is only meant to provide parents and teachers with a road map and sequence for helping children acquire the words that they will encounter most frequently in their reading. Each list is merely a recommendation. If a child masters all of the words on the grade level list before the end of the school year, parents and teachers should feel free to move on to the next list. Similarly, if a child does not commit all of the words on a list to memory by the end of the recommended school year, adults working with the child should continue to help him or her learn all sight words on the previous year's list before moving on to the next grade level's list.
Kindergarten -1st grade
The heaviest emphasis on mastering sight words should come in the primary grades. Because a few words are used so often in English language texts, providing children with access to them gives them tremendous advantages as developing readers. Sight word mastery is one of the keys to fluent reading. Young children already have these high frequency words in their verbal vocabularies. Teaching them to read the words simply requires connecting each sight word in the child's memory to the written version of the word.

Dolch's pre-primer list of 40 words is recommended for students in grades K and 1. This list includes the most frequently occurring words in children's books. A, and, for, in, is, it, said, the and to are the building blocks of this list. After learning the pre-primer list, children should be taught the primer list. This list consists of 52 words and includes at, be, but, came, did, do, he, into, no, on, saw, she, was, with and yes. Concurrent with learning the pre-primer and primer lists, children are also encouraged to commit Dolch's list of 95 high frequency nouns to memory. This list includes nouns often used in children's daily lives such as brother, sister, ball and goodbye as well as those used for special occasions that are particularly important to many youngsters (birthday, party, cake, Christmas, Santa Clause).

While Dolch recommended that children learn all of the words on the pre-primer list by the end of first grade, other sources suggest that children learn all 220 of the "service words" as well as the 95 frequently used nouns by the end of the first grade. Parents and teachers should set goals for their children's sight word learning based on their individual needs, interests and abilities.
Grades 2-3
At grades 2 and 3, parents and teachers should continue to reinforce and teach any sight words from earlier lists that their children have not already acquired while at the same time moving on to Dolch's second and third grade lists. The words placed on these two lists are not seen as often in children's texts as those on the previous lists, but are still essential to reading grade level literature. Dolch's second grade list contains more complex words such as always, before, which, would and your. The third grade list features many high frequency words that cannot be easily decoded by the reader and therefore must be memorized. This list includes about, clean, laugh, myself and together. Since Dolch created his lists in 1936, there are a two words on these lists that are rarely used in modern children's texts: upon(2nd grade list) and shall (3rd grade list). Many educators have removed these words from the lists of sight words because they are used so infrequently.
Grades 4-12
Because most students will have learned to read Dolch's sight words by the fourth grade (read about 4th grade sight word strategies), teachers in the upper grades primarily focus on ensuring that students can spell these words in their writing. While many children may learn to read sight words quite quickly, they often have difficulty spelling them correctly in their own writing. This is especially true for homonyms such as their, they're and there. Children need additional reinforcement to correctly use sight words when creating their own written pieces.

Sight words are also essential to the instruction of English Language Learners (ELLs, also known as ESL students) at the upper grades. Sight words are not only critical for learning to read the English language, they are also the building blocks of conversation. Focusing instruction in the ESL classroom on sight words benefits ELLs in the same ways that elementary level instruction does. It provides these students access to at least half of the words they will read allowing them to concentrate on decoding and learning more complex English vocabulary.

View the full archive of sight words articles.

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Grade Level Application of Dolch Sight Words

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While Dolch created specific lists of sight words to learn at each grade level, each Dolch word list is only meant to provide parents and teachers with a road map and sequence for helping children acquire the words that they will encounter most frequently in their reading. Each list is merely a recommendation.