The Writing on the Wall – more sight word fun!

New to our FUN and EDUCATIONAL Easter egg hunt that teaches kids important sight words? Be sure to catch this post to get started with your child on sight words “go”, “to”, “the”, “look”, “at”, and “in”. Realistically it will probably take you about 7 or 8 days to learn to these 6 sight words. At that point we’d love for you to join us as we will be reviewing these same 6 words with new games and exercises leading up to Easter Sunday and our annual egg hunt. Our first new game can be found at the end of this post. See you back here soon!

 

Sight word flashcards

I lucked out and found my flashcards from last year! Yes…a year, a move, AND a baby later, and I still have my sight word flashcards.  No worries if you don’t have yours. They were easy to make with card stock and a sharpie! It’s most important that the paper be thick enough for the word not to show through when flipped upside down (for games like ‘memory’).

In my last post I asked you to use these flashcards for (Go/go, To/to, The/the, Look/look, At/at, In/in) to see which ones your child knows without hesitation and which ones he/she is a little unsure of. We actually also learned (My/my) last year although it wasn’t used in the egg hunt. I tested KC yesterday and was excited to see that this past year of reviewing these words in practically everything we do paid off. She fully expects me to pause during our books each night when I come to one of these words and she is always so proud to read it. KC is able to read these 7 sight words (“my” included) instantly. These words will be included in each game we play together to ensure that they be integrated into her long term memory. Whether your child knows all, some, or none of these words depends on the child, how the word has been presented, and how they’ve been exposed to it. Take your time and just keep reviewing. Each time your child hears or says one of these words, he/she is that much closer to committing them to memory and recognizing by sight.

Once your child knows these 6 sight words (above), really well (can quickly recognize them by sight), consider adding new sight words to their memory and ABC Word Wall! You know your child best and will recognize if they are showing signs of being ready for learning to recognize more words. We won’t be using any new sight words we introduce in clues for our egg hunt this year so it’s not essential to know them by Easter. But we will add them into our games. Remember, repetition is key when committing words to memory and recognition by sight.

 

New sight words “a” and “I”

Let’s introduce two sight words as they are actually very easy! The words are “A/a” and “I”.

Today, place these sight words around your house. Ideas are endless.  Some easy options include dry erase pen on a mirror or window, spelling words out with food, taping the word up in your car in front of their carseat, etc. Remember to always introduce sight words starting with both capital and lowercase letters.

When your child finds a word, have them trace a finger around the letters, sounding them out, and figuring out the word. Be sure to model this first by tracing the letters yourself and sliding your finger under the word to read it. This way they will know the correct way to form each letter and where to start.

 

Here’s a great sample conversation to have with your child for the sight words “a” and “I”:

“What letter is this? (Aa) Yes, and What letter is this? (I) yes.”
“What’s very special about these letters is that when you see these letters by themselves in a story or sentence, they are also a word.”

“This letter A/a is the also the word A/a.”

Now you write out and point/read these sentences to your child. (Note: Use two index fingers on either side of a word to ‘frame’ it.)
“This is a cat.” Say: “Can you find and frame the word /a/?”
“This is a parrot. Find and frame the word /a/.”

“This letter /I/ is also the word /I/.”

Write out and read these sentences to your child.
“I see a dog.” Say: “Find and frame the word /I/. Frame the word /a/”
“I see a cat. Find the word /I/, find the word /a/”
From now on, when you are reading a nightly story, occasionally have your child find the word “I” and the “a” “A”.

 

‘Read the Room’ Game

Make multiple flashcards with each of our sight words (Go/go, To/to, The/the, Look/look, In/in, At/at, My/my, A/a, I) and tape up on walls and objects around a room. Capital and lower case words should go on separate cards. Card stock is not necessary for this game. Feel free to use post-it notes, computer paper, binder paper, etc.

Now ask your child to…

  1. Find the words around the room (Go/go, To/to, The/the, Look/look, In/in, At/at, My/my, A/a, I)
  2. Spell the word
  3. Read the word
  4. Write the word

Nothing is more adorable than watching your little one walking around the room with a clipboard and writing down words with a huge grin on his/her face! KC loved pretending she was a teacher teaching sight words to her students.

Let’s say that your child finds the word “Go” taped up on the living room wall. Once they have spelled G-o and read the word Go, there’s a good chance that they’ll look down to write it on their clipboard or in their notebook and not need to look up again before finishing. But the word is right in from of them if they have questions about how to write a letter.

 

I asked KC if she wants to be a teacher when she grows up. Her response as always is, “I want to be everything.” I love this so much about her. Never stop dreaming and keep reaching for the stars, KC!

 

xoxo, lifeasallison

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