Why should my child learn
sight words?
Sight Words are words that
good readers instantly recognize without having to “figure them out.” There are two reasons why sight words are an
essential component of good reading:
First of all, many of these words do not sound like their spellings
might suggest, so “sounding them out” would be unproductive. Also a good reader really can’t afford the
time to dwell on too many words, or he may lose the speed and fluency necessary
for determining the author’s message.
Which sight words should
students learn?
Believe it or not, the 100
most common words actually make up about 50 percent of the material we
read! The 25 most common words make up
about one-third of our written material.
Our students will be
working with two word lists: Fry’s
Instant Words and the Dolch Sight Words.
On the Fry’s list the first 100 words should be learned by the end of
First grade and the second 100 words by the end of Second grade.
Goals for the Dolch List: Goals
for the Fry List:
Preprimer by November of
First Grade First 100 – end of
First Grade
Primer by February of First
Grade Second 100 – end
of Second Grade
First by May of First Grade
Second by May of Second
Grade