Sight words or grade level word lists...

[BMW]

I am looking for websites that list grade level word lists for a son who is struggling with basic reading skills, even though he has had a lot of phonics teaching and years of practice reading...

 

Any ideas?

 

Bee

[StephanieF]

Like this? http://www.createdbyteachers.com/sightfreemain.html

 

I just did a search for dolch words and lots of sites come up.

Stephanie

[cillakat]

He likely needs a different type of phonics instruction.....direct, intensive (an hour a day), multi-sensory, orton gillingham based like Wilson, HEC Reading Horizons, Barton etc....

 

HEC reading horizons for homeschool can be done on the computer....

 

Barton is scripted for the the teacher who doesn't have a background in specialized tutoring.

 

I use Wilson just b/c that's what my dd was already using. I love it and was able to create the lessons from the very thorough teachers manual and teaching dvd's. but if i was starting over, i'd go with HEC Reaing Horizons for home use combined with the I See Same decodable readers.

 

Sight words are somewhat helpful and should definitely be studied, but in order to be a proficient reader, one needs decoding skills. Some people just 'have it', some dont'. Those that don't need to develop it and it's difficult difficult work.

 

Have you had a reading eval?

 

All the best,

Katherine

[ElizabethB]

Here is a list of the Dolch sight words, why not to teach them as sight words, and how to teach them phonetically.

 

http://www.thephonicspage.org/On%20Reading/sightwords.html

 

I would recommend trying Webster's Speller, it teaches phonics in a slightly different manner than normal phonics, it is based on syllables.

 

ab, eb, ib, ob, ub; ba, be, bi, bo, bu, by

 

1st group short because they end in a consonant, second group long because they end in a vowel. Then, it teaches words divided by syllable: ab-stract, ob-tuse, ba-ker, bi-ble.

 

You also learn to spell them while you're learning to sound them out, do both oral and written spelling. I've found that the use of syllables and spelling really helps the concepts stick in the brain.

 

(speller link below, the link also explains a bit about how to teach it.)

 

I also have some reading grade level tests and a diagnostic test called the MWIA here: http://www.thephonicspage.org/On%20Reading/readinggradeleve.html The MWIA helps tell if reading problems are caused by sight words or caused by true organic dyslexia. Someone with true dyslexia will do poorly on both sections, reading them both slowly and making the same number of errors. Someone who has learned too many sight words or has read a lot of grade-level readers with a lot of sight words in them (grade level readers are 70 - 80% sight words) will read the phonetic list slower than the holistic list and will miss more words on the phonetic list. A good reader will read them both at the same speed and should not miss more than a word or two on each section (most good readers don't miss a single word.)

Edited November 8, 2008 by ElizabethB

[Ottakee]

http://www.roadstoeverywhere.com/3RsPlusRead.html The I See Sam readers are great. VERY easy to use and they work.

 

Check out the UK link as well to the story of my girls learning to read with them.

 

 

I sound like a commercial when I suggest these so often but I get NO money from them (they are actually in the public domain now) but I have seen them help so many kids.

[Ellie]

ITA with cillakat; I think that would be far more useful than memorizing sight words.

[Guest Louise]

There are some online sight word games here - there's a set for each grade level. The site also has lists of the Dolch words for each grade.