Questions about teaching ds to read and sight words.

[gandpsmommy]

Do you think it's important for kids to learn some key words (dolce list words, for example, the really common ones like "the", "this", "that", "but", "get", etc.) before progressing further in phonics. The phonics program we use includes a short list (only three words for the first chapter, progressing to maybe 10 words in the last few chapters) of key words for the child to practice until he can read them automatically. I haven't been making ds memorize these before we move on to the next chapter, but I'm wondering if maybe I should have. I did go back and write the first few chapters' words on index cards which we used to play "memory". This helped with several of the words. And I tried playing bingo with the words one day. I think he has about 21 more words to memorize before we're caught up with the current chapter. I'm wondering if I should be emphasizing it more, or if it will just come naturally over time? He can sound out words very well, but he doesn't seem to remember them even when we come back across them in the very next sentence. The "memory" game really seemed to work, but he's so tired of playing it. I need some new ideas.

 

Also, dd learned to read very easily. She picked up on things quickly. She was reading books like The Boxcar Children and Charlotte's Web at the end of kindergarten. And she is still an excellent reader. Sometimes, though, I wonder if I should have taught her sight words because if she is reading quickly she often interchanges the words "said" and "and". I think it is because she is looking at the shape of the word, which is pretty similar. It's not a big deal, but I'm just wondering if memorizing sight words is really necessary for fluent reading or if I could just let him continue progressing through the phonics book and eventually automaticity will come? Any opinions on this? Thanks.

[SquirrellyMama]

I've found my kids have had to memorize the sight words by looking at the words each day and saying them. Eventually it became easier.

[gandpsmommy]

I've found my kids have had to memorize the sight words by looking at the words each day and saying them. Eventually it became easier.

 

Thanks for the response. My struggle is that he has a very hard time sitting down and just reading lists of words or flash cards. He does much better and retains more when he can do something active with the words (hence my attempt at games). To help him learn the letter/phoneme sounds I would print the letter very largely on a sheet of paper and have him roll or hop to the letter whose sound I made or whose name I called out. Or I would let him shoot darts with his Nerf guns at the letters. He definitely leans toward a kinesthetic learning style. I'm sort of running out of ideas for the words, though. As I said, he's tired of memory and bingo didn't seem to provide enough visual repetition to make the words stick with him. I've thought of maybe making a sort of Hullabaloo-type game where I call out an action and a word, such as "Slither like a snake to 'get'," and then print out the words on papers to scatter on the floor. His sister would play a game like that with him, which would help him to figure out what the words were initially, and the repetition would (hopefully) help him to remember them. I think I'll try that today.

 

Because he has a hard time just sitting and reading words, I would rather that we spend our five minutes a day of sitting and reading in the phonics book on new sounds so that he can keep progressing, rather than using it on reviewing old words that he can sound out. Maybe I just answered my own question!

[SonshineLearner]

What about just memorizing the 2 letter phonograms? If you know "th" then you can easily sound out the words? (We have memorized most of the 2 letter phonograms, so far...and some of the 3) I really try everything to make sure that my son is NOT memorizing words, before he can easily sound them out. He's 5 and I'm not making him read a lot every day, but he almost silently sounds out the words and then says what they are. I also read ahead to make sure that he knows the phonograms that he'll be running into. If he doesn't know it well, then when we get there, I say...for instance.... "EA" says "E" and then he'll use that to sound out the word.

I read lots of books that he doesn't know, so he's not just memorizing the words.

Carrie:-)

[gandpsmommy]

What about just memorizing the 2 letter phonograms? If you know "th" then you can easily sound out the words? (We have memorized most of the 2 letter phonograms, so far...and some of the 3) I really try everything to make sure that my son is NOT memorizing words, before he can easily sound them out. He's 5 and I'm not making him read a lot every day, but he almost silently sounds out the words and then says what they are. I also read ahead to make sure that he knows the phonograms that he'll be running into. If he doesn't know it well, then when we get there, I say...for instance.... "EA" says "E" and then he'll use that to sound out the word.

I read lots of books that he doesn't know, so he's not just memorizing the words.

Carrie:-)

 

This is pretty much our strategy right now. I have taught him "th", "sh", "ee" and maybe a few others I'm forgetting. He can sound out every word we do together, but he doesn't remember them when we encounter them again. I was just wondering what other people's opinions were of the importance of sight words in gaining fluency. Thanks for your input!

[FO4UR]

I would teach them phonetically, and then review them until they are automatic.

 

Some activities beside just drill:

 

Lay out a bunch of cards and say the word - he keeps the card if he finds the word before you do.

 

Have him choose a card and give it to you - you say teh word and he writes it with magnet letters.

 

Have him choose a card and HE says the word and you write with magnet letters -he then checks your work to make sure you did it right.

 

For the super wiggly days: put several word cards at the end of the hall and have him run to get a card, run back say the word---repeat. You could make it more interesting by using cards that will make a sentence when the game is done.

[SquirrellyMama]

My ds is also a very wiggly boy so I have him do the sight words first thing to get them done. I tried lots of games with my daughter but it didn't work as well as just having my ds look at those cards and memorize. Check out books by Peggy Kaye. Excellent ideas. There was a sight word pyramid that works great. I know games help a lot but I haven't found that they work as well as good old fashioned memorization in getting it quickly. You could try doing both. It takes my ds about 60 seconds to go through 15 sightwords right now and it get quicker. After doing that we can play games.

 

Kelly

[FlockOfSillies]

I think that memorizing lots of words by sight in the early phases of phonics is a hindrance, rather than a help. Most "sight" words are phonetically based -- this, that, etc. Sight word lists tend to encourage guessing of the type you describe.

 

My ds7 tends to guess, but I don't give him sight words. I slow him down (he's always in a big fat hurry) and force him to sound out the word.