Learning Sight Words

Sight words are those high frequency words that comprise a large percentage of all written content. Depending on the particular sight word list, which usually includes 200 – 300 words, 50% to 75% of all English text represents sight words. The words “are,” “I” and “the” are the most concentrated – these three words represent 10% to 15% of English content.

To read quickly and effectively children must learn to identify and understand these words instantly. For parents and educators, teaching sight words can be a trial and error process. Grasping the meaning and understanding of this group of words is often one of the more difficult tasks for children and others when they learn to read. There are no picture cues or easy to understand definitions for many sight words. Further, many sight words are phonically irregular.

Parents and teachers can employ a combination of sight word activities and incentives to help children learn these high frequency words. For example, educators and parents can:
• Use sight word flash cards to achieve repetitive exposure
• Point out sight words in stories when reading to children
• Verbally repeat the spelling and pronunciation of words with children
• Create a sight word notebook in which children maintains a list of known words
• Offer rewards for learning a subset word list

While these can be effective methods, playing games that incorporate sight words is one of the best approaches as it is most likely to keep a young reader’s attention. Traditionally, common games like bingo, word search puzzles, and matching or memory activities have been used.

Today, there is a new sight words game. Er-u-di-tion was created to expose children to high frequency words in a fun and entertaining atmosphere. The words are categorized as beginner, intermediate, and advanced levels so children from pre-school through third grade can enjoy playing and learning together. Since a game card also includes the word’s definition and syllabication, players enhance more advanced reading skills like vocabulary and text comprehension.