•       You may hear the following terms being tossed around:  Sight Words, Instant Words, High Frequency Words.
          What are these words and why does your  child need to know them?
     
          Sight words, instant words and high frequency words all refer  to the words that a reader needs to know instantly or automatically when he/she sees them.  They don't have to sound them out.  Many of the words don't "follow the rules" of the English language, and therefore cannot be sounded out.  There are different lists of sight words currently being used by educators.  
     
         In my classroom, we use the Dolch Word Lists and the Fry's Word Lists.   

    Dolch Words

    The Dolch Word List, was compiled by Edward William Dolch, PhD, in 1948. The list was originally published in his book Problems in Reading.  Dolch compiled the list based on words used in children's reading books in the 1930s and 40s. The list contains 220 "service words" that must be quickly recognized in order to achieve reading fluency.

    The Dolch Word List is also called Sight Words or The Dolch 220. It includes the most frequently used words in the English language. Sight words make up 50 to 70 percent of any general text. Therefore, teaching The Dolch Word List is a crucial goal of education in grades kindergarten through 3.

    Many of the 220 Dolch words cannot be "sounded out" and have to be learned by "sight," that is memorized. The list is divided into grade levels. It includes pronouns, adjectives, adverbs, prepositions, conjunctions, and verbs. The basic list excludes nouns, which make up a separate 95 word list.

       Here is a great link to a game that will help your child practice their Dolch Words at home.
           
     
          Fry's Words
     

          In 1996, Dr. Fry expanded on the Dolch Word List and published a boo, "Fry 1000 Instant Words." In his research, Dr. Fry found the following results:

    • 25 words make up approximately 1/3 of all items published.
    • 100 words comprise approximately 1/2 of all of the words found in publications.
    • 300 words make up approximately 65% of all written material.
          The Fry 1000 Instant Words are a list of the most common words used for teaching reading, writing, and spelling and are ranked in order of frequency.  Over half of every newspaper article, textbook, children's story, and novel is composed of the first 300 words on Dr. Fry's lists.  It is difficult to write a sentence without using several of the first 300 words in the Fry 1000 Instant Words List.  Therefore, we need to be able to read the first 300 words on the list without any hesitation. 
     
     
    Check out this link...TOP TEN SIGHT WORD GAMES  http://www.sightwordsgame.com/sightwordgames/top-ten-sight-word-games/
    I am sure your child will find a fun way to practice their sight words.   
     
    IF YOU WOULD LIKE A COPY OF THESE WORD LISTS, PLEASE EMAIL ME
    AND I WILL SEND YOU A COPY OF THE LIST(S) YOU WOULD LIKE!
    angela.karpinski@lscsd.org