Basic Sight Words

The words this lesson will be covering are:
the, to, a, I, you, said, for, look, is, little, was, not, my, me, big, come, away, here, help, find, funny, go, we, and, where

Supplies:
25 index cards
letter magnets or letter cards (see explanation in day 1)
white board or chalk board
supplies for the game you choose on days 8 - 10

Day 1

funny, I, is, not, big
(prepare index cards, one for each of these words... write the words in bold letters...do not capitalize unless necessary)
 

• show a word on a chalk or white board from the list above.  Say the word and have your child pronounce it after you.
• have your child make the word with letter magnets or letter cards.  (letter cards are just small squares of cardstock with one letter on each card... you will want more than one card for each of the more commonly used letters.. ie:  you will need two n's for the word funny.)
• repeat the above process for each of the words on this day's list.

• bring out your index cards for each word.  Use each word in a sentence as you show the index card for each word.  (ie: hold up the word card.... I... then say..... I .... I like to paint pictures....I.   This is similar to a spelling test, but without requiring the spelling.)

• hold all the index cards in your hand face down.  Your child will pick a card.  If he knows what it says, he can keep the card.  If not, you tell him what the word is and shuffle it back into the cards in your hand.  Repeat this process till your child has "won" all the words.

a, look, me, we, and
(prepare index cards, one for each of these words... write the words in bold letters...do not capitalize unless necessary)
 

• show a word on a chalk or white board from the list above.  Say the word and have your child pronounce it after you.
• have your child make the word with letter magnets or letter cards.
• repeat the above process for each of the words on this day's list.

• bring out your index cards for each word.  Use each word in a sentence as you show the index card for each word.

• hold all the index cards (from day 1 and day 2) in your hand face down.  Your child will pick a card.  If he knows what it says, he can keep the card.  If not, you tell him what the word is and shuffle it back into the cards in your hand.  Repeat this process till your child has "won" all the words.

Day 3

little, where, the, to, you
(prepare index cards, one for each of these words... write the words in bold letters...do not capitalize unless necessary)
 

• show a word on a chalk or white board from the list above.  Say the word and have your child pronounce it after you.
• have your child make the word with letter magnets or letter cards.
• repeat the above process for each of the words on this day's list.

• bring out your index cards for each word.  Use each word in a sentence as you show the index card for each word.

• hold all the index cards (from days 1-3) in your hand face down.  Your child will pick a card.  If he knows what it says, he can keep the card.  If not, you tell him what the word is and shuffle it back into the cards in your hand.  Repeat this process till your child has "won" all the words.

Day 4

said, for, was, my, come
(prepare index cards, one for each of these words... write the words in bold letters...do not capitalize unless necessary)
 

• show a word on a chalk or white board from the list above.  Say the word and have your child pronounce it after you.
• have your child make the word with letter magnets or letter cards.
• repeat the above process for each of the words on this day's list.

• bring out your index cards for each word.  Use each word in a sentence as you show the index card for each word.

• hold all the index cards (from days 1-4) in your hand face down.  Your child will pick a card.  If he knows what it says, he can keep the card.  If not, you tell him what the word is and shuffle it back into the cards in your hand.  Repeat this process till your child has "won" all the words.

Day 5

away, here, help, find, go
(prepare index cards, one for each of these words... write the words in bold letters...do not capitalize unless necessary)
 

• show a word on a chalk or white board from the list above.  Say the word and have your child pronounce it after you.
• have your child make the word with letter magnets or letter cards.
• repeat the above process for each of the words on this day's list.

• bring out your index cards for each word.  Use each word in a sentence as you show the index card for each word.

• hold all the index cards (from days 1-5) in your hand face down.  Your child will pick a card.  If he knows what it says, he can keep the card.  If not, you tell him what the word is and shuffle it back into the cards in your hand.  Repeat this process till your child has "won" all the words.

Day 6

On this day you will use all the index cards and try to create simple sentences.  Just have your child put the index cards in order to make the following sentences (or any of your own creation):

Come here!
Go away!
I look funny.
Help me find you.
Go to the ______________. (just say a word that would fit in the blank)
Where is the little _____________?
Help me find the little _________.
________ is not big.
We said, "Come here!"
I look for the little ______________.
I was funny for you.
Help me find my big __________.
Come and find me.
You look.
We look.
I was here.
 

Day 7

On this day you will need your chalk or white board and letter cards or letter magnets.

Word Scramble

• to play word scramble just write one of the basic sight words on your chalkboard with the letters in the wrong order.
• your child will take her letter cards or letter magnets and rearrange the letters to make the correct word.
• do not worry if your child has trouble... just give hints and help out.

Days 8 - 10

Choose one or more of the following games to reinforce the learning of the basic sight words.  Play these games for three days.

Sight Word Match Me

• you will need to make one or more "bingo" cards for this game.
• make the card five spaces across and down.
• put "free" in the center space.
• write one basic sight word on each of the spaces. (you will only have room for 24 of the sight words)
• make a marker of some type to put over the space when the word is matched.
• with the index cards from the lesson... hold up an index card (one at a time) and have your child match it on their "bingo" card.
• your child can "win" when one row is matched or when the whole card is filled.
• you could encourage your child to say what the word is before covering it with a marker.

Sight Word Memory Match

• make a second set of index cards so you have two cards for each of the basic sight words
• lay all the cards face down on the floor.
• turn over two cards at a time and try to make a match.
• when a match is found, take those cards out of play.
• the person with the most matches wins the game.

Sight Word Dominoes

• make some dominoes using the basic sight words. (take new index cards and draw a line down the center)
• you could have the same word on both sides of the card, or different words.  (make about 28 dominoes)
• lay all the dominoes face down on the floor.
• each person takes 3 dominoes.
• let the youngest player go first.
• lay any domino down on the floor face up.
• the next person must match that domino on one side or draw from the face down dominoes (turn ends).
• the game ends when dominoes can no longer be matched.

Sight Word Go Find

• create four index cards for each of the basic sight words.
• shuffle the cards.
• hand out five cards to each person.
• the first player asks another player for a card he would like.
• the goal is to get a match of four of the same card.
• if the player has the card(s) asked for, he must hand all the cards of that word over to the player who asked.
• if the player asked does not have the card, then he tells the first player to "go find".
• the first player then draws a card from the draw pile and the turn is over.
• the player with the most matches wins.