Children are taught sight words at a young age to help them read. Sight words are often called “the most important word in the English language.” But why do teachers teach sight words? Why is it so important for children to learn these particular words? In this blog post, we will discuss 3 reasons why teachers teach kindergarten sight words and games for kindergarten students.
First Reason
The first reason why teachers teach sight words is that they are essential for reading. According to the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development, by the time that children enter kindergarten, they know between three and five words for every letter of the alphabet. This doesn’t mean they can read them. It just means they know them. In order to read a whole word, a child needs to know the sounds that each letter makes. They also need to be able to put those sounds together to form a word. Sight words are words that do not follow the normal rules of phonics. High-frequency word lists are typically called “sight words” but will have decodable words. When children learn to read sight words, they are able to recognize them in any context. This ability allows them to read new words that they have not seen before.
Second Reason
The second reason why teachers teach sight words is because of the importance of fluency. Fluent reading is the ability to read quickly and accurately. When children are able to read sight words automatically, they are able to focus on fluency and comprehension. Without sight words, children may be struggling to sound out each letter in a word, leading them away from the main focus of reading.
Third Reason
The third reason why teachers teach sight words is that they are a foundation for spelling. Regular and irregular patterns become familiar through these high-frequency words. A child’s ability to spell words is based on their knowledge of phonics. Sight words are an important part of the foundation for learning how to spell new words because they involve the understanding of whole words, not just individual letters.
Games for Kindergarten Sight Words
Now that we have discussed the reasons why teachers teach sight words, let’s take a look at some fun games that can be used in the classroom.
I Spy
One game that is popular with kindergarten students is called “I Spy.” In this game, one student chooses a sight word and then says “I spy with my little eye something that starts with the letter ___.” The other students then take turns guessing what the word might be. I have taken this game and made a fun twist with “Who Stole the Cookie?” It’s a fun version where students say the sight words to try and reveal the cookie!
Battle
Another game that can be used in the classroom is called “Battle.” In this game, students stand in two lines as the teacher holds up a sight word, the first team to read the word gets a point. Then both students move to the end of the line. This process continues even if both students do not know the word, they will both move to the end of the lines and give the next students a chance. You can increase the point value if the words are missed by both students previously. The students can play this game for as long as you want!
Bingo
Finally, a popular game that can be used with sight words is “Bingo.” In this game, students are given a sheet with several sight words. When a teacher says one of the words, students who have that word on their sheet cover it with an X. Once they have covered all of the words on their sheet, they can yell “Bingo!” I have completely editable versions of sight word bingo in monthly themes! You can store them in the rainbow photo containers below and students can even play individually with the draw pile. This bundle is growing and have a free sample for you at the end of this blog post!
Write the Room
I love “write the room” as a fun game for my students. While this is best played as part of center time, it is still a perfect way to practice reading and writing sight words. Take it a step further and have students record whether they could or couldn’t read the sight word. That will let you know if they need more practice on specific words!
Games for Kindergarten Sight Words
Teachers teach sight words for a variety of reasons. These reasons include the importance of fluency, reading comprehension, and spelling. In addition to these reasons, teachers also teach sight words because they are essential to the foundation of learning to read, write and spell. Kindergarten students can enjoy playing games that incorporate sight words.
