Are you struggling with teaching sight words? Is your students' practice transferring into knowledge they can use at the drop of a hat? Here's a question I get a lot. "How do I teach sight words so my students will REMEMBER those sight words when they need them?"

You know how it is... you teach (maybe even test) and students don't seem to know their sight words in context.Sure, they seem to be making progress, and then, it's gone! Maybe you've tried worksheets for sight words or sight words games. But... as soon as your students start reading a book with those same words in it or have to use sight words in a sentence, they act like they've never seen those words before. All you can think is...Really?! After all that work?!

Teaching sight words used to be a "given" in schools. Now, there seems to be some controversy over should we or should we not directly teach sight words. In addition, I know many teachers wonder should they teach sight words vs phonics. Well, I say BOTH. Yup. So, teaching phonemic awareness goes hand in hand with teaching sight words. The big thing for us here today [based on years of personal experience] is teach sight words.

Why?

Let's face it. Our goal is for all students to become lifelong readers and solid writers. We NEED to give our students as many tools as we can to help them feel and be successful. So, you can search online thinking maybe you just need the right printable sight words and sight words activities. But, the keys to success with sight words are so much simpler.

KEY 1: Keep it low stress.

Sight word instruction should never be just one more chore for students to do at home. That's stressful for everyone, and if we're honest, it doesn't always get done. We know stress inhibits our brain's memory system. The more stressful we make learning, the less students remember. So...

KEY 2: Repetition is important, but it must be correct.

Create opportunities for students to get regular repetition without more work for you. BUT, students practicing their sight words WRONG over and over is worse than no practice at all. 

KEY 3: Your students need to know as many words as possible as quickly as possible. Maximize your and your students' time. 

You have a lot for your students to accomplish each year. Every YES is also a NO. That means when you choose certain activities, you're saying no to others. So we don't have time to waste. That's why I teach sight words the way I do. It's simple, easy and take very little time with great returns.