Students can create their own no-prep sight word books to reinforce reading and writing the words they are learning.
Teaching Sight Words
This past year, I learned about the Heart Word method for teaching sight words. For students to automatically start reading them, I explicitly teach my students how to read them. This way, they aren’t just memorizing the letters – they are using orthographic mapping to read them.
Along with explicit instruction on reading sight words, I also find different ways to practice reading and writing them. This is an important step for my students to develop their reading and writing skills.
Literacy Centers
During our free choice centers, I often use literacy activities to reinforce the skills we are working on. This includes any sight words that we are learning.
I use a mix of play-based and paper centers to give my students a variety. Some like using paper and pencil, while others choose to use manipulatives or other tools to practice their skills. I have a lot of different ways for my students to practice sight words, so they do not get bored!
Sight Word Books
Recently, I came up with the idea for students to make their own sight word mini-books. This way, they can practice reading and writing the word, then take it home to practice with their families.
I came up with a sequence of sight words, then made it so that the books only used previously learned sight words. That means that students could keep practicing words that they already knew!
My class loved making these sight word books, and I made two versions to challenge some of my students who already knew the words we were learning. They are always so excited to bring these books home!
If you would like to take a look at my Sight Word Mini-Books, you can find them here:
Try it Free
I have a free that book that you can try with your students.
I made this short video to show how these books are folded. It’s so easy to do, and my students love taking home their books.