Definition of sight words

Website design By BotEap.comWhat are sight words? “Sight words” is a term that parents of elementary school students have probably heard before, but not many people outside of the educational community know what these big words really are. A simple definition of sight words would be common words that a reader should recognize in “sight”. These important words are also known as “high frequency words” or “instant words.”

Website design By BotEap.comSight words are a group of common words with a high frequency of usage that readers need to know on sight, instantly, and automatically to become an efficient and fluent reader. Some examples of these important words are a, is, the, of and that, in, you, I and to. The two most popular sight word lists are the Dolch word list and the Fry word list.

Website design By BotEap.comMany sight words are “service words” (pronouns, adjectives, adverbs, prepositions, conjunctions, and verbs), which cannot be learned through the use of pictures and often cannot be pronounced. Furthermore, the rules for decoding and phonic analysis generally do not apply to learning sight words. To learn these important words, a child will want to have them memorized. There are many effective ways to teach these important words. Many teachers teach these important words to their students through word games, word lists, and online word activities. Learning sight words will ultimately help children become more fluent and efficient readers.

Website design By BotEap.comStudies show that sight words make up 50 to 75 percent of all words used in school books, library books, newspapers, and magazines. And the 25 most common sight words make up about a third of our written material. Without a doubt, these important words will play an important role in your child’s early childhood education and impact your child’s reading efficiency and development.

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