Reading is a cornerstone skill for learning languages. However, teaching to read in a foreign language is a very complicated task for educators, and especially for those who work with little kids. It may seem like children struggle with reading even in their native language, let alone in English which they study as their second language. But, fortunately, most kids absorb languages very quickly as they frequently do at their age. It is the way their brains function as they start to discover the world around them. So many ESL teachers apply tried and true methods of teaching kids to read used by native language speakers. One of such methods is whole word method based on so-called sight words.
BUY MY PRINTABLE SIGHT WORDS FLASHCARDS IN A PRINTER-FRIENDLY PDF FILE
The kit has more than 550 Dolch sight word cards (including 95 image cards for nouns as well as cards featuring verbs in different forms)
The kit has more than 550 Dolch sight word cards (including 95 image cards for nouns as well as cards featuring verbs in different forms)
The method implies memorizing high frequency words (sight words) as a whole by sight. Kids memorize how words look and thus learn to automatically recognize them in texts. It is especially useful for words with non-standard spelling patterns such as “was” or “come”.
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| List of sight words (Dolch words) introduced in the first grade |
One of the most popular lists of sight words was created by Edward William Dolch in 1938. He picked out 220 high frequency words from children’s books of his era. Those words should be easily recognized by kids for a better start to learning to read. They say that Dolch sight words cover from 50% to 75% of all words used in library books, school books and newspapers. It looks like a solid base for kids who learn to read in English as foreign language.
Color Coded Sight Words Flashcards
I tried to use sight words flashcards that I could find and download online. But the problem is that they all looked too dry and plain. Working with them is far from being fun for kids. So I decided to create my own set of printable sight words flashcards with the following benefits:
- Attracting attention due to an unusual shape of cards
- Color coded flashcards to help kids learn word order in English sentences
- Sight word nouns with corresponding image flashcards
- Interactivity and gamification
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| Sight words flashcards designed for kids of different age groups, ranging from kindergarten to middle school |
