The Importance of Sight Words
February 21st, 2008 by admin
Parents of lower elementary students may have heard the term, but few people outside of the educational community know what sight words are. Sight words are a group of very common words that efficient readers recognize instantly and automatically. The list includes many of the small, connective words such as of, and, and there. The exact number of words designated as sight words varies according to which list is being used, but the consensus is that there are between three and five hundred of them. These words make up sixty to seventy percent of most reading tasks. If a reader has mastered these words, he or she can read nearly any basic material.
There are several common lists of sight words currently in use. The Dolch list is graded from preprimer (early first grade) through grade three and organized in lists of twenty-five words each. The Fry list has one thousand words organized in groups of five in order of frequency in our language. Other lists include the Essential Sight Words and the Hillerich One Hundred Frequent Words. Many lists also have companion lists of common nouns suggested for early learners. The nouns combined with the sight word lists offer enough vocabulary to write simple stories and the lists are used to write controlled vocabulary text such as is used for beginning readers.
Sight words often form the core words from basal reading series that are used in elementary school classrooms. The texts may differ slightly in the order of sight word presentation, but the words offered at each grade level are essentially the same. If a student can learn these words, he or she will be able to read most of what is offered in the early grades.
In order to read efficiently, students must learn these sight words very, very well. Most academic tasks are learned to the mastery level, where the student can respond to the material on tests and quizzes after studying for a few days or weeks. Material learned to this level can be forgotten after the assessment is over, though. The highest level of learning is the level of automaticity. This is the level of learning where responses are automatic and nearly reflexive. Students only achieve this level after consistent practice over months or years. Material is reviewed and reviewed until it is retrieved automatically. Many of us learned the basic math facts to this level. When we see 4 x 5, we just know the answer is twenty without much mental effort. Sight words must be mastered to this level, as well. Readers must be able to look at these simple words and simply know them without a lot of thought.
As a group, sight words do not lend themselves to phonic analysis, either. It is next to impossible to sound out words like of or to. Sight words like have and said fly in the face of standard phonics rules about vowel behavior. Since they cannot be sounded out like most words, readers must memorize them. If a student tries to apply phonic analysis to many of these words, he or she will quickly become frustrated and conclude that reading is a waste of time. Any text is very difficult to decode if the reader is missing twenty, thirty, or even fifty percent of the words!
Many older students who struggle with reading have difficulty with basic sight words. A competent literacy tutor will check this area carefully and reteach these words as needed to build confidence and reading efficiency. It is important for parents and teachers to monitor sight word mastery carefully in early elementary school to be sure that this vital skill is being learned. Use any of these links to find standard lists of sight words and check your student’s mastery. The child should be able to read the words up to the level indicated for his or her grade placement with no hesitation or stumbling. If he or she tries to sound the words out or doesn’t respond within a second or two, count the word as missed. One hundred percent accuracy is the goal, and anything less than ninety five percent accuracy on lists below the grade placement level is cause for concern.
Here are some handy links about sight words and activities for sight words:
If you have concerns about your child’s mastery of sight words, talk to his or her teacher or a literacy tutor. You can also email me here. I’ll be happy to provide some guidance and advice as well as give you information about my online tutorial services.
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© 2006 Sandra Fleming
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