It is always difficult teaching sight words to students. I want to share with you a couple of ideas on how to engage students in memorizing sight words! I find that the more ways I can get the students to interact with the words, the quicker they memorize them.
I like to make little sight word cards to use in a variety of different ways. I make them at the beginning of the year, laminate them, and we use them all year long. This is a simple idea of using a cookie try and magnetic letters to build the words. The students grab a card, and write out the word using the letters.
Students love writing words in sand. To make the sand box, I put a piece of blue paper at the bottom of a pencil box, then I poured in a thin layer of sand on top. The students take a pencil and write in the sand using the eraser end. You don't need to put a piece of paper in the bottom of the pencil box, but I wanted the bottom of the box to POP when the students were writing in the sand.
One of my favorite sensory activities is making a sensory shaker. I used a paint cup from Lakeshore, pom poms, and wooden cubes that I wrote sight words on them. The students shake the cup, see a word inside, and write down the word the see!
My students also love using paint dabbers (sold at most craft stores, target, teacher stores). I printed off the words in bubble font, and the students stamp the inside of the word!
Good luck teaching sight words in your class!
