Teaching sight cards
What are ‘sight words’?
Sight words are common and frequent words that occur in everyday reading and writing.
It is estimated that over 50% of English written material is made up of 220 frequent words.
Some sight words do not follow regular spelling rules so it is important to teach students to look for visual patterns of letters in words.
What is a ‘sight vocabulary’?
Sight vocabulary is the bank of words a reader recognises automatically, pronounces correctly and knows the meaning of in context. The spelling component of the T-9 Net writing and the vocabulary component of the reading continua identify the need for students. The vocabulary component of the T-9 Net reading continua identify progressions for the development of sight words in the early years, highlighting the need for the acquisition of an increasing bank of sight words.
How to teach sight words?
A good reading program builds the sight vocabulary of each student in order to assist reading fluency and comprehension.This is done by forming a strong connection between the printed word and its spoken equivalent and meaning. This connection is about:
- the shape of the word;
- the visual pattern in the sequence of the letters; and
- any phonological clues the word might have.
Download a copy of the Oxford sight cards