A few years ago I started using Scholastic's Systematic Sight Word Instruction. My reasoning was this - we had been using something where you sent a list home and had the students practice. Then they tested and got a new list. But here was my problem: the students who needed the most help with sight words were the ones that did not get to practice at home and the ones who practiced at home pretty much already knew those sight words.
So I wanted a resource that would give me something to use in the classroom. I wanted to level the playing fields. Sure, those students who get extra practice at home still do great; but at least this way the ones who are not able to get help at home are getting something from me at school.
This is what my pocket chart looks like each morning when the students come to the carpet. We practice reading the words and sentences, sorting the words, etc. during transition time when those last 2-3 kids are still cleaning up and the rest of us are already at the carpet. Just having that has really helped with seeing the sight words and getting a bunch of extra practice (without really taking much time).
Once we have finished focusing on the sight words for the week I put them on the word wall so (hopefully) during writer's workshop and work on writing the students will refer to them to help spell the sight words.
When I was training some fellow teachers on the sight word curriculum I shared the PowerPoints I had made to go along with it. They seemed so happy that I would share these with them. I just figured why not - there is no reason for someone to have to re-create what is already made. So below are links to the PowerPoints I made that goes in the order of Scholastic's Systematic Sight Word curriculum.
Another aspect of this curriculum that I really like is the review weeks - every 9th week is review and assessment. On week 18 I reassess all the words, not just the works from week 10-18. That is really important for me to see growth in my students and check for retention.
We track our sight word learning in data folders. The students graph their growth by six weeks even though I 'assess' by 9 weeks when using the curriculum. I place the assessments in the data folders so parents can see the progress. If I have a struggling student then I also copy the assessment into his/her pass along folder.
Week 27 is the official end of assessment for my students. I keep teaching the sight words in order using the curriculum; I just do not reassess. The end of the year seems busy and crazy enough and we never get to the end of the curriculum due to lack of time.
I also added a couple of PowerPoints with sight word phrases because I like the students to get practice reading sight words in phrases and sentences.
The sight word phrases do not come from the curriculum - just a random list I got while at in-service one day. But I find that if I begin the phrases towards the end of my lessons the students know the words very well. And yes, I know that there are a couple of phrases repeated...I didn't want my last PowerPoint to be super short so I just repeated a few phrases that I thought wouldn't hurt the students to practice a little extra.
These PowerPoints are pretty short - the long review ones take 4 minutes max. But they are a nice way to quickly review the words which is so important for those little struggling readers.
I highly recommend this sight word curriculum. Like anything it's not perfect - I wish some words were introduced earlier and I don't understand why some words are in there. But I figure that is with any curriculum. So like any good teacher I add to it when I need to and find extra resources when needed.
Also, the worksheets that go along with the curriculum...I really like them because I can level my sight word work based on student needs. I don't give everyone the student practice page for day 1 on day and everyone the student practice page for day 2 on day, etc. I look at the student practice pages for the week and level the work. So for the sight word morning work some students will be unscrambling the sight words, some will be using sight words to fill in the blanks, and some will be writing sentences using some or all of the sight words, etc. I hope that makes sense! It just seems like at the training some teachers were overwhelmed and thought I was pushing a bunch of worksheets on them. Exactly the opposite - I love the variety of worksheets so I can more accurately meet the needs of my various learners.
One last note - sometimes you can take the worksheets or group activities and put them on cardstock, laminate them, and boom - you have sight word work for Daily 5. So like I said, it's a great resource that I recommend - it is not a perfect solution that will require no work...just a little tweaking to meet your style. But that is the fun of a good resource ~
Thank you so much for posting these power points! I can't believe no one else has commented on this yet. That was so great of you! What a terrific resource!
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