Vocabulary, Word Study, & Sight Word Activities

Vocabulary, Word Study, & Sight Word Activities

High Frequency Sight Words

High frequency words are those words that appear most in printed material. Learning to recognize frequency words by
sight is crucial to developing fluency in reading. Reading efficiently is greatly increased when sight words are recognized
in seconds.

High Frequency words are more difficult for students to read because they are more abstract words that students can’t
apply basic phonic skills to decode. As tutors we want to improve sight word recognition in order to enhance the
student’s chance of getting to the end of a sentence in time to remember how it began.

Below are assorted activities you can use to increase sight word recognition:
1. WORDO: played like BINGO, students are to fill their boards with various sight words. This will help strengthen word
recognition.
2. Word books: students can create small sight word books by folding and stapling construction paper. This will help
students to both read and write various sight words.
3. Flashcards: Write sight words on index cards. These cards can then be used for a number of activities.

a. Jeopardy
b. Memory
c. Swat!
4. Word detective: Encourage students to be high frequency word detectives. Students can locate sight words around
the school.
5. Word Search: create a word search including various sight words. Encourage students to locate as many words as
possible.

Word Banks

The purpose of a word bank is to develop a sight word vocabulary. After reading a story two or three times with a
student:

1. The tutor and child go back through the story one page at a time hunting for sight words. The child should be
allowed to point to and identify any word of interest on a page.

2. The tutor should point randomly to a few words in the text to check the quality of the child’s word identification
attempts.

3. Any word the child identifies immediately and with confidence, whether chosen by the child or the tutor, should
be put on an index card. Limit the number of words selected to 3 to 7 per story.

4. All words on the cards form a “bank” of words.

Reviewing Sight Words Collected For the Word Bank:
1. The word bank consists of two collections of words, an “I Can Read” and “I Need to Learn” bank.
2. The tutor shows the sight words collected in the Word Bank to the child one at a time. If the child can read the
word in a half second (or as fast as you can read the word), place a check on the back of the word card.
3. The tutor shows these words again to the child on two different occasions. Each time he can read the word
within a half
4. second place another check on the back of the word card.
5. When the child has acquired three checks on the back of a word card, the card can be placed in the “I Can Read”
pile.
6. If the child cannot read one of the words in the word bank, tell the child the word, and have him repeat it. Keep
the card in the “I Need to Learn” pile to review until it can be read quickly on three separate occasions.

Self-Collection Strategy (Haggard,1982)

1. Tell students to bring to class two words they believe everyone should learn. These can be general knowledge
words or terms related to a specific topic that the group will be reading about.

2. Have students write their words on the board as they enter the room.
3. In turn, students present their words to the group by defining them, explaining why the group should learn

them and telling where the words were found.
4. Through discussion, the class should reduce the list to a predetermined number of most important words by

eliminating duplicates and words already known by many.
5. The final list becomes the focus of vocabulary activities for the next few days.

Vocabulary Cards

Begin with a list of key vocabulary words found in the text or unit of study. Give students 5x8 cards.

1. Show students how to divide card into four quadrants (either fold or draw lines)—in either case have
students draw lines to separate the quadrants.
2. Ask students to label the quadrants as follows:

a. Upper-left-hand corner (front): VOCABULARY TERM
b. Lower-left-hand corner (front): DEFINITION
c. Right-hand-side (front): PICTURE
d. Upper-left-hand (back): DESCRIPTION OF PICTURE AND RELATIONSHIP

Word Front of Card Back of Card
Definition
Picture Relationship

(related to the word (I drew this picture because…)
and its meaning)

Personal Vocabulary Journal (example)

My new word is… Sphere
It is related to… Geometry
I found it… My textbook
I think it means… A ball
Definition… Spherical object or ball
Example… basketball

Picture

NOTE: There is a blank version of this form in the Resources section.

How Well Do I Know These Words

Example from Mufaro’s Beautiful Daughter (1987) by John Steptoe.

Don’t Know at All Have seen or heard— I think I know what it I know the meaning
Don’t know what it means
bountiful Africa
means journey pride
messenger
temper announced

NOTE: There is a blank version of this form in the Resources section.

Vocabulary Teaching Dos and Don’ts

Guidelines for selecting to-be-learned vocabulary

Do… Avoid…

Less is more -- depth is more. Teaching or assigning words from

Teach fewer vocabulary terms, but textbooks just because they are

teach them in a manner that results in highlighted in some way (italicized,

deep understandings of each term. bold face print, etc.).

Teach terms that are central to the

unit or theme of study. Teaching or assigning words just

These are terms that are so important because they appear in a list at the

that if the student does not understand end of a text chapter.

them, s/he likely will have difficulty

understanding the remainder of the Teaching or assigning words that will

unit. have little utility once the student has

Teach terms that address key concepts or passed the test.

ideas.

While a text chapter may contain 15-20 Assigning words the tutor cannot
vocabulary terms, there may be only 4 define.

or 5 that address critical concepts in the Assigning large quantities of words.
chapter -- sometimes only 1 or 2!).

Teach terms that will be used repeatedly Assigning words that students will rarely encounter
throughout the semester. again.
These are foundational concepts upon

which a great deal of information will be

built on over a long-term basis.