Phonics Using Sight Words

Although a lot of fuss is made over learning phonics reading, phonics is actually not the hardest part of a student literacy program. In my opinion, sight words are much harder. Sight words are thos which defy the rules of phonics, but are very commonly used in language. They are short words that can not be sounded out and must simply be memorized. Sight word lists are the bane of existence for any child with learning difficulties. This understanding is key to reading even the simplest texts, but many students never reach grade level mastery of them.

Sight words lists can help a lot. Some schools take a whole language approach, refusing to really spend enough time drilling things like sight words and phonics lists. Students do not learn the patterns that make up language, and they also don’t memorize these common words. Instead, they are expected to pick them up on their own by reading specially designed books. For some students this approach works well, but for other ones it is a miserable failure. This can lead to feelings of inadequecy and a fear of reading that can affect their entire lifetime.

Of course, word lists alone are not enough to get sight words. It doesn’t make any sense to have a strict phonics program, or a whole language program either. You need a program that combines the best of both approaches. On the one hand, you need sight words and word lists. Students really need to make a concerted effort to study these words so they can recognize them, even without context. On the other hand, words in context are also important. Just adding a sight word it is not enough. A student needs to be able to read a story and see that word in the text. This will make it much easier for them to develop advanced reading skills.

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