If
you've learned one thing about me, its that I abhor worksheets. Growing up I remember those pages upon pages
of sight word lists. Every night in
first and second grade I’d sit at the dinner table with my mom while she
pointed to words on the list and I either knew it (check mark, move on) or
didn’t (no check, we'd be revisiting this word tomorrow). Snore, snore...BORRRRRING! So, when I found out I was teaching first grade three years ago I set
out to create fun and engaging games and activities for sight words and …
Woo
hoo! Finally, after months and months of
tweaking and perfecting my trusty Sight Word Jumbo Pack is DONE! I have been using these games and activities
for years and finally turned them into something TpT worthy.
Here's how it looks in my classroom…
Each
week we introduce eight new sight words. We
use the Dolch word list and begin with the Pre Primer and work our way up through the Second Grade words. Once we have a healthy handful of words (around 24) we begin the games! Yippee! At this point I introduce THE BUCKETS. I always keep two buckets of sight word games and
activities in my classroom Daily Five/library area.
The
first bucket contains the I SPY games.
These are changed out monthly and have at 3-4 versions of each game
board {Pre Primer, Primer, First Grade and Second-Third Grade}.
I keep some mini magnifying glasses, mini clipboards, checklists and pencils in this bucket.
The
second bucket has collaborative games such as ‘Connect Four’, ‘I have, Who
Has’, and ‘Sight Word Dice Game’. There are also independent activities such as
‘Roll it and Read it’, ‘ABC Order’ or
‘Word Hunt’ in there.
This
bucket has pencils, dice (both plastic and DIY templates on cardstock), spinners,
crayons, colored pencils- all the fixings!
The kiddos can utilize these buckets during
the Word Work portion of Daily Five or during any “down” time, i.e. morning
work, early finishers, during snack etc.
Since they change frequently, the little ones never tire of them. Also, the leveled labels (PP, P, 1, 2, 3) on
each game allow me to easily differentiate for the children.
I
also love to use these games or the fluency phrases {"Check Me Out"} as assessments.
The little readers think they are simply playing a game with me, yet little
do they know that I am actually assessing them! Discreet assessment is a
b.e.a.u.t.i.f.u.l thing!
These
sight word buckets have saved me many, many times when I having an observation or an unexpected schedule change. The buckets are
always there and the littles are so used to them that I rarely get those, “I’m
done. What can I do NOW?” questions.
What
sight word games do you use in your classroom?
Do you have go-to buckets or bins?
Let’s all “turn and talk” AKA comment below about your sight word
activities! Have a great Wednesday!
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