Sight words are a big deal in kindergarten these days! It’s Spring and we’re trying to master our ever-growing list of words and make it to Reading Level D by the end of the year. I try to find a variety of ways to practice reading and writing our sight words in the classroom. We write them in shaving cream, play games with them, paint the words, roll them out with play dough, and I can’t forget my two favorite ways to teach sight words:
Heidisongs
and side walk chalk.
practicing sight words
If you’re not familiar with Heidisongs, jump over to her website right now! Sing and Spell Volume 1 is my most well loved DVD. My kids know all of the songs and dances for these sight words and LOVE learning in this way. It transfers right into our Writer’s Workshop time and when anyone asks how to spell a word that we know a song for, the other kids in the class burst into song! It’s really the best thing ever!!
On warm Spring mornings, we start off by grabbing a piece of chalk and heading outside. I put the Sing and Spell DVD on and crank up the music so we can hear it outside of our door. The kids start writing every word they hear and pretty soon they have a LONG list of sight words they have written.
long list of sight words
Allison, over at No Time For Flashcards, took this to the next level and added some water balloon fun to the side walk chalk game! I absolutely love this idea. If I didn’t have 23 kids in my class, I would totally do this. It would be a great way to practice writing sight words at home!
Happy writing!
