Why Sight Words?
Sight words are critical to the success of emergent
readers. First of all, many sight words break common phonetic
rules. In other words, they do not sound out. Try reading the word
"was" phonetically; it doesn't work! Children must recognize
these sight words in order to successfully read them.
Secondly, sight words make up a tremendous percentage of printed
text. The most common 25 sight words make up approximately one-third of
all printed text. The 100 most common sight words make up over half of printed
text. When readers recognize sight words rapidly and automatically
(without having to think about what the words "say"), they are able
to devote more cognitive attention ("brain power") to a fewer number
of words. This leads to more fluent, confident reading, which, in turn,
leads to greater comprehension of texts.
Our Sight Words
Miller Kindergarteners are expected to identify 25 sight words by the end of the year. If they can spell them, that is also helpful for their writing. Again, they are the words that are used the most often. Here are the words that we will learn this year:
