At Home Resources

Working With Words At Home

Tips for how to prepare your child for sight words and spelling

• Remind student to sound out the word and to look for word families or patterns that they know.

• Use the Look, Cover, Write technique: look at the word, say it slowly, cover the word, picture it in your mind, print  the word, uncover the word and check.
• Write the word repeatedly on paper. (eg.) write 3 words 5 times per night.
• Use or write the word in a sentence.
• When the word is used during daily conversations, ask your child to spell it orally.
• When reading with your child, see if they can spot any of their words in the text.
• Play word Bingo.
• Use magnetic letters on a metal cookie sheet to build words.
• Write alphabet on popsicle sticks and use them on a flat surface to spell words.
• Give your child the letters to one word scrambled up, let them unscramble them to make the correct spelling.  Repeat for next word.
• Use finger paint to print the word on paper.
• Make puzzle pieces of your words. (eg.) blue – “bl” on one piece and “ue” on another piece. Create puzzle for all  words, mix pieces up, and put puzzle together.
• Scrunch up three or four words and have students break them apart at the correct place. (eg.) carbutandit = car  but and it
• Zoom in on your word. Try printing one of the words and then ask your child “Does this word look right?”
• Post words in visible places in your home.
• Create a word search.
• Use flash cards.
• Make a story using the words.
• Be repetitive! Practice daily!
• Have fun!

Reading With Children

To help make reading time a pleasure for both of you, here are some tips:

• Give a lot of praise and encouragement! Make it a fun!
• Make reading a daily ritual.
• Sit with your child and snuggle, making sure you both can view the words and that your child is handling the book.
• Start with a picture walk.
• Encourage pointing to the words to help with tracking.
• Encourage your child to use Strategy Sam to help decode unfamiliar words.
• Never tell them the word is easy and they should know it, instead help them use clues in the picture and sound it out, looking for chunks. If still struggling, supply the word to them to avoid frustration and to keep the story moving forward with flow.
• Encourage ongoing comments, questions, and predictions by your child.
• The books your child reads should seem easy. If it is not, you can read a page and they can reread it to you.
• If your child is particularly tired one night, it is okay to share the reading responsibility, taking turns page by page.
• After reading discuss the: cover, title, author, illustrator, characters, setting, problem, solution, beginning, middle, and end of the story.
• After reading ask your child: to predict what might happen next after the book finishes, what their favourite part was, and to connect something from the book to themselves and their life. Discuss how the story made them feel and if they liked it.
• Reread the story practicing fluency, expression and attending to punctuation.
• Play games with the book!
1. Point to an isolated word on a page and see if your child can read it.
2. Search for all the words in the book that begin with a certain letter of the alphabet and count them.
3. Search for sight words in the book.
4. Create different front covers for the story.

By reading with your child, you are showing them that reading is important, that they are important, and that the time you spend together is important!

Sight Words

Please see the back of your child's Home Reading folder to see the list of Sight Words taught in Grade One.