5 Multisensory Ways to Teach Sight Words

Did you know that sight words only make up 4% of all words in the English language? Even so, it is critical that young students learn to recognize sight words just by looking at them because these words typically cannot be decoded or sounded out (and they show up frequently in reading). Examples of sight words include, "said," "also," "circle," and "were."

Research shows that using multisensory techniques to teach sight words helps students learn and remember them better than simple recitation. Multisensory techniques involve a child using their eyes (visual), ears (auditory), and touch (kinesthetic) to practice sight words.

Check out these 5 fun multi-sensory sight word activities for young children:

1. Rainbow Writing

Supplies needed:

• Colored markers or colored pencils
• Index card
• Black marker

Steps:

1. Write the sight word down in black marker on the unlined side of an index card in all lowercase letters.
2. Give your child one colored marker and ask them to say the word,  trace the letters of the word saying each letter out loud, and then say the word again.  For example: "was, w - a - s, was."
3. Repeat the step above two more times with different colored markers/pencils.

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Practicing sight words (or trick words) with kids? Try the "Rainbow Letters" method of tracing each letter of the word with a different color marker (try at least three different colors). As your child traces each letter, have them practice saying the letter out loud, and when they finish the word each time, say the whole word out loud. For example, W-O-N, won! #readingtips #spelling #vocabulary #literacy #earlyliteracy #handwriting #k12 #sightwords #trickwords #reading #lovereading #rainbowletters

A post shared by [email protected] (@r2sasheville) on Mar 29, 2020 at 2:17pm PDT

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2. Foam Letters

Supplies needed:

• 1 to 2 sets of lowercase foam letters
• Index card
• Black marker

Steps:

1. Write the sight word down in black marker on the unlined side of an index card in all lowercase letters and place in front of your child.
2. Hand your child the foam letters that make up the word.
3. Ask them to put the letters in the correct order to form the word on the index card.
4. Have them say the word out loud, then say each letter as they press down on the foam letters with their fingers, and then say the word one more time.
5. Practice doing this three times with each sight word.

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Foam letters are a great way to practice reading! We encourage students to find the correct letters to spell a word, pop them out of the foam board, place them in order, and then touch each letter as they spell out a word, i.e. c-a-t, cat! Do this three times to really help it stick! #literacy #lovereading #readtosucceed

A post shared by [email protected] (@r2sasheville) on Jan 15, 2020 at 2:01pm PST

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3. Play-Doh Letters

Supplies needed:

• Play-Doh or modeling clay
• Index card
• Black marker

Steps:

1. Write the sight word down in black marker on the unlined side of an index card in all lowercase letters and place in front of your child.
   
2. Count the letters of the word with your child and break the Play-Doh into the same number of pieces
3. Roll each clump of Play-Doh into a small ball with your child and help them roll each one into a long, skinny worm
4. Ask your child to form each letter of the sight word in order with the little Play-Doh worms
5. When the word is fully spelled out with Play-Doh letters, have your child say the word, then say each letter of the word as they press down on its corresponding Play-Doh letter, and then say the word one last time.
6. Practice this three separate times for each sight word.

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Have Play-Doh or modeling clay around the house? Put it to good use practicing sight words/trick words with children! 1) Split your Play-Doh into enough sections for each letter of your child's sight word. 2) Have them roll each section out into a long worm. 3) Help them form the letters of their sight word with each worm. 4) Ask them to say the word out loud, then press down on each letter to squish the Play-Doh as they say the letter out loud. 5) Have them end the spelling by saying the entire word out loud again. For example, "Was. W (squish) - A (squish) - S (squish). Was! Squish and say-spell-say the word three times in a row, and then try another word! Per one of our reading tutors, "This [activity] reinforces learning the trick word by hearing, touching, speaking, seeing and repetition. And some fun!" #readingtips #spelling #vocabulary #literacy #earlyliteracy #handwriting #k12 #sightwords #trickwords #reading #lovereading #playdoh #readaloud #readtosucceed #education #kindergarten #1stgrade #2ndgrade #3rdgrade

A post shared by [email protected] (@r2sasheville) on Apr 13, 2020 at 9:39am PDT

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4. Letter Matching

Supplies needed:

• Popsicle sticks
• Wooden clothes pins
• Index card
• Black marker

Steps:

1. Write the sight word down in black marker on the flat side of a popsicle stick.
   
2. Write the letters of the sight word in black marker on the lower half of a wooden clothespin - one letter per clothespin.
   
3. Ask your child to say the sight word out loud and pinch and place each clothespin onto its corresponding letter on the popsicle stick while saying the letters out loud. Then, say the word one more time out loud.
4. Have your child repeat this process three times (they can also do it while removing the clothespins from the popsicle stick).

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A quick make over on my unused wax sticks... And old pegs and here is my new creation!! . .letter matching!!!! . Fantastic for fine motor skills also! . #finemotorskill #motorskills #diy #activitiesforkids #eyfs #montessori #playandlearn #playathome #literacy #matching #wordsmatter #nanny #nannylife #instakids #nannies #playtime #afterschool #afternoonactivity #preschool #alphabet #followforfollowback #followme #recycle

A post shared by The.Nanny.Life (@the.nanny.life) on Jan 13, 2020 at 10:58am PST

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5. Letter Slide

Supplies needed:

• Pipe cleaners
  
• Letter beads
• Index card
• Black marker

Steps:

1. Write the sight word down in black marker on the unlined side of an index card in all lowercase letters and place in front of your child.
2. Give your child the letter beads that correspond to the sight word
3. Ask your child to say the sight word out loud and slide each letter onto the pipe cleaner in order to spell the word, saying each letter as they go. Then have them say the word again out loud.
4. Practice doing this three times for each sight word.