Q: The October 2005 question was submitted by Kathy who teaches 1st grade in Harrisburg, PA

Does anyone have any ideas on a QUICK (5 minutes) way to practice sight vocab every day? I keep 10 words on my board all week long and we do practice them daily. However, I only have a few different strategies for practicing them. and I don't want my students to get bored..



A: Your excellent responses:

Sent by Kara from Whiteland, IN:
Here are a few ideas that I use with my first graders: use fly swatters to swat the sight words from the overhead, clap and chant (using different claps and voices), sing the sight words to a familiar song, and Mind Reader (gives clues to what the word is and the students have to say the correct word).

Sent by Lois Whysong from Metaline Falls, WA:
I put them up on the cupboard door where they can read them while they wait in line to go to recess, lunch or what not.

Sent by Meredith Rodriguez from Bronx, NY:
There is a great game that we play in my room called "Mind Reader". I pick one word off the word wall and then give them 5 clues to try and guess the word. The clues go from very vague ("The word in my mind is a word on our word wall") to more specific, including the beginning letter, then ending letter, the number of letters, and finally a sentence that my secret word would make sense in. It is a great way to practice reading and writing the different words, and also lets the kids feel as though they can read your mind!

Sent by Terry Buxton from Adrian, Michigan:
Use personal white boards for the students and have "speed" writing. You give one of the words and they see how quickly they can write it down. I also would use the white boards to show word families. I kept the pen in socks, which they used as the erasers. When it was time to erase, they used the socks to "munch" the words away.

Sent by karen silverstein from easton, ma:
Play floor tic tac toe, write them on each others back, play bingo where they write the words in different spots on a 3 x 3 grid, use white boards... "listen - think - write - show- erase" as a whole class activity, use magnetic letters on desks.

Sent by Mary Robbins from Long Island, New York:
Play Word Wall/Sight Word mystery. Start by saying, "I'm thinking of a word on the word wall." The children will then write a word. Then repeat that clue and another such as,"I'm thinking of a word that has 4 letters." Give a total of 4 or 5 clues that include number of letters, beginning sounds, ending sounds, syllables, and meanings or opposites. You can have the children write their guesses on white boards with dry erase markers so they're writing and reading at the same time. It's great fun and only takes a few minutes.

Sent by Paula Boyd from San Ramon, CA:
I would have one student try to "trick" the others by using a pointer and pointing to the words out of sequence. Others would have to say only the word that is pointed to. They love trying to trick each other and swell with pride when no one can.

Sent by Crista from Camp Hill, PA:
Try having your kids play tic-tac-toe with their sight words on dry erase boards. Instead of using X and O, have them use 2 of their sight words instead:-)

Sent by Sonja from lynchburg, virginia:
Have students carry pocket words. (your words on a ring. then have them wear a "pin/sticker" that says to ask to ask them about their pocket words. they enjoy having the princicpal, etc listen to them read their pocket words to him/her. It motivates them to want to practice them. It also gives them a chance to have their words mobile and able to take them anywhere. A ring allows you to continue to add words as well.

Sent by Jennifer from McDonough, GA:
Yes! Dr. Jean Feldman has a song called singing the word wall on her Kiss You Brain CD. The kids love it and it helps them remember the words by putting them to music. Also, I teach my kids the sign language alphabet and I will spell out a word in sign and they have to tell me which word I spelled. I do these things as we line up or if we have a few extra minutes.

Sent by Cindy Walker from Pace, Florida:
Have you tried making it into a concentration game? Make two copies of each word. Then let them find the match for team points. Also you could do a version of "Hangman" without the Hanging. I simply put up the number of blanks for the word and let them guess the vowels and consonants by teams until one team can guess the word.

Sent by Debbie from Edmond, Oklahoma:
Last year, for my first grade class, I tried a fun idea with sight words. In the morning, the students would come and in and complete their bellwork, which would include making the words out of playdough. They each had their own playdough container in their cubbies and they would make the words on their desk, read their words to a friend, then clean up. They loved it and it was fun for them! They spent about 10 minute making words while I took care of the chores for the morning.

Sent by Lichelle from Milwaukee, Wisconsin:
You can use the words on your board as an "Exit Pass" to leave school for the day. Before students leave for the day they have to read all the words on the list. Each day check off the words students read correctly. When they've read a word correctly for 3 days in a row, remove it from the Exit List and place it on your word wall. If students are having difficulty with a word, give more practice working with the word throughout the day. You can also use flashcards and allow students to be the "teacher" by presenting the cards for the students to read. You can also play a word game by giving each student a card with one word written on it (more than one student will have the same words). Then make statements like "If you have the word 'apple', jump 3 times." (use different actions for different words).

Sent by Pat Peters from Hanover, Massachusetts:
On my computer I make a grid, 3 across by 5 down. In each grid I use sight vocabulary words for an "I Have, Who Has" game. Cut up the cards from the grid (can be plain paper)and deal the cards. I do this in small group reading support so each student has about 3 or 4 cards. Kids love this quick 5 minute review. Example: I have THE __________ Who has AND?

Sent by Stephen D English from Grand Rapids, Michigan:
I put together PowerPoint presentations with my sight words. I include pictures of my students on each slide. They love looking at the pictures and this helps to keep them focused on the words.

Sent by Cherri from Solon, OH:
We play guess the mystery word. I give clues like- it rhymes with... it starts with the letter that makes the P sound, etc. Kids write their response on a dry erase board, eliminate words after each clue and eventually hold up their answer when they think they have it.

Sent by Christy from Lakeland, FL:
I write the words on sentence strips and post them in a central location. I then line the students up in two lines and give the line leaders a fly swatter. I call out a word and the student who swats it first is the winner. I keep going through this until all of the students have had a turn. I also have taken the students that swatted the words first and put them in a third line to compete against each other. The students LOVE it!

Sent by Wendy Clayton from Jackson, New Jersey:
I play a game called Word Wall Ball with students, using a koosh ball or other soft round ball and laundry basket. The children make 2 lines facing the Word Wall with the laundry basket in between them. Each student is asked to say one word on the word wall that he or she knows and toss the ball in the laundry basket. With two lines taking turns at the same time, each child normally gets two or three turns to name a word and toss. I have a class of 25 and this works fine. The children have fun, look forward to practice and anyone who is noisy or disruptive on line while waiting their turn goes to the end of the line, so students manage their own behavior. Students can't wait for Word Wall Ball.

Sent by Dacey Mealey from Bruin, PA:
Try playing "Around the World" with your students. Have students sit at their desks. Two students "challenge" each other by standing beside one another. Flash the sight word to them on a card- the first one to say it correctly moves on to challenge the next student. The first student to make it back to their own desk is the winner! (We use this in kindergarten to practice our letters and numbers, and eventually we will use it to practice our sight words. A sticker or a lollipop for the winner is all the motivation we need. Hope it works for you!

Sent by Sherry LaRue from Tenino, WA:
One of our teachers has made a PowerPoint slideshow with each weeks words. We project it on our classroom TV sets during times like lunch, extras minutes etc.

Sent by Nancy Scott from North Ridgeville, Ohio:
Kathy, try cheering for the words. Say the word with hands in the air, then spell the word. If it's a tall letter have kids put hands straight up over their heads, if it is a one space high letter, have kids put their hands at their waist. If the letter has a tail, have kids reach down their legs to the floor. At the end say the word 3 times while moving arms and hands left, right, left. Once you teach the kids how, it goes really fast. I hope you have read Patricia Cummingham's books on 4 Block Reading especially "Working With Words". Good luck. I spent 22 years in 1st grade before moving to 3rd this year. The 3rd graders love cheering for words, too. Also, give Rebecca Sitton's Spelling program a SERIOUS look see. www.sittonspelling.com.

Sent by Laurel Kalan from Concord, California:
I have a series of mini-tricks I do to make sight words more fun. I have all my sight words on little flashcards. I hold the word up and have them do a "silent predict" of what they think the word is. Then I say "This word is ___". Say it 5 times fast. (they do) Say it 5 times slow. Say it loud, say it softly, say it with a silly voice, say it with a grumpy voice (these can go on and on, per your imagination). Then we clap it, spell it. Letters that reach the top headline are "tall" letters, so students clap above their head (ie. b, t, h). Letters that reside between the middle and bottom line are "normal" letters, so students clap in front of themselves. Letters that go below the bottom line are "sinking" letters, so students clap near the floor (if sitting) or by their knees (if standing). So for the word "boy" it would be high clap, regular clap, low clap (all while saying the letters b-o-y). It's fun for the kids, especially if you set a fast pace. You can "test" them after you do this a few days in a row by having them try the clapping with their eyes closed.

Sent by Jenn Hoffmann from San Ramon, CA:
Have the kids sit in a circle and choose two that are sitting next to eachother to stand up. Have the sight words that you want them to practice ready to go on flash cards. Show the two standing up one of the cards and the first one (out of the two standing) to say it correctly, moves on to the next child. Show a new vocabulary word to the next pair and the winner then moves on to the next child. Continue with the game until all children have had a chance to try to identify at least one word. The "winner" of the game is the child who identified the most words correctly. I play this game with my kindergartners; we practice alphabet, number and sight word recognition! They love it!

Sent by Wendy Stevens from Lake City, FL:
"Fast Flash" Put the sight words on flash cards and students call out the words before the next word appears. "I Spy" "I'm thinking of a sight word. It has __letters. It means__. etc." Keep giving clues until someone can guess. "Mystery Boxes" Draw boxes on a small white board that represent the letters of various sight words. Example: tall box, tall box, short box, drop box. Clue: Refers to the group. Answer: they Students enjoy this activity so much that I've adapted it to fit into a sight word literacy center. Hope these help! Wendy

Sent by sany bartenbach from indianapolis, In:
How about the "I Spy" game. Put words on index cards around the room and have an "I spy" game by saying I spy a word that means........... This could be fun to do right before or right after lunch, or during a transiton time.

Sent by Linda Mele Johnson from Long Beach, CA:
I draw a "ladder" on the board. On each "rung" I write a sight word. The whole class practices climbing the ladder a few times, and then I call on individuals to climb to the top. If a child gets to the top, I place his name there. Another simple idea is called "Beat the Teacher." I hold up a word and the class has to say the word before I do. At the beginning my response is slow, but as the children gain speed, so do I. You can ask a child to flash the cards to the class for variety.

Sent by Dalila E. Valle-Scott from Little Neck, NY:
I have an idea that my co-worker Ms. Armstrong (who also teaches first grade) uses and when I get a copy of itI will send you the exact words. It's a cute song! It goes something like.. I can spell cat c-a-t, but I can't spell Hippopotamus. I will send it to you.

Sent by Susan Cortright from Jonesville, MI:
I now teach Kdg., but this is an idea I used in 1st grade and it took very little teacher preparation time. Put your 10 words on the board. Give each student a plain sheet of white paper. Have them fold their paper in half making sure to keep their corners together as good as possible. Have them fold their paper 3 more times and press down to make good creases. They then unfold their paper and should have 16 boxes. Have them write the first word in any box they wish. Do the same for the 2nd, 3rd, etc. Once they have written all 10 words randomly on their paper, have them choose the words that are the most difficult for them to remember and write those in the leftover boxes. Now each person has their own BINGO card. Pass out some type of Bingo pieces and play a Bingo game. As the children get to be better readers you can choose one of the students to announce the words. This also works great to practice Spelling words.

Sent by B.A. Pinkman from Secaucus, New Jersey:
I give each child a sight word and they have to get together with their classmates to see if they can form sentences. Another thing I use is I give each child a sight word on a flash card, I then play a game call "Simon is looking for _____________(insert the sight word) The children have to look at their flash cards to determine who has the word I am looking for. If they are correct, I give them a sticker to wear.

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Sent by Kathy from Old Town, Florida:
I use the overhead with my first graders practice the sight words just before we line up for lunch. They love it!

Sent by Lucky Hoomes from Pace, Florida:
Use sight words in short sentences so that your students can read them in context. Sometimes it helps to highlight sight words with highlight tape used for this purpose or a pen for highlighting. The tape will not harm the text in a book and can be peeled off easily.

Sent by Cindy Widner from Harrogate, TN:
I have a word wall game, where I have all the words on index cards. I put 5 minutes on the timer. The students line up. They pick a word from my bag. If they read the word correctly, they keep the card. IF they do not, they put the card back in bag. At the end of time, whoever has the most cards, wins. I give the winner(s) treats.

Sent by Kate Hull from Salem, Ohio:
I sometimes play "Guess the Missing Word". The children love it! We go over the words, I tell the children to close their eyes and put their head down. No "Sneaky Peekers" allowed. I take a word away, ask the children to look then I select a child to name the missing word. I he/she can name the word corretly, they get to come forward and lead a "cheer" spelling that word and then adding it to the word wall.

Sent by Nancy E. Dawson from Uniontown, Pa:
I practice my high frequency words (sight words) by having the students make sentences with the words presented. I put the cards on the whiteboard then have the students take turns writing parts of the sentence. I teach kindergarten so I am amazed that they are learning new word and remembering them. Some of the words are me, my, I, a, can, like, we, are, and , the.

Sent by Sarah from Westminster, Maryland:
One teacher does a cheer with pom-poms. Give me an a...a! Give me an r...r. Give me an e...e. What does that spell? ARE!!! Kids take turns to lead the cheer.

Sent by John Bullard from Arvin, California:
What we have done in my district is create a fluency folder. In this folder, there are sheets that have sight words. We have 10 sight words on each sheet. The sight words are mixed up randomly on this sheet, so each sight word is on the sheet ten times. The students are then given a minute to read as many sight words as they can. This really keeps our students engaged, and they have fun racing the other students. Before a student can go on to another page, they have to pass this sheet with the teacher. I teach second grade, and I started some students with Kindergarten sight words, some with first grade, and some with second. Then, students will proceed at their own pace. I hope this helps, my students are really enjoying it!!

Sent by Connie C. Adams from Douglas, ga:
I purchased name badges, the king that hang around your neck like a necklace, and put sight words in them each day. I teach kindergarten, so we work on five words each week. The children get a different necklace each day, so they are always excited when they get to school to see what word they have! I'll use these as we line up to leave the room, "If you have on 'is', line up, etc..." Sometimes they can sort themselves by the words they are wearing, get in alphabetical order, etc... I started this last year, and it worked very well in helping them learn sight words!

Sent by Debra Theaman from Miramar, Florida:
keep a file box with index cardswith alphabet cards and each week and your vocab. cards to it.

Sent by Sarah Sue Miller from Perry, Iowa:
I write some sight words on fun shapes that have to do with a theme or season, laminate them, and put them around the door and we say them before we leave. I also put them in a line up the door or a wall and if a student can read all the way to the top, he or she gets a treat, or gets to take a shot with a little basketball into the hoop above the words.

Sent by Amanda LeGalley from Houston, Tx:
alphabetical order, bingo, cherry pie (students stand in a circle and each child says one letter until the word is spelled out and the next child says "Cherry Pie." Students sit if they say the wrong letter.

Sent by Debi V. from Versailles, MO:
How about cheering the words? I do Word Wall Cheers in which we say the word, spell it outloud and then cheer the word. For letters that begin at the top, arms go up; letters that begin in the middle, hands are on hips; letters that go below the line we scrunch; we are "moving" to each letter. Since you teach first grade, you could have your students do the cheer, then write the word on their paper. This activity is very quick! Hope you try it out!

Sent by Jennifer Johnson from Traverse City, Michigan:
I have used a beach ball with the sight words written on it. I section off the beach ball using a permanent marker and write one word in each section. I use it by having the students make a circle and then toss each child the ball. The word that their left/right thumb lands on is the word that he/she must read. They have a "ball" with this activity.

Sent by Sarah from Dallas, Georgia:
Play Around the World with the word wall words. My kids love that game.

Sent by Brandi Magee from Lenoir City, Tennessee:
I teach first grade, as well, and when I only have a few minutes, we play "Around the World" with sight words. One student starts by standing behind another student, and I show them a sight word on a card. The first one to correctly identify the word moves on to the next student. The object of the game is to make it as far as possible without having to sit down. My students love this game and beg to play it all the time!

Sent by Jeffie Bennett from St. Augustine, Fl:
Have you played tic-tac-toe with the words. It may take longer than five minutes, but they love it. I give out paper and have them draw a large tic-tac-toe sign on the paper. Then I call out the words and spell them for the students. They put the words where they want. When the words are all called out, I randomly call a word and they x it out. The first to get tic-tac-toe gets a sticker on their paper. If more than one student get it, they all get stickers.

Sent by Jeffie Bennett from St. Augustine, Fl:
Have you played tic-tac-toe with the words. It may take longer than five minutes, but they love it. I give out paper and have them draw a large tic-tac-toe sign on the paper. Then I call out the words and spell them for the students. They put the words where they want. When the words are all called out, I randomly call a word and they x it out. The first to get tic-tac-toe gets a sticker on their paper. If more than one student get it, they all get stickers.

Sent by Stephanie Hestad from Marietta , GA:
I made sight word necklaces with cardboard backing and die cut D'Nealian foam letters. Each card is then hole punched and a string "necklace" is threaded through and tied to go over the head of a kindergarten child. Our "doorholder" for the week wears this necklace and it travels with us everywhere we go. Each child must touch and say the sight word as he/she passes the "doorholder". I choose a person to be the "doorholder" who needs to hear the word repeated by 20 children/5 times a day/5 days a week! By the end of the grading period, all my kids know the words. I have been teaching for 15 years and it works every year.

Sent by Beth from Fulton, NY:
Do a sight word vocab hunt. Put each word on an index card and place them in various places on the walls around your classroom. Call out a word and have the children locate them in the classroom.

Sent by Debbie Frain from Boyertown, PA:
I set up a set of "CRASH". I laminate a set of cars cut from the Ellison machine. I use it as a flash card review. Students say the word on the card, if they are correct they keep the card and continue saying the words on the following card until they miss one or get a "CRASH" card. Then the game continues to the next player. The person with the most cars at the end is the winner. This works best with small groups and I often start my guided reading groups with this. You can also use vocab. words.

Sent by Kim Robinson from Bel Air, Maryland:
This is a great use of technology that I also use in my first grade classroom! Place the words you are using (and possibly a few others!) into a Power Point presentation. You can dress it up with different colored backgrounds, fonts, etc. Have the kids, with pom poms or pretend ones, cheer to spell each letter of the word, then chant the word. This works GREAT and really keeps them interested!

Sent by Dalila E. Valle-Scott from Brooklyn, NY:
Hi, I found the song. So, here goes... I can spell cat c-a-t I can spell fat f-a-t I can spell hat h-a-t But I can't spell hippopotamus Repeat H-I-P-P-O I know, Then comes P-O-T But that's as far as I can go And that's what bothers me Repeat H-I-P-P-O I know Then comes P-O-T But that's as far as I can go And that's what bothers me Gee! This from both Ms. Armstrong And Mrs. Scott

Sent by Michelle from Charleston, South Carolina:
1. act out each word 2. say the definintion have students put the number of the word in their lap, with their eyes closed have them hold up the number (good way to check comprehension) 3. My students make memory cards with the word(underlined)on one card and the definition on the other. They match them up on their own or I have them play in small groups. If they make a match they must use it in a sentence to keep the match.

Sent by Deb from West Brookfield, MA:
How about sight word Bingo

Sent by Pam Bucci from Sarasota , Florida:
I am in the process of laminating sight words and others and putting them in small plastic containers to be used every year. Children sit in pairs and practice in the room for about 10 minutes. If you have some tough kids, it is best to pick the partners yourself. I have seen it done by another teacher and the kids love it. All children are engaged at the same time.

Sent by Lori from Wasilla, Alaska:
I have my students quiz each other on their spelling words. They pair up, name a word and have their partner write it on mini dry erase boards. Then the partner checks it. We do it this way once or twice a week.

Sent by Becky from Omaha, NE:
I play a version of "I Spy'. One student picks on of the words and gives hints about it's meaning. The other students have to guess. I like this with younger kids because there is no reading involved, except for the vocab words.

Sent by L Olcomendy from Sacramento, California:
I teach first grade too ! It seems we are forever lining up to go somewhere (recess, cafeteria, etc) Have them practice the words as they line up. "Billy, can you spell (word)?, Good job, line up" and so on. Or have them already in line, and if they spell it (or use it correctly) they stay in place, if incorrect, go to end of line (and of course they will get to try again)Also, give each student a card with a word on it, and use the words throughout the day. This is great for choosing teams, special privileges, etc. or just for practice ! You can do lots of other things too. Have them line up by using their words in alpha order, or longest word, shortest word, word with most/least vowels etc. Good luck ! Have fun with it !

Sent by Selma Prewitt from Houston, TX:
Play a version of hangman or use a spinner for a version of "Wheel of Vocabulary" where the kids earn a few extra minutes of recess for each correct guess.

Sent by Bonnie Bahr from Baltimore, Maryland:
Write the words on index cards and place on the floor. Buy 2 fly swatters at the dollar store. Have kids compete: make 2 teams, 1 student on each team gets the swatter. Call out a word and the first one to swat it gets a tally mark for their team. My kindergarteners love this.

Sent by Nicole Solimine from Waterbury, CT:
I give my kids flashcards and start with five cards on a ring and when they have mastered them, I add 5 more until I have covered the list.

Sent by Connie Mitchell from Montgomery Village, Maryland:
If you can, put each one in a different color on a different slide of a powerpoint, then set it to loop over and over as a screen saver. Let it play all day long, when you're not using the computer.

Sent by Beth Shepard from Morristown, New Jersey:
I have my students practice writing their words on mini dry erase boards that they get to keep in their desks. They love the markers and the mini-erasers that I got from really good stuff.

Sent by Marjorie Brown from Colunbia, Maryland:
Play a quick game of "guess the word." It is played by having the students close there eyes while you select one of the words and write it on the board. Then you cover the word with an index card. The students open their eyes and you slowly start sliding the card across the word and see how far you get before the word is guessed.

Sent by debra smolnycki from sevierville, tn:
Some things we do in my classroom: 1. tic-tac-toe where students have to say the word to mark an X or O. Students play in teams. I usually have two or three groups going at the same time. 2. Chant and clap the word three times, then write them. We also soccer kick and spell, bat a ball and spell, skip and spell, etc. 3. play SWAT--make two posterboards with stars or bugs on it, about 10, and laminate it. Then write sight words on the stars or bugs. The same words go on each board. Divide the students into two teams. one member from each team stands in front of their posterboard with a fly swatter. When the teacher calls out the sight word, the first child to swat the correct word wins a point for his team. 4. Stinky feet-- make up cards with new AND old sight words on them. Make up several cards that say "STINKY FEET". place all in a shoebox. place students in a circle on the floor. each student takes a turn pulling a card out of the box. If they read it correctly they get to keep it. If they draw a STINKY FEET card, they must throw all their cards back into the box. At the end of a specified period of time, the player with the most cards wins. Silly but fun!

Sent by Marge Smith from Navarre, Florida:
Try a simple matching game. Use index cards and make two sets of indes cards. the students can words in groups of 2-4. they will match up the words and only win the cards if they can read the word they have matched. Another game is to put the current weeks words on index card and keep in a few past ones to review. Each player is dealt the same number of cards. The first player holds up a card to the next person. that person must read the word to win the card. If they do, the card is turned face up in front of him. they then show a card to the next person to guess. The winner is the one with the most cards turned face up. If a player cannot read the word when it is their turn, then it becomes a bonus card. the next player gets a bonus turn and cahnce to read it. If they cannot, then each player is given a turn to read the card. If I play with the students, I always have an extra new card or two to use as a bonus. They have a great time and are learning their sight words.

Sent by Linda Smith from Pacific, MO:
I choose 20 sight words that seem to be the more difficult of the 100 our students are responsible for and write up a "chant" for them. Each day the students say the chant as I point to the words. Then I call individual children or groups to "Give me five..." If they can correctly say all five of the words that I randomly point to on the chart they get a gold slip or I punch a number on their "punch card". They love this because sometimes I begin and they follow or I begin the chant and they repeat after me. Soon they are anxious to "Give me five." When they have learned this chant and the sight words, I make up another one with 20 more sight words. It takes only 5 or 10 minutes and they are really focused on the sight words.

Sent by Diane Creller from Alburg, VT:
Write the sight words on big macarroni and put them in a bowl with a ladel. Have they scoop a sight word. They get to keep it if they can read it. Then count them up and see if the next time they can get more.

Sent by Amy R. from Piscataway, NJ:
Sight word review...I have my kids make flash cards for their words. They use them to review the words at school and with a parent at home. In school a pair of children uses 2 sets of word cards (2 cards with each word) to play "Memory" or "Go Fish". Each child has to read the word and/or use the word correctly in a sentence. At home the students read the word to a parent, say the letters that make up the word, and use the word in a sentence. Depending on the level of the students I sometimes have them write the sentences or put the words in alphabetical order. The students keep ALL of their word cards in a bag that zips closed. They always have the words in their desk for review purposes or to help spell a word while writing.

Sent by Deborah from Stafford , VA:
Decorate a "can of words". Place the words inside the can and have the students draw a card out and read the word!

Sent by Colette Gormish from Cresson, PA:
You can play tic-tac toe. Put nine words up on the board and have the students place x's and o's if they are able to pronounce the words. I also sign the words and the children have to guess what the word is. If they are correct they can line up to go home. I also teach first grade.

Sent by Kim Perkins from Fuquay-Varina, NC:
I made a power point slide show and timed it at the speed I wanted them to be able to read the words. By making them "fly' in and other actiona and sounds they loved it.

Sent by Christi Roberts from Lodi, OH:
Sight Word Bingo! I have students fill in the grid in those first days of school with days of the week, months of the year, and ordinal numbers. Then we can immediately start playing and I give pencils as the prize. The second Bingo card that we make has all the students' names, mine, the principal's, and the name of the school. Not exactly "sight words", but it helps them become familiar with each other and to at least recognize mine. Once we have accumulated enough spelling/sight words, we make the next Bingo card, and it's been fun to hear them keep track of how many words "we know" so that we can make yet another Bingo card. I recently tried Homonym Bingo, and had no trouble coming up with pairs. Then I say the word, spell it, and use it in a sentence so they have some reinforcement in a practical way. I organize Bingo cards as short or long vowel sounds, specific vowel sounds, directional words, just about anything that can be categorized, so that the students become familiar with at least those. Pencils are relatively inexpensive (hit those dollar stores and get colorful ones!)and certainly practical. One game can be completed in about five minutes, and students look forward to it, so practice recognizing words, hearing the words being spelled and used in a sentence, and visually discriminating the letters and beginning, middle and ending sounds is a lot of "stuff" crammed into that five minutes. The students are responsible for keeping track of their Bingo cards (in their "keep" folders) and it is impressive how valuable they become. It only takes seeing one student panic or miss out on a game because they couldn't find their card, to make everyone a lot more responsible. I hope you try this!

Sent by Camille Thompson from Desert Hot Springs, California:
We play "Sparkle" which is a game of skill and a game of chance. Each student sits on their desk. Everyone must be totally silent. The teacher says a word three times, then points to the first student selected. That student says the first letter of the word; the next student says the second; etc. If a student does not know the letter, h/she sits down. At the end of the word correctly spelled, letter by letter, the next student says, "Sparkle". The next student has to sit down! I don't know what it is, but my classes love to succeed in spelling correctly and love to observe the hapless student that sits after the word "Sparkle" is stated. They never get tired of this game and I use words from every discipline we study. Good luck. It's worked for all levels of elementary.

Sent by Debbie Patterson from Whitesboro, Texas:
I have a wall chart right next to my classroom door shaped like four crayons with each crayon holding 13 cards in vertical rows. As sight words are introduced, I put them in the chart filling one crayon at a time. Ever time we leave our classroom , we read the words aloud; sometimes going forward, sometimes going backwards, sometimes starting in the center. As the fourth crayon fills up I remove the first card in the first crayon and start that row new again. We keep this going all year. By the time we fill all four crayons and start over, we have certainly read those beginning cards many, many, many times.

Sent by Debbie Patterson from Whitesboro, Texas:
I have a wall chart right next to my classroom door shaped like four crayons with each crayon holding 13 cards in vertical rows. As sight words are introduced, I put them in the chart filling one crayon at a time. Ever time we leave our classroom , we read the words aloud; sometimes going forward, sometimes going backwards, sometimes starting in the center. As the fourth crayon fills up I remove the first card in the first crayon and start that row new again. We keep this going all year. By the time we fill all four crayons and start over, we have certainly read those beginning cards many, many, many times.

Sent by Teresa Maisano from Wallingford, PA:
One idea is to turn out the lights in your room and play flashlight vocabulary. Use the flashlight to light up a word, and the students have to read it. It really holds their attention and is exciting for them.

Sent by Michele from New Rochelle, New York:
We play sight word baseball... 2 teams...I throw a ball to a student -- if they read the sight word correctly they score a run to 1st base..play continues with another student going around the bases. It helps to have a baseball diamond drawn on the board. If they miss the word it is considered "out". 3 outs and then the next team is up.

Sent by Carol from Highland, Indiana:
Have each child make a set of 2"x3" flashcards for the 10 words and keep them in an envelope. To practice the words, tell the children to put the cards on their desks face up. Put a stack of matching cards face down on a desk or table near your pocket chart. A student takes the top card, turns it over, reads (or spells the word if he/she can't pronounce it), and each student then finds that word on his/her desk and turns it face down. The word the student chooses is then placed in the pocket chart. Continue until all 10 words are in the pocket chart and the students' cards are all face down. On another day have the children put their word cards in a-b-c order on their desks. On still another day, have the children play a "Memory" game in pairs using two sets of word cards.