Today on the blog, Erin from Classrooms and Cats shares all about her favorite engaging sight word games she uses in her Transitional Kindergarten and Kindergarten classroom!
Hello friends, my name is Erin Custer and I blog over at Classrooms and Cats! I have been a Transitional Kindergarten teacher for 7 years and I am all about helping other teachers find fun and engaging ways to help their students learn. Early Education is where I have spent my entire 10 year teaching career and it is my passion. I am eager to share my ideas with you and want to give a big thank you to Sweet For Kindergarten for letting me guest blog!
Teaching Sight Words in Kindergarten using Engaging Sight Word Games
One of my favorite lessons for Transitional Kindergarten as well as Kindergarten is sight words. I know, I know…there are a lot of people who will say that this is not a developmentally appropriate skill for students who are 5-6 years old however when it is done correctly your students are going to thrive and have no idea that they are learning sight words!
Sight words can be a difficult task for your students to learn so that is why I created engaging sight word games. Teachers and students alike love when learning is fun. Reading off the same sight word list week after week can get pretty boring. I decided to create editable sight word games so that teachers can have a way to make a game with sight words and help their students stay focused.
Let me show you how sight word games keep my students engaged, and why yours will love them too!
#1: They are editable
Games that are editable are wonderful for you as a teacher. Rather than printing off several lists for your students, you can print off just the sight words that you need. All of my sight word games are editable which means that you can fit them to your needs. They are also easy to use which makes it a breeze to set up an educational game for your students.
#2: They are interactive
It has been said that students need to move their bodies at least 60 minutes a day to get the proper exercise they need. Sitting in a chair in class all day is not the way to help students achieve that goal. Rather, have them get up and move around with these engaging sight word games!
One way I like to play the games with my students is I print out and laminate the cards (this laminator works wonders!)Β I place the cards around the room and students need to stand up, walk around and write down the words that they can read. This is a great opportunity for the teacher as well to do a quick informal assessment. Β As the students are writing down the words the teacher can ask them what they word is, and if they student can read the word then the teacher knows they are on their way to mastering sight words.
Each of the games also comes with a recording sheet that is themed to the game as well. This gives students the opportunity to also work more in a Write the Room type of fashion that students really enjoy.
#3: These are differentiated to fit all your student's needs
As an educator I am always looking for way to help my students. Differentiated learning is such a big part of school these days that we can find it overwhelming to create several different lessons for students. That is another reason why I created this game. Since it is editable you can use any words you like. Another way that I would ensure all my students could play is I would use a dry erase marker and write #1-5 on the tops of each cards. The students did not know that this was a way that I would assess them. They simply thought that they were working on a different list than another child. Allowing the whole class to do something and coming together as a community is a great feeling for both teachers and educators.
#4: Seasonal Games are more fun!
If a student sees the same game over and over again it is going to get boring. They are going to become less engaged and you are going to lose their attention. What if you took the exact same game and added some fun and vibrant clipart that was relative to the month? Add a paper to write on that has a fun picture on it and suddenly your students think that you have a brand new game every single month! Believe me, itβs true. My students love to play these games because although they are the same each month, they are eager to see what the theme of the game is. It really does make a difference.
#5: You can add-on to the games!
There are 5 engaging sight word games per month and with each game I try to incorporate something that is going to be inexpensive or even free to add to the game.Β For example there is a mermaid mania sight word game.Β The teacher can play under the sea music to get the kids excited.Β There is a fun flip flop sight word game…imagine if you went to the Dollar Store and picked up some flip flops for your group to wear as they walked around looking for sight words.Β Itβs small items that will keep your class engaged and excited about sight words.
Here are some examples of some of the games:
Overall I am all about making sure that students are still enjoying learning. I want them to know that when they step into a classroom they are going to have a great time learning. That is the goal for me. I hope that you have found this information helpful and if you are interested in grabbing editable sight word games for your class you can do that here!
If you want to try out an engaging sight word game for your class, here is an editable sight word game freebie that I have in my store!
Make sure to head on over to read how to implement a successful sight word program and help your students learn up to 100 words in Kindergarten!
