Bright Idea for Sight Words

I teach the 220 Dolch Sight Words to my firsties. Each student works at their own pace, studying 20 words at a time. I was struggling with organization to put it lightly. I was taking up valuable time trying to hand out the right flashcards to each student, or wasting time digging through a stack of papers, trying to find the correct word list for a particular student. Plus, students would forget their word list and I'd have to go find my master list to tell them which list they were on.  This year though, I got smart!

 Each list of 20 sight words is displayed on a cupboard door in my classroom. Our theme this year was Western, but the only die cut in our workroom that even sort of matched were tractors lol. Each kiddo got a tractor, put their name on the back and decorated the front as they wanted. Their tractor goes above the word list they are studying, so they can remember which list they're on, but no one else knows.

Next I purchased Command hooks and hung the flashcards for each word list right next to it! The cards are labeled in the corner with the number for the word list just in case someone finds them out of place in the classroom, so we can put them back in their place easily. Now when students have free time they can grab a set of cards and get cracking on sight words without me having to find the correct set of  cards!

I also added a library pocket to hold a mini-list for each set of words. Although I send home a sheet all the word lists to be kept on the refrigerator so that students can practice at home, I found that they liked to have a list they could keep in their pockets as well. Now when I test them on a word list I can quickly highlight any they missed on the mini-list and they can take it back to their seats to practice. It also shows their parents that they were tested that day, but still need more practice.

There you have it - display each sight word list in the classroom with easily accessible flash cards and mini-lists! For more Bright Ideas, check out the links below in this month's Bright Ideas Blog Hop!

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