What is this skill?
Sight words are the small, common words that show up on almost every page: an, as, by, had, him, his, old, and the trickier ones such as from, then, when, could, every, again and know. A first grader is expected to read them quickly, and, in time, to spell them from memory. Many of them do not sound the way they look. Could has a silent l, know begins with a letter nobody says, and every has a middle that most people skip when they speak.
In this practice the word is read aloud and never shown. Each question gives a sentence with a blank, such as "I ate ___ apple" or "First we ate, ___ we played," and the child builds the word from letter tiles. The questions begin with short words (an, as, by, had, him, his, old), move to words like ask, from, just, then, when, some and give, and end with could, every, again and know.
Why it matters
Writing in first grade is mostly made of these words. A child who has to stop and sound out "was" or "they" every time loses the sentence they were trying to write. Knowing a core set by heart frees attention for the part that matters, which is what the child wants to say.
Spelling a word is also a different kind of memory from reading it. A child can recognize "again" on a page and still not know whether it has an e in the middle. Writing the word forces a look at every letter, and that careful look often makes the word stick in reading too.
Common mistakes
- Spelling the way the word sounds. "Cud" for could and "agen" for again are sensible tries. Say plainly that the word has a trick, point to the odd part, such as the l in could, and have your child trace it.
- Swapping words that sound close, like then and than, or when and went. The sentence helps: "First we ate, ___ we played" can only be then. Reading the sentence back aloud usually fixes it.
- Dropping a letter from the middle of a longer word, such as "evry" for every. Break it into chunks together, "ev-er-y," and have your child write the chunks one at a time.
- Reversing letters in short words, writing "bi" or "nad." This is common at six. A quick correction with the word in front of them is enough, and it usually passes with practice.
How to help at home
- Use the look-say-cover-write-check routine for one or two words a night: look at the word, say it, cover it, write it from memory, then check each letter. Keep each round to a few minutes.
- Write the word in the air, then in shaving cream, sand or on a fogged mirror. Using the whole arm is a good way to feel the letters.
- Put a word in a silly sentence together. A sentence your child made up is easier to remember than a list.
- The Dolch sight word pages on this site have printable lists and flash cards by grade, a good source of words to practice on paper.
Worked examples
These are real questions from the Tutorsaurus spelling sight words practice, with the answers worked out.
Example 1
Spell the word you hear.
The app reads this aloud: “by”
Answer: by. The word "by" is spelled b-y. The y makes the long i sound in this word.
Example 2
Spell the word you hear.
The app reads this aloud: “then”
Answer: then. The word "then" is spelled t-h-e-n. The first sound /th/ takes two letters: t, h.
Example 3
Spell the word you hear.
The app reads this aloud: “could”
Answer: could. The word "could" is spelled c-o-u-l-d. A tricky word. The l is silent, and o-u says oo. Remember: c-o-u-l-d.