High Frequency Words
In This Slideshow:
Quick Review
What Are Sight Words?
Words that we decode quickly and effortlessly. Sight words are not just words like to, from, the, and is; they can also be words like majestic, subtropical, and encyclopedia.
What Are High-Frequency Words?
These words are the most common words in print. The 100 most frequently used words make up 50% of all that we read and write.
High Frequency Words can be categorized into two groups: Regularly Spelled and Irregularly Spelled.
When words are irregularly spelled, research suggests that they are harder to anchor into our sight word memory.
Kindergarten
1st Grade
2nd Grade
Instruction
*4-5 words at a time (per week)
*Activate all parts of the brain: where sounds are stored, where the word’s meaning is stored, and where the word’s spelling (individual letters) is stored
*teach/practice in isolation and in context
*multisensory
*Read-Spell-Write-Extend routine
*Regular repetition & practice opportunities
Individual Word Teaching
Sounds
Meaning
Letters
Read-Spell-Write-Extend Routine
1. READ: Write the word in a context sentence and underline the word. Read aloud the sentence, then point to the target underlined word and read it aloud. Have students say the word.
Say, “I see a cat.” then point to the word see. “This is the word see. What is the word?”
3. SPELL: Spell the word aloud and have students repeat. Briefly point out any letter sounds or spellings students might already know or that are the same as other words students have learned.
Say, “The word see is spelled s-e-e. Spell it with me: s-e-e. What is the first sound in the word see? What letter do we write for the /s/ sound? Does the word see begin with the letter s?
2. WRITE: Ask students to write the word multiple times as they spell it aloud. This can be done in the air, on dry erase boards, or on paper.
Say, “Watch as I write the word. I will say each letter as I write it. (Model this)
Now it’s your turn. Write the word three times. Say each letter as you write it.
4. EXTEND: Connect the word to other words students have learned. Ask students to generate oral sentences using the word. Have them work with a partner, and provide sentence frames as support, if needed. Then, have students write their oral sentence.
Say, “Turn to a partner and finish this sentence: I see a _______. Provide time for partners to share. Now write on your paper the sentence you just said.”
Say, “Let’s expand our sentences. For example, if your sentence is “I see a book,” you can build on it to say “I see a book about dogs.” Tell your partner your expanded sentence and write it.
Example- Individual Word Teaching
Ongoing Practice & Repetition
Ongoing Practice & Repetition
Whole group warm-up slides
Poems & Nursery Rhymes
Review On Your Door
Build Words
Games
High Frequency Box
Place a set of high-frequency word cards in a shoebox. Throughout the day, ask volunteers to select a card, spell aloud the word, read it, and use it in a sentence. The rest of the class must write the word on a sheet of paper as they say each letter aloud. Then display it in a pocket chart. At the end of the day, collect the students’ papers and have the class read the word cards in the pocket chart chorally. By the end of the week, this small set of words will have been reviewed many times.
Remote Learning Adaptation - Mystery Word
This can be done as a warm-up, in morning meeting, or during the end-of-the-day class zoom
Cumulative Sentences
Each week, have students write a meaningful sentence in the back of their writing notebooks for the high-frequency words taught that week.
During independent work time, have students reread their previous sentences to a partner.
Do this cumulatively a couple times a week to increase students’ knowledge of these words.
What’s Missing?
Say a high frequency word, and leaving out one or two letters (aim for one “sound” so possibly more than one letter, depending on the word), write the word on the board. Then have a volunteer fill in the missing letter(s). Continue with other words you want to review.
Examples: “The word is this. What’s missing?” _ _ is
“The word is was. What’s missing?” w_s
Name Selector Tool
Use the Name Selector tool on your iPad. Instead of student names, type in the high frequency words to be reviewed (separated by a comma). Save the list!
Select “Random” and a different word will pop up everytime. Students can take turns or chorally say the word that pops up.
Virtual adaptation: Have only 2s unmute. Then only they can shout out the word. Then have 3s unmute, etc...
Missing Words
Write a brief story, paragraph, or sentence on a chart. Place sticky notes over high frequency words that are a review. Read the story together. When you get to a missing word, have students guess it. Before telling children whether they are correct, write the correct spelling for the first sound/letter in the word and let children modify their guesses. Continue this way until the whole word is spelled.
Flashcard Update
Have students themselves write the word on the front of the card and then work with you to create a meaningful phrase or sentence on the back.
During practice time, students read the fronts of the cards as quickly as possible to practice recognizing the words, then repeatedly read the sentences on the backs to deepen their understanding of how these words function.
from
I am from _____
Highlight the Tricky to Make It Sticky
Help students focus on and remember the parts of Irregular Sight Words by having students highlight the part of the word that is “tricky” (the phonologically irregular part), such as the letter a in what.
Dissect a Word
See PDF in the notes below
Dissect a Word
In Summary