Sight Words Lesson Plan *

Students use Words With Friends (WWF) EDU to identify and spell sight words . Primary Objective

Students will be able to identify and spell common 2–5 letter words (i.e., sight words) during WWF EDU game play (including pronouns, prepositions, and modal auxiliaries).

Secondary Objective

Students will be able to develop a list of 2–5 letter words that they encounter during game play to use as a resource for future games and other reading and writing assignments.

Aligned Common Core State Standards

L.4.1.a, L.4.1.c, L.4.1.e, L.4.1.g, L.4.2.d, L.5.2.e, L.6.2.b, L.7.2.b, L.8.2.c

Time

30 minutes

MATERIALS

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Student computers

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Index cards or student notebooks/digital notebooks

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Game board example: sight words

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Projector

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Poster and poster markers

This lesson may be particularly useful if you have many English language learners in your classroom.

Sight Words Lesson Plan

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PREPARATION 1. Give students the opportunity to play WWF EDU before this lesson. •

Recommended practice time: at least 1 hour over a multi-day period or 3–5 game play sessions.

2. Identify a sight word list that can serve as a reference for you and for students. Review this list to identify low- and high-level sight words based on the grade level of the students you teach. •

If systems for an explicit sight words practice already exist in your classroom, you may choose to use a sight word list that will be familiar to students.

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If you do not have a preferred sight words list, you may choose to access the Fry Word List . This list contains 1,000 frequently used words in reading and writing.

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3. Consider whether to teach this lesson in a large group or a series of small groups, depending on the resources that are available in your classroom (e.g., if you do not have a full set of student computers to facilitate a full-group lesson, this lesson may be taught in a series of small groups while other students are engaged in centers). 4. (Optional) Pair or group students together for practice with game board examples and/or game play.

PROCEDURE 1. Introduction •

Define: What are sight words? (8 minutes) o

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SAY: Sight words are words that you can recognize right away when you see them, without having to sound them out. They are words that are commonly used in reading and writing. Many sight words, especially those at lower grade levels, are very short and easy to read. Some examples of these sight words are I, a, and, the, and like. §

SAY: Sight words can be pronouns—examples: he, she, it, they, and us.

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SAY: Sight words can be prepositions—examples: on, in, up, down, and over.

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SAY: Sight words can be helping verbs—examples: am, are, can, may, and must.

SAY: Even though sight words may be short and easy to read, students often spell them incorrectly when writing them down. This is because some sight words have tricky spelling patterns that are not always easy to remember. Some examples of these sight words are once, high, low, could, and would.

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Please note that this list is not affiliated with Words With Friends EDU, so we cannot fully vouch for its accuracy, but it can be a good resource if you do not have a sight words list of your own.

Sight Words Lesson Plan

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SAY: As you become more fluent readers, more complex words will become sight words for you, but today we will focus on short/simple words that have between 2 and 5 letters.

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SAY: Before we dive into WWF EDU game play today, let’s work together to identify some sight words on a WWF EDU game board. §

Show the game board example on a projector. Lead students in identifying sight words and differentiating them from other words. Highlight words that may be easy to read, but tricky to spell. Help students to identify the part of speech for each word, connecting words to their meaning.

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(Optional, additional 5 minutes) Give students the opportunity to extend this practice to their own game boards. Help them identify game boards in their Moves List that they might use; they can choose to use ongoing game boards (under “Your Move” or “Their Move”) or recently “Completed” game boards. Encourage students to collaborate with a partner or in small groups to identify sight words. Circulate around the room to support this practice.

Set the intention for game play (2 minutes) o

SAY: Today, while we play WWF EDU, I want you to keep track of any sight words that you play on an index card (or in your notebook/digital notebook, pass out index cards if this is your choice). We will use the notes that you take on your index card (or in your notebook/digital notebook) to build a sight words list as a class. Why are we doing this, you ask? Building our fluency skills with sight words helps us become stronger readers and writers. Also, one of the great things about many sight words is that they are, like I said, SHORT! If we have a list of sight words that we can reference easily, it might help us be better WWF EDU players in those moments when we’re stuck and trying to think of words to play. After all, even though we’d like to play a Power Word on every turn, it’s not always possible. As always, I encourage you to look for the green light on the Power Word list that indicates that there is a Power Word you can play; seize those opportunities to grow your academic vocabulary and score some major points! You can keep track of any Power Words you play on your index card (or notebook/digital notebook) as well, and we will study these words at the end of the lesson.

2. Practice/Play time (10 minutes) •

Circulate around the room as students play WWF EDU, focusing on sight word identification and spelling strategies. Encourage, troubleshoot, and support students as they work/play. Publicly praise students when you see them playing sight words and Power Words. Remind them to use their index cards (or notebooks/digital notebooks) to take notes.

Sight Words Lesson Plan

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3. Closure (10 minutes) •

Lead students in a discussion that sums up the game play experience, noting how many sight words were played, along with Power Words. Work together to create a “WWF EDU Sight Words Poster” based on the students’ notes. Discuss any tricky spelling moments and help students connect words played to their meanings by categorizing words by their parts of speech (you may consider organizing your poster in this way). Help students make a connection between how knowledge of sight words helps us in game play, and, more importantly, how that knowledge helps us become stronger readers and writers.

EXTENSIONS AND VARIATIONS Use these ideas to further engage students in activities aligned to the learning objectives of this lesson. For those of you who may be searching for ways to provide more student-led activities in your classroom, we’ve labeled the activities that can be easily led by students with #StudentLed. •

If students are less familiar with the game, or a significant number of students are English language learners, play a demonstration round (or two) of WWF EDU to show sight words and Power Words in action.

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Make the “WWF EDU Sight Words Poster” a living document on your classroom wall by encouraging students to add to it as they continue playing WWF EDU. #StudentLed

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Provide students with the attached “My WWF EDU Sight Words” worksheet and encourage them to record the sight words they play in the game. Encourage students to add to the list over time and look back on it to study the words after they play the game. #StudentLed

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Encourage students to create flash cards of the words on the poster or on their worksheet and provide opportunities where they can challenge each other to read the words as quickly as possible (i.e., without sounding them out) to make sure they are true “sight words.” #StudentLed

Sight Words Lesson Plan

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GAME BOARD EXAMPLE: SIGHT WORDS Prompt: What sight words can you identify on this game board?

Sight Words Lesson Plan

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GAME BOARD EXAMPLE: SIGHT WORDS Answer Key:

Sight Words Lesson Plan

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MY WWF EDU SIGHT WORDS Prompt: Use this sheet to record the sight words that you play in WWF EDU. You can add to it over time and look back on it to study the words after you play the game.

Sight Words Lesson Plan

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Aligned Common Core State Standards STANDARD

DESCRIPTION

L.4.1.a

Demonstrate command of the conventions of standard English grammar and usage when writing or speaking. a. Use relative pronouns (who, whose, whom, which, that) and relative adverbs (where, when, why).

L.4.1.c

Demonstrate command of the conventions of standard English grammar and usage when writing or speaking. c. Use modal auxiliaries (e.g., can, may, must) to convey various conditions.

L.4.1.e

Demonstrate command of the conventions of standard English grammar and usage when writing or speaking. e. Form and use prepositional phrases.

L.4.1.g

Demonstrate command of the conventions of standard English grammar and usage when writing or speaking. g. Correctly use frequently confused words (e.g., to, too, two; there, their).

L.4.2.d

Demonstrate command of the conventions of standard English capitalization, punctuation, and spelling when writing. d. Spell grade-appropriate words correctly, consulting references as needed.

L.5.2.e

Demonstrate command of the conventions of standard English capitalization, punctuation, and spelling when writing. e. Spell grade-appropriate words correctly, consulting references as needed.

L.6.2.b

Demonstrate command of the conventions of standard English capitalization, punctuation, and spelling when writing. b. Spell correctly.

L.7.2.b

Demonstrate command of the conventions of standard English capitalization, punctuation, and spelling when writing. b. Spell correctly.

L.8.2.c

Demonstrate command of the conventions of standard English capitalization, punctuation, and spelling when writing. c. Spell correctly.

Sight Words Lesson Plan

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