What Are Sight Words?
Sight words are words that need to be memorized through visual cues.
They do not follow the traditional rules.
They can also be words that appear frequently in text – words like “the” “do” “there”, and hundreds more.
These words are used to teach students words that tend to follow a similar spelling pattern.
Teaching student sight words can help them read faster by not having to spell them out since they can be identified by sight.
Students with dyslexia can benefit from sight words.
They can be taught to read and comprehend like normal people with the right approach.
Many people do think of teaching sight words as rote memorization, but it is definitely not the case.
For dyslexic students, a more comprehensive method involving the senses including sight is proven to be very effective.
Simply relying on flashcards alone or having them fill several worksheets will not help as much as the multisensory approach.
Let’s go through some multi-sensory methods that can help when teaching dyslexic students sight words.
How to teach sight words
The methods highlighted are not the standard methods for teaching students with dyslexia sight words, but are a combination of several methods that have been tried.
You can be creative with these methods if necessary or if the situation with the dyslexic student requires a different approach.
One thing that you will discover is that no two dyslexic students are the same, even though they share a common reading disability.
The severity of the conditions vary from one student to the other, so it is important to try out different approaches and stick with the ones that are most effective.
- The first step – write out the words on flash cards and have the child read each word. When they are unable to read a word, you tell what the card says.
- Use the other end of a pencil or a crayon to trace each letter on the flash card, reading each letter out loud as you do so. Say the word out loud while underlining it. Do this two to three times.
- Use two fingers to trace the word on the table. This is similar to the previous step – say each letter as you trace with your fingers, then say the word out loud while underlining it. You can have them turn the flashcard over and try to trace the word from memory. To make it fun and interesting for the student, you pour some white flour or sand on the table and trace the words in them.
- If the dyslexic student can write, you can get them to write out the words in a notepad multiple times. Doing this will make it easier for them to remember it easily next time.
- Have the dyslexic student practice the sigh words multiple times until they make progress, and can read them by sight. You have them repeat the process five or six times. You can revisit the words occasionally to make sure they have truly learned them.