TEACHING SIGHT WORDS Hannah Cole First Grade December 5, 2014

THE INITIAL MEETING  Two first grade children selected (Student A and B)  Given “Fountas & Pinnel Benchmark Assessments”  Based on reading level (letter)  Cooperating teacher wanted to develop reading efficiency and fluency

QUESTION What are the most effective strategies to enhance the vocabulary of a lower achieving student?

PRE-TEST- INTEREST SURVEY Day 1 Administered: Garfield Interest Survey and Dolch Sight Words Test Results: Student A- Enjoys reading, but needs a assistance with interpreting words and learning sight words Student B- Reads only when it is required, but has a working knowledge of sight words and is determined to sound out unknown words.

BEST PRACTICE Use a variety of methods to teach sight words, the more sensory methods used the more apt students are to recall prior knowledge. (Phillips, 2012) See the word, Say the word, Spell the word, Write the word, Check the word (Reutzel, 2015) Teachers should use a variety of books to reach their students (Miller 20-37) The Book Whisperer author, Donalyn Miller, is very supportive of students reading books, any books, just continue to read and be immersed in literature.

PLAN OF ACTION  Data Interpretation was very confusing  Where to go next to help my students?  How do you teach students to become more fluent readers when they do not completely understand how to read?  Change of my initial plan  Take ten Dolch sight words both children missed  By the end of the research have all ten words committed to memory

FINAL ASSESSMENT Final Day: Re-administered: Dolch Results: Student A: Learned eight of ten sight words, as well as moved on to level three on the Dolch Assessment; completing fifty-nine of seventy-five words Student B: Learned nine of ten sight words and completed levels 1-4 correctly giving seventy-seven of one hundred words.

GROWTH Both students grew academically by the end of the research. Assessed very well throughout our time together. With a little more assistance, for both students, mastery can be achieved with these sight words. I would even recommend, continuing to review these sight words, and learning others on the Dolch to further develop as a reader. Student AStudent B

REFLECTION  More time should have been allotted to putting literature into the students hands, and showing context of the sight words.  I could have use more fun methods, potentially games, to teach sight words; especially incorporating technology.  Understanding what I know now, if I had the opportunity to redo this project, I would be more certain of my goals and methods.  The data shows that the students did learn my objective for the project, however I truly hope that this made a difference in their reading now that they recognize new sight words.

RESOURCES Miller, D., & Anderson, J. (2009). The Book Whisperer: Awakening the Inner Reader in Every Child. San Francisco, Calif.: Jossey-Bass. Phillips, W., & Feng, J. (2012). Methods for Sight Word Recognition in Kindergarten: Traditional Flashcard Method vs. Multisensory Approach. Retrieved November 18, 2014, from Reutzel, D., & Cooter, R. (2015). Early Reading Instruction: Getting Started with the Essentials. In Teaching children to read: The teacher makes the difference (Seventh ed., pp ). Boston: Pearson.