Sight words are words that don’t follow the general phonetic principles for sounding out a word. In other words, they may be more challenging for students to sound out because they don’t follow standard English-language patterns.

Practicing sight words can be a useful supplement to phonics instruction. Phonics is vital for learning to read, while sight words instruction increases a child’s familiarity with the words they will encounter most often.

Sight word practice and instruction often includes:

  • Introducing new words
  • Using games to practice and reinforce previously introduced sight words

This video provides instruction for teaching and practicing sight words