Let’s face it, sight word instruction
can be very boring, but it is crucial for our kiddos. I’ve tried a million ways
to “spice up” sight word instruction and there hasn’t been anything that I felt
truly motivated my students until Captain Word Whiz. Here is how it works…
Organization
The
key to success to any sight word program is organization. Take the time to make the copies and get
organized for the entire school year and you will not regret it! I copy and staple all of the lists and
organize them into file folders.
Assessment
At
the beginning of the year I assess my students on their sight word knowledge
and assign them to the appropriate word whiz list. Each list has 25 sight words on it. For example, if Reagan knows the first 58
sight words, I would place her on list three.
Note: She will not become Captain
Word Whiz for list one and two, ONLY after she has successfully completed list
three.
Let’s
Practice!
My
students keep their lists in their binders or folders that go home with them
every day. I give my students the
opportunity to work on their words during daily 5 and I also assign sight word
practice as homework every night.
Quiz
Time!
Each
morning, I orally quiz each student on one page of their list. Once they have mastered the full page of five
words, I whole punch next to each word.
When they have mastered the entire booklet, the whole class sings a
superhero tune and I announce “Reagan Word Whiz!” while my teacher helper
brings the cape over for the new word whiz.
The kids go crazy with excitement!
I then give the Word Whiz his or her certificate and they put it on the
board for the day. I allow the Word Whiz
to wear their cape in the classroom all day and take a picture to post on our
classroom website.
There
you have it…I hope your kiddos enjoy it as much as mine have!
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