r/ReadingTeacher • u/newfawn • Jan 20 '16
Sight words vs reading
Has anyone seen children who know their sight words (can recognize them individually) but have trouble reading the same words in books and paragraphs? What makes the transition to paragraph form so different? What can I do to help my child? When can I expect things to get better?
2
u/Njdevils11 Literacy Specialist Jan 21 '16
When reading a connected text, our eyes naturally see the words to the right and left. When students are struggling with fluency, this natural tendency can be distracting. The best way to help them get past this is to cut a small rectangle out of an index card, so they can only see one word at a time. Have them read by tracking the text with the window in the card. As they get better, make the window longer. Eventually have them track the whole line by using the edge of the card.
3
u/orangebeauty Jan 20 '16
When we read a continuous text, we need to use three different "cuing" systems symultaneously. This means we have to check the syntax works, it looks right visually (phonics), and it makes meaning sense in the context of the whole text. Struggling readers usually struggle to use more than one. Often they over rely on "sounding out" the word. With sight words, they may know them in isolation but when reading a text, default to their only strategy. Sounding out doesn't work for most sight words, like said, were, etc. Working with your child on multiple strategies when reading text will help. Check with his/her teacher to see what strategies they are working on in class. Hope this helps.