![]() Just as adults teach children to use phonemic patterns to “tackle” unfamiliar words in texts, they can also teach them to use the same patterns to spell. When children learn these patterns they are better able to “work out” new words they want to read and write. Many of the sight words (and English words in general) can be read and spelled using general patterns. Parents and teachers can help students learn to spell these words by teaching them patterns of spelling. Spelling word lists in the fourth grade should be comprised primarily of the sight words from the pre-primer to the third grade Dolch lists. Because these children have already integrated these high frequency words into their reading vocabularies they are ready to make them a part of their writing vocabularies. Once a child is able to identify a word in print, he can move on to making it a part of his own writing. In addition, fourth grade sight word instruction should focus on spelling. Teachers should also continue to make high frequency words a part of their classroom word walls. During guided reading they should point out and remind students of sight words appearing in texts. Adults should continue to encourage fourth graders to use their knowledge of sight words when reading new texts. Reinforcement and Spelling of Sight Words in the 4th Gradeīecause many students come to fourth grade with mastery of most, if not all, of Dolch’s sight words parents and teachers of this group of children can primarily focus their instruction on reinforcing and spelling these 220 words and 95 nouns. They should focus on teaching the children to identify sight words within context and in isolation using the same best practices recommended for the early grades. Fourth grade teachers and parents should work with these students using the beginning list of sight words (pre-primer) and work their way up to the third grade list of words. These students do not need to be re-taught sight words they are learning them for the first time. They may not have had consistent early educational experiences, as is sometimes the case with ESL students who are new to U.S. Some children simply do not learn sight words in the early grades. Students with processing or learning disabilities often require additional time to learn sight words so remediation is an important part of their literacy instruction.įor other students developmental sight word instruction in the fourth grade is necessary. ![]() They may need more time practicing identifying the words individually (by reading and writing them in isolation) and in context (by reading and writing them in full texts). ![]() ![]() These students have been exposed to the words before, but have not fully committed them to their vocabularies. Therefore, it is important to continue to spend time working with students in the fourth grade on developing recognition of the words on the pre-primer, primer, first, second, third and high frequency nouns lists.įor some students this means offering remediation instruction. Though parents and teachers focus reading instruction in grades pre-k through three at least in part on sight word recognition, not all children will integrate all of the words on Dolch’s lists into their reading and writing vocabularies during these years. This idea is especially true when applied to literacy development. While there are generally accepted benchmarks and milestones that we aim to help our children reach at particular points in their development we know that not all will reach them at the same time. Remediation and Developmental Sight Word Instruction in 4th GradeĪs any parent or educator knows, each child develops at his or her own rate. Fourth grade teachers and parents should focus on three main approaches to sight word instruction: remediation, reinforcement and spelling of the pre-primer through third grade word lists and introducing the current fourth grade sight word lists. Sight word instruction should be an important part of the fourth grade reading program as well. While it is important for young readers to master the core set of 220 high frequency words by the end of third grade, this does not mean that sight word instruction ends on the last day of the third grade school year. The ability to easily identify and understand high frequency words in texts helps the young reader move efficiently and effectively through reading tasks. One of the building blocks of a strong foundation in reading is sight words. During preschool and the primary grades she is building the foundations for a lifetime of reading. Undeniably the early years of a child’s education are critical to her development as a reader.
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