How is working on Dolch sight words relevant to an SLP?
Some days there’s just not enough time to work on all the needs of my students! I am constantly challenged to work harder and smarter. It’s critical to bring academic content into our language goals but it does take some thought and creativity. I’m excited to share my experience with using Dolch sight words to work on language goals and a product that evolved from this experience!
Code and Meaning-based Strategies
Children with persistent reading difficulties struggle with reading sight words. According to Scanlon, Anderson and Sweeney in their book, “Early Intervention for Reading Difficulties: the Interactive Strategies Approach, (2010), there are code-based strategies and meaning-based strategies that we teach to children who are learning to read. Code-based strategies focus on alphabetic principles. The reader attempts to connect sounds in the spoken word to letters in the written word. Meaning-based strategies allow readers to anticipate what an unknown word might be and see if it fits the context. In order to effectively use meaning-based strategies, readers must have enough background knowledge, vocabulary and language skills that allow them to notice when communication has broken down. Many Response to Intervention (RTI) programs for reading sight words focus primarily on teaching code-based strategies. However, for our children with language delays, those learning English as a second language or those who come from home environments that are not rich in language or reading, code-based strategies may not be enough for them to succeed in reading.
Here’s a link to the Scanlon et al book on Amazon for your convenience:
It’s an excellent resource!
Reading is a language skill.
If children do not have a meaningful connection or visual representation of a word, it may be very difficult for them to learn and retain it as a sight word. If their knowledge of word meanings/vocabulary is limited, their development of sight words may be limited as well. Direct and explicit teaching of word meanings has a positive impact on a young child’s vocabulary and that is the basic premise for meaning-based reading strategies. For years, I worked to help my kindergarten students with language delays learn their sight words. In order to pull in academic goals, I began using sight words as the target word materials for sentence formulation tasks. As I searched for appropriate materials, I was directed by my regular education colleagues towards using the Dolch word lists. OK, only one problem. There were no pictures to go with the Dolch words at the time. Many of the words on the Dolch lists are inherently difficult for children, (especially those with language delays) to understand. We know that if children do not understand something or if it is not meaningful to them, it is likely they will not learn or retain it.
How can we provide meaning to sight words?
I decided to make my own set of pre-primer and primer Dolch cards for my students. I noticed that after my students and I were working on formulating sentences with the Dolch words, they would often repeat the sentence they originally learned under their breath when shown the picture and the Dolch word at a later time. The process of listening to and using a sight word in a sentence along with viewing a meaningful picture was giving my students with language delays the context they needed to make a meaningful connection to the sight word!! Here’s the Dolch pre-primer and primer product that I developed for my kindergarten students learning sight words:
In each Dolch sight word packet, there is a full page picture that can be used as a poster or for large group instruction.
Each of the full page and quarter page cards has a Dolch sight word at the top. In the center, there is a picture that illustrates the sentence at the bottom of the card. The pictures and sentences were carefully chosen to include child-friendly graphics and meaningful situations for children.
Once the student is able to build a meaningful sentence of their own,not necessarily one that is grammatically correct, using the picture cards, I move on to using the sight word alone.
How do we measure progress?
I include multiple progress monitoring options in all of the packets.
How do we visually represent some sight words?
Even some of the words that I consider to be more difficult to represent or define, such as the words “did” and “do” are easier to understand when a sentence is used with the word and an illustration for the sentence is provided. This packet includes all the words from the Dolch pre-primer and primer word lists, (generally kindergarten through first grade). I am also pleased to offer the
If you have students with identified or suspected language delays, children learning English as a second language or students from lower socioeconomic backgrounds or students from environments that are not rich in reading or language experiences, using code-based strategies to teach sight words may not be enough. Try providing explicit instruction in the vocabulary and language associated with the sight words. This can help bridge the link between prior and new learning!
Give a meaning-based approach to sight words a try with these students!
Good Luck!
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