Popcorn Words!

An important part of our reading program in Prep is the acquisition of sight words. Our sight word program is made up of different coloured lists that make up the 220 most commonly used and read words in order of frequency.

These are POPCORN WORDS - they must be recognised and said as soon as they are seen. All words in the list must be said like popcorn in order to move on to the next coloured list.

Your child will be tested at school on a regular basis. When a list is completed, they will move on to the next list. A stamp will be placed in their booklet to let you know that your child has successfully completed a list and is ready to start practicing the next coloured list. Please make a habit of storing the booklet in your child’s KIT folder so that it is returned to school each day.

To make sure children are successful they should spend some time practicing the words on his/her word list on a daily basis. Once children have had the opportunity to study new sight words, games are a fun, hands on way to help strengthen their retention. Use the links on our Downloads page to access the Sight Word Lists and create flash cards to play games with.

There are a few very important things to consider when practicing these words at home:

1. When tested at school, children are usually given five seconds to say the word in order to be successful – remember that these are not words to be sounded out each time they are seen – although this might be a way to first learn the word.

2. If there are only a few unknown words on their current list (and your child is waiting to be retested at school), please feel free to practice the unknown words in the next list – they are encouraged to do this at school as well.

3. Remember to ask the words from the list out of order so that they are not just remembering the list order.

4. Children do not learn new words by being exposed to them only once. Repetition is key to sight word acquisition. As children progress through the lists it is important to continue revising previous lists.

5. When children see words used in natural ways rather than in isolation they are more likely to remember them because they develop an understanding of the word’s significance and meaning. Present sight words in short sentences and search for sight words in books.