Furthermore, many of the sight words taught in the classroom should be high frequency words. That will speed up their reading speed and make it easier for them to understand the text. However, just because there is overlap does not mean they are the same. In other words, many sight words may not be high frequency words. For example, you may want to include sight words like “mom,” “dad,” or the name of students. This can make it easier for children to write and read classroom communication or write about their day. Similarly, some high-frequency words aren’t necessary to teach as sight words. Words like “I” and “a” are so simple to decode that they may not be worth teaching as sight words.

The sight words you choose to teach in your classroom will vary based on the existing skills of your students. In fact, you may add or remove words based on what you study in your classroom or what your students are interested in. However, starting with this sight words kindergarten list is a great place to start:

a, and, away, big, blue, can, come, down, find, for, funny, go, help, here, I, in, is, it, jump, little, look, make, me, my, not, one, play, red, run, said, see, the, three, to, two, up, we, where, yellow, you, all, am, are, at, ate, be, black, brown, but, came, did, do, eat, four, get, good, have, he, into, like, must, new, no, now, on, our, out, please, pretty, ran, ride, saw, say, she, so, soon, that, there, they, this, too, under, want, was, well, went, what, white, who, will, with, yes

On the other hand, high-frequency words are more likely to be consistent across all kindergarten classrooms. However, you may still find yourself adjusting this list based on the high-frequency words kindergarten students in your classroom find. Due to this, start working from this high-frequency words kindergarten list and adjust it as needed for your students:

a, me, to, yes, big, I, go, in, cat, for, is, at, on, dog, he, the, you, like, up, she, mom, we, my, with, this, dad, it, by, said, look, can, no, love, play, went, see, am, do, was, and

All in all, appropriate sight words instruction is an important part of classroom teaching. Obviously, having a strong grasp of sight words is crucial for a smooth transition into independent reading. However, it’s important to make sure students have fun. Having fun, simple sight word activities will keep reading enjoyable. Students will build a positive relationship with reading that will continue throughout their life. Try out these sight words kindergarten games to give your students some fun and exciting reading practice.

One great sight words kindergarten game is sight word bingo. To begin with, pass out cards to each student that contain a grid of boxes with sight words in each box. Then start calling out sight words. When the children hear the words, they locate and mark the word on their own paper. Then, once they have a full row, column, or diagonal marked, they can call out “bingo!” to win. This helps them learn to quickly recognize their sight words. Also, they can work on listening skills and communication with this activity.