Matching Sight Words
Aims
This activity is designed to:
- teach your child to look carefully at words and identify differences and similarities
- teach your child sight words
- encourage your child to pay attention and join in a learning activity for short periods of time
When to start
This activity is suitable for children who can match and select pictures, understand the words being presented and have read the book(s) with these words in (Activity 1).
Children who have completed previous steps in See and Learn Language and Reading with picture matching and selecting activities and will understand the words being presented in this activity.
Selecting words
Select the sight words from the book you are currently using.
Start with 2 words that look quite different - for example, [feeding]/[horse], [baby]/[ducks] or [rabbit]/ [dog]. As your child becomes more familiar with the task and is able to match words given a choice of 2, move on to teaching 3 and 4 words at a time.
Modelling and prompting
At first, model the activity. Demonstrate the steps in the activity, encouraging your child to watch and listen.
When your child starts the activity, prompt them as needed to help them complete the task successfully.
Steadily reduce your prompts as your child becomes more confident.
Instructions
| 1 | Show your child the word card | |
[Cards]: Select pairs of word cards for each of the words you wish to work with. Place one of each pair in front of your child. Vary the order and position of the cards each time you work on this activity. ::: ::: |
[Apps]: From the Main Menu screen, select Activities > Matching Sight Words. Select the sight words you wish to work with and the number of cards to present (start with 2). Tap the start button. ::: |
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| 2 | Attract your child's attention Say "let's match words". Encourage your child to look at the word cards. |
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| 3 | Present a word card to match | |
[Cards]: Hand your child the first of the cards to match. ::: ::: |
[Apps]: Tap the card to 'turn over'. ::: |
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| 4 | Ask your child to match the word -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------+ Point to the word card that you are asking your child to match and say the word - for example, say "feeding". Say "put [feeding] with [feeding]" At first, you may need to prompt your child while they learn the activity. Point to the word card that matches the card presented. Help your child to place the card over the matching card. If your child correctly matches the word, say "yes - [feeding] - this is [feeding]" If you are modelling or prompting, repeat the word after you have matched the picture together - say "this is [feeding] - [feeding]" [Apps]: Your child can drag the presented card over the matching card or simply tap the matching card to indicate their selection. |
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| 5 | Present the next word card to match | |
[Cards]: Hand your child the next card to match. ::: ::: |
[Apps]: Tap the card to 'turn over'. ::: |
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| 6 | Repeat steps 4 and 5 Repeat steps 4 and 5 until your child has matched each card. |
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:::Apps settings
The apps include the following settings that control how the activity is presented:
- Number of choices - sets the number of cards to be presented for matching.
- Number of answer attempts - sets the number of incorrect answers that can be given before prompting the correct answer.
- Time to wait for answer. Initially, this is indefinite to allow you to demonstrate and explain the activity.
- Provide prompts - turns on recorded voice prompts. We recommend that you provide the spoken prompts at first, and consider turning this option on when your child has begun to learn the activity.
- Enable applause - enables/disables playing applause at the end of the activity.
Recording progress
You can record your child's progress using the Matching Sight Words record.
Record the dates your child first started to practise matching each word, and the dates your child first matches each word with prompting and then independently (Figure 1).
Moving to the next activity
You can move on to the next activity (Selecting Sight Words) when your child can successfully match a set of words 5 times.
You should also start to match a new set of words. (See guidance in Using See and Learn Phrases 3)
Figure 1 | Example Matching Sight Words record sheet
