Selecting Sight Words
Aims
This activity is designed to:
- test that your child can link spoken words with the correct written 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 have previously matched the words to be selected.
Children who have successfully completed the Matching Sight Words activity 5 times with the words to be selected should be ready to start the Selecting Sight Words activity.
Selecting words
Choose a set of words that your child can successfully match.
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 cards | |
[Cards]: Select one of each of the word cards you wish to work with. At first, start with 2 cards to choose between. ::: |
[Apps]: From the Main Menu screen, select Activities > Selecting Words. Select the word cards you wish to work with. Tap the start button. ::: |
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| 2 | Attract your child's attention Say "let's point to words". Encourage your child to look at the word cards. |
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| 3 | Ask your child to select a word card Say "show me [rabbit]" At first, you may need to prompt your child while they learn the activity. Point to/tap the corresponding word card. If your child correctly selects the word, say "yes - [rabbit] - this is [rabbit]" If you are modelling or prompting, repeat the word after you have selected the word together - say "this is [rabbit] - [rabbit]" |
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| 4 | Repeat step 3 Continue to ask your child to select each card in the set. |
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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 selecting
- 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 when activity is completed - enables/disables playing applause at the end of the activity.
Recording progress
You can record your child's progress using the Selecting Sight Words record.
Record the dates you first start practising selecting each word, and the dates your child first selects each word with prompting and then independently (Figure 2).
Moving to the next activity
You can move on to the next activity (Reading Sight Words) when your child can successfully select the words in a set.
Figure 2 | Example Selecting Sight Words record sheet
