Kindergarten 1st grade sight words

All sight word lists are the same and in the same order. The list was devised by teachers Fry and Dolch who realized that children were much more successful when they knew the words "on sight, instantly."

The reason these words are so important is that they are the service words of the language. They recur over and over on every page.  Many cannot be sounded out and do not even register as words to young children because they have vague, hard-to-explain meanings. 

Sentences and stories provide lots of repetition with the various sight words; giving your child lots of practice with lots of sight words. This is the most effective way of learning these words.

Using the top sentence in the story below: help your child put his finger under each word as you read. After you have read the 1st sentence three times, let your child read the word the by himself as you come to it while rereading the sentence together. Use the same steps on the 2nd sentence. Eventually read the whole story together, with your child pointing to each word, and saying the words as he begins to recognize them. Your goal is the, additional words are a bonus. In this story, only cat and white are not sight words.

Do you like the cat?

I like the pretty cat.

The cat is white.   I will give the cat a name.

I will give the cat the name _____________.

Ask your child to count how many times he sees the in this story (6 times). Ask your child to print the word the - many times, at different times. Ask your child to point to and read the as you read other stories together. Expect learning a word to take several short, fun sessions.

I use eBay as my website. Search Instant Reading Help kindergarten. Or Instant Reading Help plus your child's grade level. Have fun reading with your child. Thank you, Mary Maisner

Th words help my child read

Let's start with what your child knows. Your child knows letter t has the sound that comes at the start of toad, tiger, table.

Ask your child to tell you five things that start with letter t. You can help: tarantula, turtle, tooth, towel, tummy, and team.

You say, when letter t is standing next to letter h, t and h become a special team. The th team makes the sound that comes at the start of thumb, thorn, thunder.

Ask your child to say with you: thumb, thorn, thunder.  

Ask: do you he hear that th sound?

Ask your child to repeat these th team words after you:

thermos, thief, thump, theater, thirsty, and three, thread, throne.

Many children cannot say the th sound until they reach an older age. And, thr is impossible until much later. You say it and let your child try. Tell your child to put the very tip of his tongue right at the bottom of his top two teeth - which may be missing. It is important for your child to hear and practice saying it, even though your child may not yet be able to say it.

Be aware that moving in the right direction is enough. Do not worry about perfection. You can still be sure your child is getting familiar with the letter team th. Getting familiar is important for his reading progress because he will see th in print.

I use ebay as my website. Search Instant Reading Help 1st Grade.

I have created the Giraffe book to teach sight words and tricky phonics to 1st grade readers. All phonics elements are color-coded or underlined so the young reader will see them and learn that they work in special teams. This is a much easier way for your child to slide into reading success. 

Have a great day reading with your child! Thank you, Mary Maisner

Do sight word flashcards help my child read?

Edward Fry's research tells us the first 25 sight words make up 33% of all print. The first 100 sight words make up about 50% of all print.

Fry and Dolch chose the words on the list because they recur over and over, on every page of print. Fry named the list sight words because a child needs to know the words instantly, "on sight." Stumbling over recurring words creates a cascade of other reading problems.

Since the words are seen over and over, it seems like children would learn them. However, most of the words look-alike to the child and don't seem to have a meaning. And, most can't be sounded out. Examples: does, goes, were, where, why, who, could, should, would, etc.

Sight word lists are all the same, regardless of the name your school gives them. The words are placed on the list according to how often they are seen in print. The comes 1st because it is used most often. 

It is much more effective for a child to learn these words within sentences. Sentences give the child a way to get a grip on words with vague meanings. Words like cat and tiger make sense to a child; but they are not sight words. Sight words like are, was, and that are abstract and vague.

Look: The cat and the mouse are friends. The cat was looking for the mouse. The mouse is under that big leaf. 

 A flashcard is useful for review after the word is pretty well secured within your child's mind. Flashcards are also important for quick review for grade-level readers in 2nd and 3rd grades.

I use ebay as my website. Search Instant Reading Help all my books will pop up.
You might like to look at my Giraffe book to help you be sure your child learns the sight words. Your child will have fun learning the words in sentences, stories, blends, rhyming words, and Bingo games. My books also teach a special comprehension method and the tricky phonics are in bold, making it easier for your child to see which letters are special.  Lots of color pictures and unique teaching tools. All include my contact info, email or call for help.

Thank you for visiting my blog. Have fun reading with your child! Mary Maisner

Sh words help my child read

Children expect their ABCs to have only one sound each. Your child knows letter s has the sound that comes at the start of: sun, soap, silly, star, and smile. Say those s words with your child.

Tell your child that when s is standing side-by-side with h, sh become a special team that makes the sound we say when we ask someone to please be quiet: shhhhhh.

We put our pointer finger to our lips and say shhhh.

Ask your child to say these words with you:  ship,   shell, shimmer,    shark,     shake,    share,     shadow,    shaggy, shade,    sheep,    sheriff,    shine,    shiny,     shirt,     shoe.

Does he hear the sh sound you sometimes say to him when it is time to be quiet? Shhhhhh

Watch for sh words as you read stories together. 

You might like to look at my Panda book which was created to be sure early readers get the best start. It starts with clear, easy rules for the important letters b, d, g, p, and q;  then it teaches all the essential reading lessons for beginning readers. It is not a letter-practice book except for the tricky letters b, d, p, g, and q.

I use eBay. Search Instant Reading Help, all my books will come up for you. All are brand new and include my contact info; email or call for help.

Write with questions. Thank you, Mary Maisner

teach wh kindergarten

Children expect the letters of their ABCs to have only one sound each. Your child knows that letter w has the sound that comes at the start of wave and wasp. We are going to start there.

Ask your child to print letter w. Talk about things that start with w: wagon, waffle, walk, walrus, wart hog, wasp, water, wave, will, with, weasel. 

Tell your child that just as he works in a team sometimes, like carrying the other end of a small table, or a chair - that is teamwork - our ABC letters also work in teams.

When wh are standing side-by-side, wh work in a team that sounds like whale, whip, white, whizz, whisper, and wheel.

If you blow on your fingers, you feel and hear the sound the wh team makes.

Blow on your fingers as you and your child say: whisper, whistle, whale, wham, what, whacky, where, whip, wheel, wheat, while, whine, white, whiff, whirl, whiz. 

Tell your child to say with you: which    and    witch.

Did one of those words use the wh team and one used letter w by itself? 
Do you blow on your fingers for each word? Which    and    witch?
Say the two words until your child can hear the difference.

Which word needs to be printed with w by itself?  (witch)  Print witch and say it several times.

Which word needs to be printed with wh? (which)  Print which and say it several times.

Look for wh words as you read stories together.

I have created a few books to help your child get the best possible start with reading. I use ebay as my website. Search Instant Reading Help all my books will pop up.  Scroll down to see the Panda book. It teaches easy special rules for printing the important letters b, d, g, p, and q. After that it teaches many early reading lessons. All books include my contact info; email or call for help.
 Write with questions. Thank you for visiting my blog, Mary Maisner

Short vowel words: adding ed, ing, s



What fun!

Our ABCs have two categories of letters: vowels and consonants. The vowels: a, e, i, o, u, y. 

Consonants are all of the other letters: b, c, d, f, g, h, j, k, l, m, n, p, q, r, s, t, v, w, x, z.

Each vowel is called long when you hear its letter name in a word: snake, rain, ear, eel, pipe, pie, nose, float, rule, ruin, type. Long y says long i.

Ask your child to say the words above and look with you to see if each word uses one of these two long vowel rules: 

1) Only one consonant between two vowels.

2) Two vowels side-by-side, the 1st vowel says its name.

When two vowels go walking, the 1st vowel does the talking.

Short vowels do not say their letter name. Rules: 1) When there is only one vowel in a word, the vowel is usually short:  tap, let, slip, top, run, myth. Short y says the short i sound.

2) And, when there is more than one consonant between two vowels: father, better, little, bother, monster, clutter.

*Very important: our endings (called suffixes) either start with a vowel: ing, ed, er, en, able  or start with a consonant: s, ly, ful, ness, less, ment. 

Rule: add a consonant ending to any word: taps, tapes, bits, bites, biteful, gladly, gladness, hatless, careless.    But, it you add a vowel ending to a short vowel word like tap or bit - you must double the last letter to protect the short vowel from changing into a long vowel. (Because of the long vowel rule: only one consonant between two vowels means the 1st vowel says its name: tape, bite).

Look at the word tap.  The boy likes to tap on the table. Tap only has one vowel - a - and a does not say its letter name. The boy likes to tap on the table. 

Vowel endings ing and ed start with vowels. To add ing and ed to tap we must double the last letter - p - to protect the short a from changing into long a: tap > tapping > tapped. The boy is tapping on the table.

Look at bit: The bug bit the mouse. Is bit a short vowel word? Yes. So, lets double the last letter when we add the vowel ending en: The bug has bitten the mouse.

Knowing this these rules can make it easier for us to read some tricky words. Look:

The rabbit can hop fast. The rabbit was hopping as fast as it could to escape the fox. The rabbit hopped in and then out of a tiny hole in the fence. The fox was too big to hop through the hole.   

Below, ask your child to pick the correct word from the two choices. This will be fun:

The frog (hopped or hoped) as fast as it could to escape the snake. The frog was (hopping or hoping) to a tall bush. The snake was near. A fat cat saw the little frog. The cat (poped or popped) in front of the snake. The snake (stopped or stoped).The snake slid away.  

If you would like a book, I use ebay as my website. Search Instant Reading Help all my books will pop up. All books are brand new and include my contact info; email or call for help. Being a skillful reader makes everything easier.            Thank you, Mary Maisner

Short vowel words long vowel words reading help

Let's look at the difference between a short vowel sound and a long vowel sound.

The vowels are: a, e, i, o, u, and y.     Basic sounds:

Each vowel has a short sound: bat, bet, bit, bot, but, byt (say bit).

Each vowel also has a long sound: bait, beet, bite, boat, beauty, and byte (say bite).  

Notice long vowels use their letter name as their sound: make, stream, etc.

Short y has the short i sound. Long y has the long i sound.

Rule: Most of the time, when there is only one vowel in a word, the vowel uses its short sound: clap, snap, hop, stop, slid, rid, met, scar, snack, pack, rest, help, push, pinch, witch, wish.

Rule: Most of the time, when there are two vowels side-by-side, the 1st vowel uses its long sound: boat, pail, eat, sneak, knee. Helpful rhyme to teach your child: When two vowels go walking the 1st vowel does the talking.  

Rule: when there is only one consonant between two vowels, the 1st vowel uses its long sound: lake, scare,     before, reward,       bike, pipe, smile,    open, note,   mule, refuse  

Teachers draw a mental picture of this rule by saying: When there is only one consonant between two vowels, the 2nd vowel reaches back to poke the 1st vowel causing the 1st vowel to say its name.

Look: not / note;   rid / ride;   met / meet and meat;   scar / scare;   bit / bite;   led / lead

Though there will be exceptions to the rules, the rules usually work. Be aware that knowing vowel rules will be critical to adding ed, ing, etc and changing y to i. These word functions are studied at the end of 3rd grade, into 4th and 5th Grades. 

I now use eBay as my website. Search Instant Reading Help Vowels (rabbit hopping through the woods cover). Instant Reading Help changing y to i; or Instant Reading Help add ed, ing.    All my books teach a special comprehension method and the tricky phonics. Lots of stories, lots of color pictures, and lots of unique teaching tools.  

Being a reading star is great fun!    Thank you, Mary Maisner

Short vowel: add ing to a short vowel word

Ask your child to print each vowel and tell you its name: a, e, i, o, u, y.

Each vowel has two sounds, a long sound and a short sound.

Determining whether the vowel in a word is long or short is important before adding ing.

When a vowel is long, you can hear it say its letter name: game, nose, rain, flea, tie.

When a vowel does not say its name, it is called short. With your child, say and listen to: fan, Jan, man, Nan, pan, plan, ran, scan, Stan, span, tan.  

Did your child hear vowel a say its name in ran? (No - it would have been rain.) Did your child hear a say its name in pan? (No - it would have been pain.) Do we hear a say its name in fan?  (No - it would have been fain.) 

Say: We always protect the short vowel when we add ing to a word like fan. 

What should your child do to protect the short vowel? Double the last letter, the consonant, of the word: fan > fanning

Look: fan > fanning    plan > planning    // tap > tapping     flip > flipping   stop > stopping

The baby puppy was too hot, so the boy was fanning his puppy with a piece of cardboard.

Why do you have to double the final consonant of a soft vowel word, like fan or sad or stop? 

Answer: ing starts with a vowel, so does ed, able, er.  Adding s is easy because s or ly or ful do not start with a vowel: fans, panful of soup, sadly.  Look: sad > sadder.

Long vowel rule: If there is only one consonant between two vowels, the 1st vowel will be long - say its letter name: hope > hoping > hoped > hopes > hopefully. 

Endings ing, ed, er, able start with vowels so just trade one vowel for another vowel > scare > scaring > scared > scary. If an ending does not start with a vowel, just add it > scares.

I have created several books to make reading and letter skills - like vowels - easy for your child. I use ebay as my website. Search Instant Reading Help all my books will pop up. All my books include my contact info; email or call for help. 

All of my books also cover the tricky phonics and a special comprehension method.
Thank you for visiting my blog. Have a great day reading with your child! Mary Maisner

Teach my child to read



Mother skunk and her baby skunks



In our previous lesson, your child was pointing to each word as you guided his finger and you read the words.

You asked your child for a word from the story to watch for, a word like: cat, kitten, puppy, bird, etc.

You were helping your child see his chosen word, over and over. Ask your child how he can find his chosen word on his own without your help?  How can he tell his word from all the other words? 

(Answer: His word always has the same letters, printed in the same order, every time. This makes it different from the other words.)

Read another story in the same pattern: your child points to each word as you guide his finger while you read. Let your child read his chosen word. Now, pick a 2nd chosen word. Your child is now looking for two words.

Ask your child how he can find his two chosen words? (Answer: Always the same letters, printed in the same order.)

Use today to make sure your child is picking up simple but important lessons:

1) Do you see the space between each word? Each word must have its own space, just as cars on the street must have space between them. Otherwise the cars, and the words, would crash into each other.

When printing words, ask your child to put a one finger-space between each word he prints.

2) Do you see that words always start on the same side of the page and travel along to the other side? Let's look at that pattern.

Yes, it always starts on this same side - the left side. The words always travel along to the other side of the page.

In ancient times, words traveled like a snake. At the end of the top line, the reader dropped down to the next line, then ran back to the left side. This was a confusing plan so people had to change to the one we use today.

I have created special books to teach children the tricky lessons. My Panda book is wonderful for new readers. It does not practice letter writing except for the small tricky set: b, d, g, p, q. The Panda teaches the lessons an early reader needs. Lots of color pictures and fun ways to be a star reader. Click this link, then click bookstore, scroll down to see the Panda: http://www.zoomreadingstrategy.com    Give your child a smart start!

Have fun reading with your child. Thank you, Mary Maisner

1st reading lessons

Tell your child that when we talk words run together, the way water runs out of a faucet.

However, each word has its own letters. Each word can stand all by itself, the way water can stand in a glass. 

 Ask your child if his name has its own letters? Yes. Let's look at the letters in his name. What are the letters in his name? Does his name have all the ABCs?

No. His name has a special small group of letters that always need to be printed in the same order. Say: "All words have their own letters, always the same letters, always printed in the same order."

While reading an easy-to-read story with your child, let your child point to each word as you move his finger from one word to the next.

After you read a page or two, ask if your child can remember one of the words in this story. Help your child remember one, like: cat, kitten, dog, puppy, bird. Then, look through the page, pointing to the chosen word.

Tell you child that his chosen word always has the same letters and the letters are printed in the same order. This makes it easy for us to find the word when we are looking for it. 

Let's see if this is true. Can we find the word again in this story? Let's count how many times we see this word on the page, and in the whole story.

End this lesson by asking your child to print his chosen word on a sheet of paper you can keep for the purpose of listing his new words. Let him print his name at the top of the sheet.

You may like to look at my Panda bear book. It does not practice letters except for the tricky set of b, d, g, p, q. The Panda teaches many very important reading lessons.  I use ebay as my website. Search Instant Reading Help all my books will pop up. 

 
Have a fun with reading, Mary Maisner

short vowel add ed to a short vowel word

Ask your child to say and print the vowels: a, e, i, o, u, y      All the other ABCs are called consonants.

Step 1: Print and say with your child: hope, tape, ride, meat, scare.  In these words, the 1st vowel says its name.

Rule: when a vowel says its name, it is called a long vowel.

Step 2: Short vowels are the same letters but when they are the only vowel in a word, they usually do not say their names.

Print and say with your child:
hop, tap, pet, tip, scar

Ask your child to point to each word as he reads the list 4 times. Be clear that your child hears o differently in hop than in hope. And, the a in tap is not like the long a in tape.

To add ed to a short vowel word, you must double the final letter: hop > hopped; tap > tapped

The explanation which you will need to teach your child, eventually:

Step 3: You say:"The reason vowel o says its long sound in hope is that the 2nd vowel e reaches back to poke the o. When we write: the rabbit hopped in front of me. we print a 2nd p before we add ed. Now there are two consonants between vowel o and vowel e. Vowel e can reach back around one consonant but not two consonants.

When there are two consonants between o and e, we have protected the o from being poked.
This rule works for all short vowel words.

Children needs lots of practice with this skill. I have created the Vowel Power book to help your child master this and many other vowel lessons. It also teaches a special comprehension method. The book is full of color pictures, short and long stories, and fun skills practice. 

I use ebay as my website. Search Instant Reading Help all my books will pop up for you. All books are brand new and include my contact info; email or call for help.  Be sure your child is ready for any challenge!  Have fun reading with your child. Thank you, Mary Maisner

Change y to i reading help

There are very clear rules for adding endings to words that end with y.

Step 1: Adding ing is easy, just do it.
Look: hurry  hurrying;   obey  obeying;   fly  flying

Step 2: When adding something other than ing, look to see whether a vowel or a consonant come before y.

Example word: enjoy. 
Letter o comes before y. Is o a vowel or a consonant?  Letter o is a vowel.

Step 3: When a vowel comes before y, it's easy, just add any ending.
Look: enjoys, enjoying, enjoyed, enjoyment, enjoyable

Step 4: When a consonant comes before y: change the y to i then add the ending. And, s always needs to be es.

Example word: candy. Letter d is a consonant, so change y to i for candies, candied
Remember: s always needs to be es.

Example word: cry. Letter r is a consonant, so change y to i for cries, cried, crier, crying no change for adding ing, just do it.

Children needs lots of practice with this tricky skill; being slow causes many problems. 

I now use eBay as my website, people trust it. Search: Instant Reading Help Vowels.  Or,  Instant Reading Help changing y to i. Or Instant Reading Help plus your child's grade level for books full of tips and tons of fun stories and skills to help your child love reading. 

 Be sure your child is ready for any challenge!

Thank you for visiting my blog. Have a great day,  Mary Maisner

Reading skills: fun ways to build interest



This painting is called the Phantom Crane.
It was done by the American painter W. H. Beard (1824-1900).

Buy two sticky-note pads which are large enough for your child to write short notes. You use one of the pads to stick notes in surprising places for your child to find: on the fridge, in the bathroom, on doors around the house, inside a book your child is reading, on top of a shirt your child likes to wear, in his chair at the table, in the car, etc.

Start out using easy words, say things like: I love you. Have a good day.Today is Monday. Did you eat the cookie, etc.

Slowly build toward more challenging words, like: Yesterday was cloudy and cold. Did you eat your vegetables? Did you hear the dog barking in the night? Did you hide my umbrella?  You can leave jokes, riddles, math problems, words with missing letters, etc.

Invite your child to leave you notes and give him the 2nd note pad. Be happy with any notes your child leaves for you. Appreciate the notes and praise your child's thoughtfulness and imagination; this will encourage both of these traits. 

I have created a few books to help your child be a star reading. My books teach a special comprehension method plus tricky phonics and tricky sight words. Lots of color pictures, lots of stories, and lots of smart skills.

I use ebay as my website. Search Instant Reading Help all my books will pop up for you. All books are brand new and include my contact info, email or call for help. Help your child be ready for any challenge!

Feel welcome to leave a question or comment.
Have a great day,  Mary Maisner

Back to school ready for reading

English developed over many centuries through the weaving of several languages. This explains why English has a few letter-sound components that do not seem to make sense.

Tell your child that English is an ancient and special code. Then, be sure your child revisits and reviews the tricky components until the tricky bits become "instant."  Helping your child have fun with reading is really important.

Tip 1: Review the ABCs in order; sing the song if you know it. Then, ask for a word that begins with each letter.

Tip 2: You say a word, asking your child to try his best to write the word. You want to stimulate letter-sound connection, do not worry about correct spelling until much later.

Example words: trip, crab, glass, fan, horse, train, smell, week, will, cabin, stolen, brain, rabbit, rattle, bridge, yank, yarn, fuzz, yummy, and so on.

Tip 3: Check correct directionality of b, d, g, p, and q by asking your child to try his best to print the words: battle, able, behind, umbrella, gap, dribble, beggar, double, argue, symbol, alligator, wiggle, pickle, Snapple, apron, Hugo, arid, abdomen, fiddle, giggle, abandon.

You write liquid, equal, argue, quiet, mango, angry. Starting with liquid, ask your child to point to each letter and name it, "spelling" the word for you.

Yes, these are hard words. As your child engages in more difficult thinking, failure to have the basics "mastered" will be visible. You want to see if letter directionality is firmly anchored. Fixing it early is easy; fixing it later is not because the "confused" response is embedded in the mind and will not be erased. Although a second response can be learned, this is not what you want for your child.

I use ebay as my website. Search Instant Reading Help all my books will pop up. All are brand new, full of exactly what your child needs, include my contact info, email or call for help.
Please feel welcome to ask questions and make comments. Have a great day,  Mary Maisner