I can’t believe I had not shared about Sight Word Fluency Sentence Cards already. I have been using these as far back as I can remember. These fluency sentence cards were one of the first tools I created to use with my small group when I first started teaching. I’ve come a long way from writing sight words on index cards. Don’t get me wrong, index cards were quite effective, however I was happy to put a system in place that was way easier. It all started one day as I was teaching and assessing sight words. I realized that many of my kids after their assessment of the sight words in isolation, knew them and felt successful in saying the words. However, reading contextually was a totally different experience. A lot of kids couldn’t remember the words in context. If you have been following me for a while now, you know that I stress contextual reading. Reading in isolation is necessary but making sure students are successful in reading in context is even more important. 
Sight words are such a big part of reading. A majority of the words we see in text are sight words. Different schools have adopted different word lists, however ,you will notice that a lot of the lists cross over. So it may not matter as much which list you are using. Since students are coming in on different levels, it’s so important to be prepared for that student who knows all their first grade sight words as well as being prepared for that student who only knows one first grade sight word. These sight word bundles cover all those types of students because they have about 220 words for the Dolch list and about 300 words for the Fry bundle.
If Students have mastered at least 100 words already, have a plan to help them continue on to their second 100 and so forth. We build stronger readers when we have effective plans in place for all our learners. The Sight Word Fluency Sentence Readers are different from the Sight Word Fluency Story Readers in that they are composed of one simple sentence for each card with the target word at the top. The Sight Word Fluency Story Readers include the target sight word within the story multiple times. In teaching sight words…
I start with EXPLICIT INSTRUCTION with the words for the week. Explicit instruction for this purpose is deliberate instruction in a task or skill. It is more than just providing a worksheet for an activity but more of a plan towards a goal that includes a systematic approach to achieving said goals. So you must have a specific system in place for teaching sight words . That may include clapping the letters in the word, using letter cubes to make the words, reading the words in a sentence, writing a sentence with the words. The part where we usually get to the fun stuff in teaching sight words are the practice activities but before that we must deliberately teach the sight words. So for example, I do 5 words per week or 20 words for the month and use my checklist to assess and score. These fluency cards have been part of my routine and instruction for as long as I can remember. Since I am able to to print, laminate and use for years, they have saved me a ton of of time.
Next is MONITORING. Monitoring is so important. I am looking at my instructional practices and determining which ones my students are responding best to and which ones I need to revamp. Be sure to have a system in place for monitoring how your sight word instruction is going.
PRACTICE is of utmost importance. This is a step that you just can’t skip. Multiple opportunities and scenarios for practice helps to build on knowledge and provides opportunities for new information. This is where I use the Sight Word Fluency Sentence Readers the most. We practice the same words from the beginning of the school year to the end of the school year. Why? Students forget things as they move on to new things so it is important to keep the information fresh throughout the year by proving multiple opportunities for practice. I do so much with sight words throughout the year it’s crazy. Using the Sight Word Fluency Sentence Readers is just another way we can practice and master. Here are some practice ideas. Create colorful books for your sight word area.
This picture is of the 2nd grade set. You can find it here: Second Grade
You can print and create large ones or small ones. At reading time, sight word reading books will then be a part of their reading tools.
I’ve added these cute book covers to the Sight Word Sentence Readers Bundle for the Dolch words. They will soon be included in the Fry Bundle as well. I use these cute little click-pro spines and it is easy to put the sets of books together.
Organize it by list so you can have the kinder list, 1st grade list, 2nd grade list and so on. A great idea is to have parents provide a stack of paper or donate to your class set of sight word books. This way you can create them at the beginning of the year and send home for reading practice.
Another way to practice is to post the words on your sight word wall. When it’s about 10 minutes before lunch, I would pick a student or two to go to our word wall and read as many words as they can. You can set a timer for this also and have them try and beat the clock.
If you organize the small cards alphabetically, you can post them on your portable word wall.
You can give students their individual list of words by placing them in a small case or pouch. They can use to review at home or during silent reading time. At one point, I wrote their individual words on index cards and placed them in brown bags but now I have these so no more brown bags. To create the smaller cards, just print 4 to a page when you go to print. Laminate and then cut. Please note, the sets include the large cards so you will need to change your printer settings and print 4 per page in order to get the smaller cards.
I like to use the thicker lamination paper as it allows me to keep these for longer without doing them over for the next year. So using the 5MIL instead of the 3MIL lamination sheets is better if you want to keep them in better shape. Usually the school lamination sheets are really wonky so I prefer to do these on my personal laminator.
Now, I recently went back and added students pages to the entire set so that students can get to color, read and trace with their own sight word books. Every set in the Dolch bundle includes the black and white student practice pages to create sight word books. The Fry bundle does not include the student sentence readers as yet.
Each student page has the same sentence as the pages that are in color. The same pictures and words are included so that while you use the colorful posters, they can have the same information on their student pages. This can be great for an extra sight word center or for a sight word workbook. You can use the individual pages or combine them in book form. 
Every page includes coloring and tracing. The key word is in bold at the top of each page. Also every set includes a sight word checklist so that you can place in their folders for checkoff . These are all ways we use this little resource.
I am always amazed at the awesome pictures teachers send me all the time using this resource and I am super amazed at the end of the year seeing the level of growth in sight word knowledge. We also love using our magnetic letters with these to make the new words for the week. Each student book set also includes a simple cover page if you want to use those.
Print the set, copy a class set, staple or place in a folder for each of your students. This is just one more way to practice sight words. The last step after we practice is to ASSESS. We definately need to know if our students are increasing in sight word knowledge so we must have a plan in place to assess . You can use my free tracker to document how many words students have acquired each month. Get that here:
I really hope you found this post helpful . Feel free to share your thoughts or ask any questions you may have, in the comments section below. I have several sets of our Sight Word Sentence Readers . If you would like the individual sets, you can get them at Kadeen Teaches on TPT. Click on the pictures to get the bundled Dolch sets here online.
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amazing idea