Sight Word Vocabulary and Surface Dyslexia:

Strategies for Success

Rylee Knips

University of Wisconsin, Madison

RPSE 465
1/05/17

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 When teaching reading and reading interventions, it is important to remember that
comprehension is the goal of reading. Fluency, vocabulary, phonics, and phonological awareness
are crucial to developing reading comprehension and should also be practiced. Reading
interventions often focus on a students needs and can be focused on any of these areas, but
generally reading skills build on each other. Once a student masters the alphabetic principle, they
should be taught specific interventions in recognizing sight word vocabulary in order to increase
reading fluency. This can be difficult for any reader, and especially difficult for learners with
surface dyslexia and damage to the part of the brain that processes language. There are strategies
for teaching sight word vocabulary that engage the right brain through creative and multisensory
methods that will help expose students to high frequency sight words and maintain the ability to
recognize the sight word as a whole, thus becoming a more fluent reader and increasing reading
comprehension.
Sight words make up 50-75 percent of all of the words in schoolbooks, library books and
magazines (Sight Words, 2017). Think about: what, they, could, be. They are the words that
appear on bulletin boards in elementary school classrooms. They are words that dont follow the
traditional rules of the alphabet, otherwise known as the alphabetic principle. They are words
that someone can view as a whole to recognize on sight (I know, so surprising!), but they can
also be words that appear frequently in text. Sight words may serve as service words as well.
Service words are words that cannot be easily associated with pictures or sounded out (pronouns,
adjectives, adverbs, prepositions, conjunctions, and verbs) (Sight Words, 2017).
Educators tend to use two sight words lists. A man named Edward Dolch developed the
first list. In 1936, Dolch published his realization that students in second grade and above had
very small sight vocabularies because the primers they were using taught them words that they
would not be exposed to later in life. The primers had students learning over 500 words, far too
many to memorize, drill, and test (Dolch, 2017). He stated, In view of these facts, it may be
well assumed that the most essential of the words that are basic to childrens reading, and
therefore needed as a sight vocabulary, will surely be included in all the best lists of words that
are used by children. Dolch went on to define a logical way of creating such list; out of the
words children were exposed to before first grade, he determined which words appeared most
frequently.

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 About twenty years later, Edward Fry expanded on Dolchs sight words to create a
modern list of the most common words in English ranked in the order of frequency. Students
should begin with the most frequent words because they will appear the most and will help
students decipher the meaning of surrounding words in a sentence. Because Frys words are so
common, he explained how they should be recognized as a whole instead of as individual parts
that need to be sounded out as instant words (Sight Words, 2017). Dolch and Fry both
understood that as the English language changes, there should be ongoing research on which
words, especially those that do not follow the alphabetic principle, appear most frequently in
text. Then, they should be collected and arranged in list form to make learning reading easier and
standard across the United States.

Sight Words at the First Grade Level

Dolch Sight Words Fry Sight Words
(Dolch Sight Words, ) (Sight Words, 2017)
After The
Again Of
An And
Any A
As To
Ask In
By Is
Could You
Every That
Fly It
From He
Give Was
Giving For
Had On
Has Are
Her As
Him With
His His
How They
Just I

Similar to the views of Edward Fry, research shows that sight word vocabulary should be
recognized as a whole and practiced efficiently. Introducing sight word vocabulary in a sentence,

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exposing students to the written context or pictures, is actually distracting to learners. Researcher
Michael Kibby created a Focus of Attention hypothesis that argues against introducing sight
word vocabulary in the written context or with pictures. He argues that students must focus their
attention on the important visual or graphic characteristics of a sight word and recognizing the
word as a whole. This proves that sight words must be exposed to students independent from
other text or pictures in order for students to focus their attention on the sight word. (Kibby,
1989) Often in schools, this can be during the intervention programs like Read180 and System44
or implemented in one on one or group interventions.
Most children that have dyslexia struggle with the alphabetic principle, or reading the
phonemes in words and being able to sound out words. However, there is a kind of dyslexia
called surface dyslexia that is caused by a stroke or a brain injury. Surface dyslexia is
impairment in reading irregular words and producing stress assignment errors (Folegatti, 2015).
It is distinguished by severe difficulty with whole word recognition or the general way that sight
words are instructed. People with surface dyslexia have had damage to the left side of their brain,
the part that processes language; as a result, sight word instruction for students with dyslexia
should be creative, multisensory and use the right side of the brain, especially when introducing
the words with explicit and direct instruction (Folegatti, 2015).
The best sight word instruction is very systematic and the introduction can be relatively
dull. This means that it is important to identify and plan for individual strengths and reinforce
students learning with sight word games for practice. Strategies for introducing sight words
include the lessons See and Say, Spell Reading, Arm Tapping, Air Writing, Table Writing, and
the Corrections Procedure. All of these strategies build on each other, using notecards as visual
prompts with direct modeling and explicit instruction to ensure that students are exposed to the
word and it is practiced many times. (Sight Words, 2017) says by using the See and Say method,
the student will hear and say the word at least seven times and hear it used in a short sentence.
This helps to expose the student to the word. Once the student is exposed to the word, they need
to be able to recognize it. Spell reading focuses the childs attention on the way it is constructed
by having the student spell the word. Arm tapping also helps students remember the word, but
also gives students a strategy for spelling the word by giving each letter an assigned place on the
arm. It is important that students should use their right hand to do the tapping on their left arm in
order to follow the reading order left to right. When the student can recognize and spell the word,

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it is time to practice writing. The air writing strategy helps students solidify their understanding
of how the word is formed. The table writing strategy is a firming technique. This means that it is
meant to wrap up sight word instruction by combining the previous elements of the sight word
curriculum. Similar to air writing, students must use their dominant hand to write the sight word,
but this time they should write the sight word on a horizontal surface. After watching that they
form the letters correctly, the notecard that the student has had access to should be put away and
the student should write the word on the table and say it by underlining it. Once students grasp
the sight word as a whole through these strategies, they can be rewarded and positively
reinforced with a sight word practice game. That is when the Corrections Procedure comes into
play. The Corrections Procedure takes only 20 seconds and gives the opportunity to practice six
repetitions of the sight word. This productive struggle is how a child learns a word and the
underlining of the word helps draw the students attention to the word, cementing the attention
between the written and the spoken word using multisensory, verbal and kinesthetic strategies.

Strategy and Description Sample Script Creative, multisensory, and

(Sight Words, 2017) (Sight Words, 2017) right-brained focus for
students with surface
dyslexia

See and Say:
A child sees the word on
the flash card and says the
word while underlining it
with her finger.
Adult: Lets learn a new word. My turn. This strategy engages
Ready? ONCE. students visual and auditory
Again: ONCE. senses and uses the
What word? kinesthetic movement of
Child: ONCE. having students underline the
Adult: Yes! I ONCE was a little girl. word on a notecard from left
Now its your turn. to right with two fingers. The
Child: ONCE. visual and auditory repetition
Adult: Again. is important for introduction
Child: ONCE. to the sight word based on
Adult: One more time. repeated exposure.
Child: ONCE.
Adult: Good job!

Spell Reading:
The child says the word
and spells out the letters,
then reads the word again.
Adult: Lets spell-read this word. My
turn.
Ready? FLY. F-L-Y. FLY.
Again: FLY. F-L-Y. FLY.
Your turn.
Child: FLY. F-L-Y. FLY.
Adult: Again. Get ready!
Child: FLY. F-L-Y. FLY.
This strategy builds on See
and Say by engaging
students visual, auditory, and
kinesthetic intelligences.
Once a student is exposed to
the word, they need to be able
to recognize it. Spell Reading
helps students identify the

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Arm Tapping:
The child says the word
and then spells out the
letters while tapping them
on her arm.
Air Writing:
A child says the word, then
writes the letters in the air
in front of the flash card.
Table Writing:
A child writes the letters
on a table, first looking at
and then not looking at the
flash card.
Corrections Procedure:
Adult: One more time.
Child: FLY. F-L-Y. FLY.
Adult: Good job!
Adult: Lets arm-tap the word.
My turn. Ready? SAID. S-A-I-D.
SAID.
Again: SAID. S-A-I-D. SAID.
Your turn. Ready?
Child: SAID. S-A-I-D. SAID.
Adult: Again.
Child: SAID. S-A-I-D. SAID.
Adult: One more time.
Child: SAID. S-A-I-D. SAID.
Adult: Good job!
Adult: Lets air-write this word. Ill go
first.
Ready? BEEN. B-E-E-N. BEEN.
Again: BEEN. B-E-E-N. BEEN.
Now its your turn.
Child: BEEN. B-E-E-N. BEEN.
Adult: Again.
Child: BEEN. B-E-E-N. BEEN.
Adult: One more time.
Child: BEEN. B-E-E-N. BEEN.
Adult: Good job!
Adult: Ill go first. Ready? WHERE. W-
H-E-R-E. WHERE.
Again: WHERE. W-H-E-R-E.
WHERE.
Now its your turn.
Child: WHERE. W-H-E-R-E. WHERE.
Adult: Again.
Child: WHERE. W-H-E-R-E. WHERE.
Adult: One more time.
Child: WHERE. W-H-E-R-E. WHERE.
Adult: Great job!
Adult: Now lets do it without looking at
the flash card. Ready?
Child: WHERE. W-H-E-R-E. WHERE.
Adult: Again.
Child: WHERE. W-H-E-R-E. WHERE.
Adult: One more time.
Child: WHERE. W-H-E-R-E. WHERE.
Adult: Good job!
Adult: That word is SHOULD. What
word?
letters that construct the sight
word from left to right.
When the student is
comfortable with spelling,
further right brain
engagement should continue
by assigning a place on the
left arm to represent each
letter. This visual and
kinesthetic strategy for
spelling the word helps
engage students in repetition
of the sight word and builds
on the Spell Reading strategy.
After students can spell a
word, they need to learn how
to write the word. Air writing
gives students the opportunity
to practice spelling the word
with a visual prompt. This is
important in recognizing the
parts of the word and
identifying the word as a
whole.
After students can write the
word correctly when looking
at the notecard, the notecard
should be taken away to
cement the students
understanding of the words
construction. Both air writing
and table writing remove the
pressure of having to spell the
sight word correctly and give
students the prompts and
practice necessary to learn
how to spell and write the
sight word. It is important to
underline the word at the end
to reinforce the recognition of
the sight word as a whole
kinesthetically and visually.
While the Corrections
procedure takes place after
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This should occur during Child: SHOULD. the introduction of the sight
sight word practice games. Adult: Again. What word? word, it is important for
Child: SHOULD. meaningful comprehension
Correct a childs mistake Adult: Yes, SHOULD! and maintenance of the sight
by clearly stating and We SHOULD brush our teeth word.
reinforcing the right word before bed.
several times. What word?
Child: SHOULD.

The Corrections procedure is the most important aspect of the sight word lessons because
it focuses on the correct word and reading the correct word as a whole. Sight words should never
be sounded out since they do not follow phonological rules of the alphabetic principle. They
need to be instantly recognized because they occur so frequently in texts. The best sight word
instruction teaches these strategies based on repetition and reading the words from left to right as
a whole, shown in the strategies discussed by a swift underlining with two fingers. Because 50%
of English words are predictable by alphabetic principle, sight word training should take place
after students have a basic understanding of phonics (McArthur, 2015). Understanding the
alphabetic principle helps students to read in general whereas sight word practice will help
students recognize the words that they will encounter most frequently.
Luckily, there are strategies used for teaching sight word vocabulary that are already
multisensory and creative and beneficial for students with surface dyslexia. When teaching sight
words to students with surface dyslexia and damage to the left side of the brain, it is important
for teachers and students to be creative in sight word reading interventions. Repeated exposure to
sight words and correction of mistakes with focus on the correct word are the most important
instructional techniques when teaching sight words. However, after sight word introduction,
students should be exposed to sight words in games. The corrections procedure should be fun,
creative, and teachers should remember that a smile and encouragement are beneficial in
engaging students in learning these high frequency words and recognizing them as a whole.

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 References

Craft, Dianne. (2017). Dyslexia: How Do I Teach This Child? Solutions for Dyslexia,
Dysgraphia, and Struggling Learners. Retrieved from http://www.diannecraft.org/dyslexia-how-
do-i-teach-this-child/

Dolch Sight Words. (2007). Retrieved from

dolchsightwords.org

Folegatti, Alessia., Pia, Lorenzo., Berti, Anna., Cubelli, Roberto. (2015). Stress Assignment
Errors in Surface Dyslexia: Evidence from Two Italian Patients with a Select Deficit of the
Orthnographic Input Lexicon. Retreived from
http://www.hindawi.com/journals/bn/2015/769013/

Kibby, Michael. (1989). Teaching Sight Vocabulary with and without Context before Silent
Reading: A Field Test of the Focus of Attention Hypothesis. Journal of Literacy Research.
Retrieved from http://jlr.sagepub.com/content/21/3/261.refs

Kirby, John., Sylvestri, Robert., Allingham, Beth., Parrila Rauno., La Fave, Chantal. (2008)
Learning strategies and study approaches of postsecondary students with dyslexia. Journal of
Learning Disabilities. Retrieved from http://ldx.sagepub.c]m/content/41/1/85.full.pdf+html

McArthur, Genevieve. (2015) Sight words and phonics training in children with dyslexia.
Journal of Learning Disabilities. Retrieved from
http://ldx.sagepub.com/content/48/4/391.full.pdf+html

Sight Words. (2017). Sight Words Teach your Child to Read. Retrieved from
http://www.sightwords.com/sight-words/

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Stewin, M. (2014). The Importance of Teaching Sight Words. Retrieved from
http://www.cfegrants.org/wp-content/gallery/files/2014/08/Michelle-Stewin-Final-Report.pdf