Words, Words and More Words

There are a lot of words to learn in first grade. It can be tricky to keep it all in order. Here is your guide to all of our words.

1. First Grade Focus Words - The Kaneland School District has adopted a list of 23 words that your child need to be able to read and write by the end of 1st grade. I will be assessing students randomly throughout the year. Please see Konnect for a list of these words. We refer to them as our Blue Sight Words because they are blue on our word wall.

2. Word Wall Words - This is a board in our room that we use to help us categorize tricky words. We begin our year with our 23 focus words on the board. Then we add other tricky sight words and words pulled from their writing.  These are not words that I expect your child to be spelling independently at home. However, they should be spelling them correctly in class because they are clearly visible on the board. They should be able to read all of these words correctly without hesitation. These words come home weekly on flashcards. 

3. Dolch Words - This is a research based list of words that we use to help the student gain exposure to many different sight words. They can practice these during read to self and should be practicing them at home. I will test them once a week to see if they move on to the next list. I hope that all students pass all lists by the end of the year. They do not have to spell these words, just read them.

Hope that helps! :)