Why a puzzle helps with sight words
Sight words such as "said" and "where" are common, but many can't be sounded out, so children need to see them over and over. A word search makes them look closely at the exact order of the letters. That kind of attention helps a word stick better than a quick glance does.
What's on the sheet
The puzzle uses ten words from the Dolch pre-primer list: the, and, you, said, look, come, here, play, little and where. Words run across and down only, so beginning readers aren't thrown by diagonals.
Using it through the year
- Replace the list each week with your current words. It takes a few seconds.
- Keep a master list of words a child already knows, and mix in two or three new ones.
- Ask your child to read every found word aloud, and use one in a sentence.
Works with other practice
Try the sight word bingo cards for a whole-class game that reinforces the same words by ear. For a child who is still learning to form letters, follow the puzzle with a page of word tracing using the same list.