The article I have chosen this week is written about sight words. I have heard of the term “sight words” before however had really no contact with them in my teaching since it was prevalent with my children in elementary school. By reading the article I learning that sight words are word which students memorize based upon the word itself and not by reading the letters within the word. The author discusses how by using sight words it holds back literacy mastery and creates continued issues with literacy learning.
The author’s opinion is that these sight words and blending them with other literacy strategies like phonics still falls short. Reading has a lot to do with the relationship that words have with other words around them. Equating student literacy learning of that of a person trying to read a foreign language. They can read a few words within a sentence but the overall context and meaning of the statement is lost. The reader understands a few words but not what the words are trying to say together.
I found the article interesting because it made me think about other languages, which do not use letters. Chinese words for example, use a symbol that is similar in concept as sight words. I am curious how difficult it is for a Chinese student to pick up on how to read a letter based language and if a ESL student in this situation would thrive or fall behind in learning English.
Price, B. (2017, July 16). K-12: Sight-Words are Hoax Words. Retrieved July 17, 2017, from http://canadafreepress.com/article/k-12-sight-words-are-hoax-words
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