1st grade · English Language Arts · Unit 5 of 17
Sight Words
Words to know by heart
What your child practices
Common words like said, was, they and where that are tricky to sound out. Children practice finding, using and spelling them so they can read them at a glance.
Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills (TEKS) teks student expectation: 1.2(B) · reading common high-frequency words
How we explain it
Children can open this short lesson before they practice.
- Sight words show up a lot, like the, have and like.
- Look at every letter in order.
- Some don’t sound like they look, so learn them by heart.
Example: Which is the right way to spell “have”? hav or have? “have” has a silent e at the end. h-a-v-e. Answer: have
Sight Words in Texas
In the Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills (TEKS), this is unit 5 of 17 in 1st grade English Language Arts, after Sh, Ch, Th and before Sentences.
Gradelings describes a child's practice on this unit as Beginning, Approaching, Meeting or Exceeding (Four practice steps). That reflects practice, not a report-card mark: the teacher decides the mark.
- 1st grade guide for Texas parents
- Printable 1st grade English Language Arts sheet
- Texas report cards explained
Source: Texas Education Agency (TEA)
Sample questions
A taste of this unit. In the app, questions change every time and get easier or harder to match your child.
Question 1
Which is the right way to spell “who”?
- woh
- who
- hoo
who
Hint: “who” is spelled w-h-o. Try writing it in the air!
Question 2
Find the word “have”.
- have
- had
- has
have
Hint: Look at each letter in order: h-a-v-e.
Question 3
Find the word “there”.
- these
- three
- there
there
Hint: Look at each letter in order: t-h-e-r-e.
Question 4
Find the word “they”.
- they
- the
- then
they
Hint: Look at each letter in order: t-h-e-y.
Question 5
Which word fits? I play my friend.
- they
- what
- with
with
Hint: Read the sentence with each word. Which one makes sense?
Question 6
Which is the right way to spell “like”?
- liek
- lik
- like
like
Hint: “like” is spelled l-i-k-e. Try writing it in the air!