Sightwords – Teaching Reading Strategies for Parents and Teachers

Sightwords.com offers free strategies, lessons, games and tips for teaching reading to beginning readers. Several experienced teachers and education professionals authored this site. Lessons are geared to children ages 3-5.

The resources include printable cards to play the sight word games. And there are lists for Dolch sight words, Fry sight words, and the top 150 written words in English. The instructors’ guidance is laid out clearly, with video examples of five techniques for helping children learn to read, and video examples of the reading games.

Another section guides you in teaching phonological and phonemic awareness. Their phonics curriculum, like the site words curriculum, includes videos of techniques and strategies.

Sightwords.com also offers techniques for teaching math skills in counting and basic addition. The instructors emphasize the use of manipulatives and hands-on activities to help children learn these skills. As with the reading strategies, videos guide you in how to conduct the lessons.

Reading 101: A Guide to Teaching Reading and Writing

In this pilot project, Reading Rockets provides K-3 teachers with guidance, tips and suggestions for teaching beginning readers and struggling readers.  There are 10 self-paced modules of instruction on print awareness, sounds of speech, phonemic awareness, phonics, informal assessments, fluency, vocabulary, spelling, writing and text comprehension.  Each module consists of a pre-test, introduction, in-depth explanation and techniques, in practice guidelines and activities, assignments, and a post-test.  Also available are links to useful resources and stories of other first-year teachers.

PBS Kids Reading Games and App

PBS Kids has more than 60 reading games for beginning readers, narrated by much-loved characters from their popular TV series, such as Elmo, Martha Speaks, Clifford and Caillou. Paint by letter with Alpha Pig. Help WordGirl catch the Butcher. Dance and rhyme with Wonder Red.

Free, kid-friendly registration is required to see all of the reading games. PBS Kids Games app is available for iPad/iPhone, Android, and Kindle Fire.

Between the Lions

Between the Lions has reading games, folktales and fables, and video songs to help kids learn key reading skills. The characters and music are engaging, and the activities are rooted in research about the best methods for helping kids learn to read.

Alphabetimals

The Alphabetimals are cartoon animals shaped like the letters of the alphabet to help kids learn their ABCs. On the site is a free interactive book and video with each character animated, and options to hear their animal sound and their name spoken.

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