Sample story:

Yesterday, I went to store for buying the new camera. After I ate ice-cream, I saw a movie with Louis. He is a nice person.

If your learner wanted to learn the words the, after, Louis and nice you could make cue cards with those four words on them and then supply the following text.

Yesterday, I went to store for buying ______________new camera. _______________ I ate ice-cream, I saw a movie with _______________. He is a _______________ person.

Review activities:

  • During the following session, take cards from the Study envelope and have the learner look for them in another source (newspaper, song lyrics or a magazine). Have the learner circle or point out the words when she finds them. Examine the sentences in which these words are used.
  • Spread the cards that the learner has been reviewing that week out on the table. Give the learner a verbal clue (such as "I shower ______________ I exercise. ") The learner needs to find the missing word (after) to complete the oral sentence.

Other considerations: Developing Context

Sight words should be chosen by the learner and presented in a context that allows the learner to understand the meaning of the word. The context could come from the pictures provided or be from a story or an article in which the word is found. You could also use examples from the learner's own life, such as an LEA (Language Experience Approach) story. Take a look at the examples below. Which sentence has the most meaningful context?

Our sight word for this lesson is dangerous.

  • He is very dangerous.
  • Driving your car after drinking a lot of beer is very dangerous.
  • She can be dangerous when she is angry.

In the first sentence, we know that dangerous is probably an adjective but we have no context, or no clues, to even determine if dangerous has a negative or positive connotation. Do you think that the second and third examples provide enough information for learners to understand what the word dangerous means? Is there a sentence that you could make which would better demonstrate what the word means?