HIGH-FREQUENCY WORDS: SOME WAYS TO

TEACH AND HELP STUDENTS PRACTICE AND

LEARN THEM
JERRY L. JOHNS AND KRISTINE H. WILKE
ABSTRACT
This is a practical article for teachers in the primary grades and for other teachers and
reading specialists whose students experience difficulty responding automatically to high-
frequency words. In this article, we will begin by providing some helpful information about
vocabulary and high-frequency words in particular. You will learn why high-frequency words
are critical if students are to become efficient and effective readers. Then we will turn our
attention to the heart of the article: providing numerous ways to teach and help students
practice and learn high-frequency words. Finally, we will provide you with two word lists,
some phrases, and sentences that you can use to help teach, practice, and reinforce the words.

W
ords are important. They stimulate the student’s experience and background so meaning
can be constructed from print. There are a large number of words in the English
language. Estimates range from 600,000 to over a million words. It is doubtful that
anyone knows all these words. Various word count studies suggest that proficient readers like you
are able to recognize 50,000 or so words at sight. You know most of these words automatically; you
rarely have to sound them out or use affixes like prefixes and suffixes to identify them. You also
know that some words occur more frequently than other words.

Beginning readers and struggling readers know a very small percentage of the 50,000 words that
are known by proficient readers like you. But here’s the good news: because some words occur
more frequently than others, we can make some choices of words to teach. For example, there are a
mere thirteen words that account for approximately 25% of all the words in school texts and the
materials adults read (Johns & Lenski, 2019). In the sentence you just read, ten of the 25 words are
among these 13 words (40%). Before you think we created this sentence to buttress our argument
(we didn't), check out some other reading materials in your classroom. Sometimes the 13 words
will account for less than 25% of the words, and sometimes the 13 words will account for more
than 25% of the words. On average, however, these 13 words will account for approximately 25%
of the words in all sorts of reading material. We know you want to know what the words are, but
we first want to share another valuable piece of information.

A list of 100-200 high-frequency words will make up over 50% of the words in school texts. Those
13 words are among these words. It therefore makes great sense to ensure that beginning readers
learn these 13 words at sight. That gives them automaticity with about 25% of the words they meet
in their reading. Another 100-200 high-frequency words, if known automatically by students, will
enable them to know more than half the words they encounter in their reading.

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 Here are the magic 13: a, and, for, he, in, is, it, of, that, the, to, was, you. At the end of this article, we
have included two other important word lists: Revised Dolch List (226 words) and List of High-
Frequency Nouns (46 words). You may have other lists you prefer to use like the Fry list and the
original Dolch List. The Revised Dolch List (RDL) is statistically better than the original Dolch list,
but you should feel confident with any high-frequency word list you use in your teaching and
practice activities.

THE IMPORTANCE OF HIGH-FREQUENCY WORDS

If you want students to become efficient and effective readers, you need to ensure that students
master these words by the end of third grade. By mastery, we mean that they recognize these
words automatically (by sight). We recommend teaching the 13 words to mastery along with
another dozen of the most-frequently occurring words (i.e., on, as, are, they, with, be, his, at, or,
from, had, I) to kindergarten students. Continue teaching more of the words from the Revised
Dolch List in first and second grade and ensure mastery by third grade. For readers who struggle in
the upper grades, assess their knowledge of the high-frequency words and help students learn the
words by sight (automatically). You want all students to know the words by sight. Now, here’s the
payoff: If students are able to recognize these words by sight, they will know half or more of the
words they encounter in their reading. The words are a necessary, but insufficient condition, for
efficient reading. Students will also need to learn many words beyond these couple hundred so
they can recognize most of the words in their reading. Learning several thousand more words will
require plenty of reading in high-success texts along with systematic instruction. But students who
know a core of 200 or so high-frequency words by sight will possess a solid foundation for reading.
Now let’s focus on some of the things you can do to help your students learn high-frequency words
so they become known at sight. We’ll begin with several teaching strategies.

DIRECT TEACHING STRATEGIES

EXPLICIT INSTRUCTION
1. Select a high-frequency word, or several words, that students should learn to read by sight.

2. Write the word(s) on the board.

3. Model for the students: touch the word, say the word, and spell the word as each letter
is touched.

4. Have students write the word on a 4”x 6” card using assorted colored markers, pencils or
crayons.

5. Have students demonstrate the procedure you modeled. Students touch the word, say the word,
and spell the word touching each letter as it is said. This activity may be done independently or in
pairs.

6. Students may pass cards. Each time cards are passed, students touch, say, and spell each word
while continuing to touch each letter. Repeat.

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 7. Use these cards during a read aloud. Every time their word is read, have students put up
the word.

8. Give students a story, poem, or created passage that uses the sight word many times. Have the
students highlight or circle the word. This text may be read to the students while they are following
along, or they may read independently.

9. Students may cut the word into letters, placing them in an envelope that has the word written on
the envelope by the student. Ask the student to build the word to practice arranging the letters
throughout the day.

10. Write many sentences with a blank space for the sight word on chart paper located around the
room. Have students write the word in the sentence, read the sentence silently, and then read the
sentence aloud.

LEARNING THROUGH REPETITION

1. Select words from the Revised Dolch List (RDL) - perhaps the first three words from each
column of the RDL (18 words). This list is at the end of the article. Ask the student to read the
words and note the words missed. If the student does not recognize the word automatically, ask
them to “skip” that word and move to the next. The intent is to determine which words the student
does not recognize by sight.

2. Create flash cards from the words that the student did not recognize by sight. You may also
include the words that the student displayed hesitancy with (words may be printed on cardstock
and cut out or you may write the words on index cards). As a guide, if a student recognizes a word
within one second or less, the student is given credit for the word. For the first session, choose
three to five words to teach.

3. Present each card to the student, saying the word as it is presented and then placed in front of
the student. Once the student recognizes the words, move them around until automaticity is
achieved.

4. Begin the next session by reviewing the words learned in the previous session. When the student
demonstrates automaticity, continue with the next three to five words missed on the RDL using the
same procedure as in step three. To keep words separated, put the words that have been learned
and reviewed in the envelope with newly learned words and words missed clipped outside the
envelope.

5. In each session, begin by reviewing the newly learned three to five words first, then add them to
the known words and have the student review all the words for strengthened automaticity.
Unknown words are taken out each time and kept clipped on the outside of the envelope with the
newly learned words. Continue these steps until all the words are recognized automatically.

6. After the student has learned the whole set, continue to review and practice the words until the
student can automatically recognize each word three times in a row. This may be done with flash
cards that the student or you can turn over once the prior word is said. Cards may be sent home for
continued practice and review.

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 7. Retest the student on the RDL to check for mastery. Do this by displaying the words in another
print form. Any words missed may be added to the new set of sight words.
8. You can also create and place the words in short phrases or sentences (see phrases and
sentences at the end of this article) to help promote transfer to context.

SEE/HEAR/WRITE/CHANT
1. Choose three to five words. Write one word on the board. Say the word as you point to the
word. Have the students write the word on an index card. Then have students chant the word.

2. After students chant the word, they can spell the word again as an individual or group
chant. Have fun and let the students clap or tap their foot to the spelling chant. Repeat the chanting
of the word followed by the spelling of the word several times.

3. Repeat steps one and two for the targeted three to five words. After all words have been
practiced, write a word on the board and see if students can continue the chant of saying and
spelling without hesitation. Repeat this process so students can begin to get a rhythm to the
practice. This activity can be done as students stand for a movement break multiple times during
the day to practice after the initial teaching of the words (steps 1 & 2).

PRACTICE
Research has found that sight word intervention games are highly effective when used for sight
word achievement (Gibbon, Duffield, Hoffman, & Wageman, 2017). Below are some ideas that are
easy and fun to include for practice activities.

1. Word Walls. Create word walls so students have the words always accessible. As you use
the words daily during instruction, take the time to ask them to find the word within the word wall
lists.

Cunningham (2017) offers the following word activity suggestions:

 Easy Rhyming. Have students create lists of the word wall words that rhyme. Students can
make word wall booklets of these words.
 Easy Endings. Students can add endings such as s, ed, ing, and er to words to create more
words.
 Read My Mind. You or a student may choose a word on the word wall. That word can be
written on a piece of paper without anyone seeing it. Give the students five clues to see if
they can “read” your or the student’s mind.

Example:
It’s one of our Word Wall words.
It has three letters.
It begins with o.
It is the opposite of young.
It is missing from this sentence. Today I am seven years ________.

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 2. Word Families. Have students create word families on chart paper. Students should say the
words after they have created the list(s) for additional practice. Some examples of word families
can be found below.

at: cat, sat, chat, mat, flat, pat, vat, bat, rat, that
ad: had, sad, glad, tad, pad,
an: man, can, tan, ran, fan
and: hand, band, sand, land,
ee: three, bee, knee, tree, see, flee, tee

3. Read pattern books. Encourage students to read books to increase automaticity and build
confidence.

4. Create phrases or sentence strips that contain high-frequency words for students to practice.
See example phrases and sentences at the end of this article.

5. Word Search. Create your own word search using a list of high-frequency words. Depending on
the age and capability of the student, have him or her create the word search for the group. Be sure
your word searches go from left to right only. One free resource for creating word searches can be
found at this site:
https://worksheets.theteacherscorner.net/make-your-own/word-search/

6. Sign It (Sherman, 2011). Use the following website to see what the word looks like in sign
language: https://www.handspeak.com/word/

This is a great way for students to teach others as they become familiar with the written word as
well as the word in sign language.

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 7. Write sight words everywhere using items like those that follow.
 Sidewalk chalk – Take students outside and let them write around the playground.
 Magnets – Use magnetic letters to form words on baking sheets. If you have the opportunity
to have magnetic painted walls, these are a great way to allow students to manipulate
letters and form words.
 Sand – Pour sand in a tray and let students write the words with their finger.
 Play dough – Form sight words with play dough.

8. Treasure Hunt. Hide high-frequency words around room. Write words on index cards, fun post-
its or cut outs for more fun. Have students go on a treasure hunt. The student cannot collect the
word unless he or she can say the word.

9. Pick a Stick. Write words on popsicle sticks or craft sticks. The words may be used in a variety of
different ways. One is to call students up to pick a stick throughout the day. If they get the word
correct, they may win a point toward something you decide. At the end of the day or week, they
may earn extra free time or reading time!

10. Memory Game. You may use the same stack of word pairs as used for Go Fish (see #12). The
cards are laid face-down on the floor. The students take turns flipping two cards over and say them
as they try to remember where previously flipped words are. The student who has the most
matches at the end wins the game.

11. Sight Word Bingo, Create Bingo cards with a few sight words or sight word phrases (i.e., on the
tree, in the tree). Randomly read aloud sight words, marking (or placing a small item) on each
square with the matching sight word.

12. Go Fish. Write high-frequency words twice on index cards or cardstock and shuffle them like a
deck of cards. Have a pair of students takes turns to see if another player has a sight word that
matches one in his or her hand. If there is not a match, the student draws a card from the deck. Any
pair of matching words gets stacked in a pile. After the first student has no cards, players count up
their matches. The player with the most matches wins the game.

Word Lists, Phrases, and Sentences

The four resource pages that follow can be used for both teaching and practice
activities.

Texas Journal of Literacy Education | Volume 6, Issue 1 | Summer 2018

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 Texas Journal of Literacy Education | Volume 6, Issue 1 | Summer 2018

Grazielle Pereira Hubner Ribeiro - [email protected] - CPF: 088.599.937-17

 Texas Journal of Literacy Education | Volume 6, Issue 1 | Summer 2018

Grazielle Pereira Hubner Ribeiro - [email protected] - CPF: 088.599.937-17

 Texas Journal of Literacy Education | Volume 6, Issue 1 | Summer 2018

Grazielle Pereira Hubner Ribeiro - [email protected] - CPF: 088.599.937-17

 Texas Journal of Literacy Education | Volume 6, Issue 1 | Summer 2018

Grazielle Pereira Hubner Ribeiro - [email protected] - CPF: 088.599.937-17

 REFERENCES
Cunningham, P. M. (2017). Phonics they use: Words Johns, J. L., & Lenski, S. D. (2019). Improving
for reading and writing (7th ed.) (Making reading: Interventions, strategies, and
Words Series). Boston, MA: Pearson. Common Core connections (7th ed.).
Gibbon, J. M., Duffield, S., Hoffman, J., & Wageman, Dubuque, IA: Kendall Hunt.
J. (2017, Fall). Effects of educational Sherman, J. (2011, Summer). Signing for success:
games on sight word reading Using American sign language to learn
achievement and student motivation. sight vocabulary. SRATE Journal, 20(2),
Journal of Language and Literacy 31-39. Retrieved from
Education, 13(2), 1-27. Retrieved from http://dx.doi.org/https://files.eric.ed.gov
http://jolle.coe.uga.edu/wp- /fulltext/EJ959527.pd
content/uploads/2017/11/Duffield_JoLL Word Search Maker | Highly Customizable | Free
E2017.pdf and NO Registration Required! (n.d.).
Retrieved from
https://worksheets.theteacherscorner.ne
t/make-your-own/word-search/

AUTHORS
Jerry L. Johns, Distinguished Teaching Professor Emeritus, Northern Illinois University; email:
[email protected]

Kristine Wilke, ASSIST & Outreach Coordinator, Jerry L. Johns Literacy Clinic; email:
[email protected]

Texas Journal of Literacy Education | Volume 6, Issue 1 | Summer 2018

Grazielle Pereira Hubner Ribeiro - [email protected] - CPF: 088.599.937-17