Reinventing Sight Words...

Lots of very creative teachers around the globe use the Dolch word system,  Fry words, or the Magic 100 and have made up many, many brilliant games to help kids practice and learn these words. And they have published these games on their blogs, or Pinterest, to share with others.

There are bingo games, flashcards, posters, songs  and 100's of games made, all ready for use in our classrooms, and all created with a fun element. So, why am I reinventing the wheel???

MULTILIT game lists 1 - 10

Well, my school is using a system called MULTILIT - Making Up Lost Time In Literacy! It helps struggling students pick up the basics. There are 200 words in the sight word component, presented in 30 groups of 10 words. But when I went to the usual spots to get some inspiration (yes, I'm talking Pinterest!) there is nothing. Not a single solitary flashcard  or sheet to be had!!! But, worst still, no fun games for rotational groups!!! 

Result is - time to make my own...

First game is just a basic roll the dice, move and say the word game. The above photo covers games for the first 10 groups of words. The school has 'modified' the way we display the words. Instead of working from list 1 to 30 we cover a 5 colour system (very confusing, I must say). Lists 1 and 2 are blue, 3 and 4 are pink etc.....so the kids progress through the colours as their sight word knowledge increases. So you can see why I need to reinvent this poor old system, quickly!!!

Game for Lists 1 and 2 (blue)

This is the first 'blue' level, lists 1 and 2,  which basically covers all the initial words. For each level I glued the game onto backing cardboard that matches the level, and made the picture and arrows on the game in the same colour as well.

Game for Lists 9 and 10 (orange)

These are the words for the first 'orange' level, covering lists 9 and 10. You can see that the progression of words is increasing in difficulty. I made up 5 copies of each level so that the class can play in pairs, at their level during group time.

Recording sheet

And a quick little recording sheet for the kids to write down the words they land on!

So my plan of attack is to create one or two new games each week using the MULTILT words. Fingers crossed that I stay motivated enough to stick to this goal...

By the way, has anyone else ever used this MULTILIT system at all??? Would love to hear how you made it work successfully...