Download Writing with Sight Words

Focus Lesson Planning Sheet
Focus Lesson Good writers write with sight words.
(Adapted from Calkins)
Topic
Wipe boards, dry erase markers
Materials
Yesterday we learned….
Connection
Explicit
Instruction
Sometimes writers say a word slowly and stretch out the sounds.
Other times, writers can quickly write a word they already know
how to spell. Today I’ll show you how to switch back and forth
between slowly stretching a word and writing words we know how to
spell in a “snap.”
Reread the picture story you wrote and review the labels you wrote
by stretching the sounds as you read them.
Example from Lucy Calkins:
For the first picture, I need to write “We had a show for our
families.” Hmm…We had a show for our families. Watch how I write
the words.
Quickly write the first three words repeating them as you go “We
had a…”
Did you see how quickly I wrote those words? I wrote them in a
snap! That’s because I already knew them. I didn’t need to stretch
out the sounds.
List some other sight words that students could write in a “snap.”
Now, I want to finish my sentence. We had a show. Hmm…show. I
can’t write that one in a snap. I’ll have to stretch the sounds for
that word.
Model stretching the sounds, writing, rereading, and adding sounds
to record the word.
Guided
Practice
Turn to another picture in the story or add a new picture to the
story.
Now let’s try it together. I need to write the sentence_________.
We can write some of the words in a snap. For others, we’ll need to
stretch the words and record the sounds.
Choose a sentence with two to three sight words at the beginning
of the sentence. Say the sentence aloud and ask students to write
the sight words in a snap.
Check for understanding.
Now, look at the next word. It looks like a word we will need to
stretch.
Send Off [for
Independent
Practice]
Group Share
Say the word. Ask the students to stretch the sounds and record
the word on their wipe boards.
Remind students that today and everyday, when they come to a
sentence they would like to write, look for the words they can write
in a snap. Only stretch the words they don’t know how to spell from
memory.
Invite students to share words in their writing that they could
write in a snap.