Reading Skills – KiDOTI https://kidoti.com Free Activities and Worksheets for Kids Tue, 07 Apr 2020 13:02:35 +0000 en-US hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=6.4.5 https://kidoti.com/wp-content/uploads/fav-kidoti.jpg Reading Skills – KiDOTI https://kidoti.com 32 32 Words in a Sentence https://kidoti.com/words-in-a-sentence/ Tue, 07 Apr 2020 12:17:40 +0000 https://kidoti.com/?p=1340 To read or write successfully, children need to understand that letters form words and that words form sentences. The following worksheets will increase your child’s awareness of how words combine to form sentences and introduce the idea of capitalization and punctuation.

Identifying words 1
Identifying words 1
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Identifying words 2
Identifying words 2
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Identifying Words 3
Identifying Words 3
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Identifying words in a sentence is an important pre-reading skill

The first pre-reading concept taught to children is the idea that a group of letters forms a word. This concept is reinforced when children are taught that these groups of letters or words have a meaning and are separated by spaces when they are written in a sentence. Knowing that a separated group of letters represents on word helps a child attack a whole sentence when learning to read. The task is less overwhelming if a child can focus on one word at a time.

This concept is also important when children begin to write. When they write down letters to represent the sounds they hear in words, it is very important to leave spaces between their words. A young child’s inventive spelling can be challenging to decipher to begin with, and a string of letters representing more that one word becomes quite difficult to read. (Putting their finger next to the word before writing a new word helps create appropriate space between words.) Children need constant reminders to separate their words, and practice identifying words in a sentence helps them understand the importance of leaving spaces between words.

Understanding punctuation is an important pre-reading skill

Recognizing punctuation marks and how they work in sentences is also very helpful for children when they are beginning to read. Again, a mass of letters on a page can be overwhelming for a beginning reader. When a child can recognize a sentence as a group of words that ends with a period, he can focus on reading one sentence at a time. When your child follows the printed words as you read, he will begin to learn how the punctuation marks indicate times to pause and changes in voice tone. Eventually he will also begin to use the correct voice inflection when he recognizes the period at the end of the sentence and will learn to pause when he sees a comma.

Tips for using these identifying words in a sentence worksheets

Begin by explaining to your child that a word is a group of one or more letters with a meaning and that this group is separated by spaces from other groups of letters. He will see the word I on the worksheets and will have opportunities to practice counting that letter as a word.

Next, read the sentences on the worksheets aloud to your child and point to each word as you read. Then ask your child to point to each word as you read the sentence once more.

Finally, ask your child to point to each word and count as he points to identify how many words are in the sentence. Then ask him to circle the correct number at the end of the sentence.

Some words in these sentences are quite short (is, am, in, and to, for example) while others as long (hippopotomuses, Columbus, swimming). And some words are capitalized (Ohio, Boise, Idaho, Fluffy, to name a few). This variation is intentional, as it provides opportunities for children to understand that although words come in all sizes and configurations, a group of letters that has meaning represents a word.

Extra activities to supplement these identifying words in a sentence worksheets

  • When reading aloud to your child, take time to point out the punctuation in each sentence. Explain that a comma tells you when to take a short pause and a period tells you when to take a long pause.
  • When reading aloud to your child, ask him to point to the words as you read. Then read slowly enough that he can learn to move one word to the right after each word that you read. Also, pause before turning the page and ask him to tell you which page had more words, the page on the left or the page on the right.
  • When your child receives a card in the mail, show him the envelope and ask him to point to his name. You can also ask your child to point to the name of the city where he lives.
]]> Word Families https://kidoti.com/word-families/ Tue, 07 Apr 2020 12:08:59 +0000 https://kidoti.com/?p=1336 Word families are groups of letters that are frequently seen together, such as -at which appears in the words at, cat, hat, rat, bat, pat, sat, fat, mat, and vat. When children can recognize word families, they are able to sound out only the first letter of an unfamiliar word and then apply the sound made by the rest of the word family to quickly and easily read the entire word. The following worksheets contain word family sliders for the 10 most common word families. Cut out the word family card and the letter strip and then feed the letter strip through the designated slits on the word family card. By moving the letter strip up or down, your child will be able to quickly learn these common word families

Word Families 1
Word Families 1
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Word Families 2
Word Families 2
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Word Families 3
Word Families 3
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Word Families 4
Word Families 4
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Word Families 5
Word Families 5
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Word Families 6
Word Families 6
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Word Families 7
Word Families 7
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Word Families 10
Word Families 10
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Word Families 8
Word Families 8
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Word Families 9
Word Families 9
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What are word families

Word families are groups of words that have a common segment of letters at the end. The words in a word family rhyme, of course, and new words are created by switching the letter or letters of the word. Knowing word families makes reading smoother and easier, since a child can look at the end of a word in the word family and read that word by simply adding the appropriate beginning sound.

Word families are typically indicated by a hyphen followed by the letter grouping (-ag, for example, would represent the word family that includes the words bag, tag, lag, and flag).

Common word families list

There are many word families in the English language. Some word families may have only three or four words in the word family whereas other word families may have 15 or more words in the word family. A list of 10 common word families used by young children includes:

  • The -an word family;
  • The -at word family;
  • The -ag word family;
  • The -ar word family;
  • The -ed word family;
  • The -et word family;
  • The -ing word family;
  • The -ock word family;
  • The -og word family; and
  • The -ug word family;

Tips for helping your child learn common word families

While many children can identify rhyming words, being familiar with an entire word family greatly increases reading fluency and speed since it allows children to quickly spot familiar letter combinations. An easy way to introduce children to word families is with word family sliders, which contain a letter strip that is fed through two slits to quickly create a variety of words in a single word family. The worksheets on this page are designed to be cut out to create word family sliders.

To begin using a word family slider, copy the worksheet page on tag board or paste it on heavy-weight paper to make it more durable. Then cut out the word family slider as well as the letter strip(s) that accompany each word family. To help keep the materials organized if you are printing out more than one word family at a time, it helps to print the word family (-at or -og, for example) on the back of the letter strip so the letter strips can be easily associated with the correct word family.

Cut on the dashed lines of the word family slider so you can slip the letter strip through the slits. The easiest way to cut the dashed lines is to open the blades of a pair of scissors and (using a piece of cardboard behind the word family slider to make sure you don’t cut through to your table) use one blade of the scissors as you would use a knife to cut along the dashed line.

Introduce the word families by asking your child to read the word family segment on the slider. Next show him the letter strip and ask him to tell you the sound that each letter makes. Then slowly move the letter strip up or down to show your child a new word in the word family. He will likely recognize that the words all rhyme and will have fun reading new words quickly. Encourage your child to read the words smoothly, as a true word, rather than isolating the beginning sound from the word family segment (such as saying buh-ag for the word bag). If he does separate the beginning sound when saying the new word, simply ask him to read the word once more as smoothly as he can.

Extra word family activities to try at home

  • Pretend the letter strip from a word family slider is a zipper. Move it up and down as your child reads the words. Set the timer for one minute and see how many times you can “zip” the letter strip up and down while your child reads each word.
  • Get silly and swap the letter strips from two different word families. As your child reads the nonsense words that are created when a letter strip is put into a different word family slider, he will be getting some fun reading practice. Ask him to identify which words are real and which are nonsense words.
  • When reading a rhyming book, ask your child to pick one of the rhyming words and write the ending letter segment on a card to create a new word family. Cut slits in front of the letters and use some of the letter strips to make new real and nonsense words.
]]> Similar Words https://kidoti.com/similar-words/ Tue, 07 Apr 2020 12:08:17 +0000 https://kidoti.com/?p=1332 Many words look alike and the substitution of one new letter into a word can create an entirely new word. As children learn to read and write, they must realize how each letter plays an important role in a word. The following worksheets will give older children important practice reading short words and identifying the words that are alike or different from the featured word in each row. Younger children who are not yet reading can simply look at each word carefully to identify the words that are alike or different from the featured word.

Identifying words 4
Identifying words 4
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Identifying words 5
Identifying words 5
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Identifying words 6
Identifying words 6Open PDF
Identifying Words 7
Identifying Words 7
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Identifying similar words is an important pre-reading skill

Reading requires children to look carefully at each word and recognize the letters that form that word. Before a child can even attempt to attach sounds to the letters in the word, he must accurately see the letters in the word. Also, children can become skillful in recognizing familiar groups of letters, called word families, to help them read more smoothly and fluently. But to do that successfully, they must be able to pay attention to the letters in the words they are attempting to read.

To hone these keen observation skills, children can practice looking at a series of words on a line and recognizing which words are the same and which words are different.

Tips for using these similar words worksheets

Some children have an easier time finding the word that is different from the other three in the line. Others seem to find it less challenging to look at the first word in a box at the start of the line and then look at each word until they finds the one that matches. Both of these worksheets present advanced challenges for children.

I recommend printing out one worksheet from each category to determine which style of word matching is easier for your child. Then allow him to complete all five worksheets in that group before moving to the other style of word matching worksheet.

If you find that your child is a bit overwhelmed by the number of words on the page, simply fold the paper to reveal one line at a time. Then tell your child that every letter of the word must be the same for the words to match.

On the worksheets that ask your child to find the word in the line that matches the first word in the box, ask your child to point to the word in the box and name each letter. Then suggest that he slowly move his finger across the row until he finds the same word. Encourage your child to look back at the word in the box as he compares each word in the row. When he finds the identical word, ask him to circle it with a pencil, crayon or marker.

The worksheets that have three matching words and one different word require children to slowly scan the entire line of words. When your child sees two words that match, tell him to look for a third matching word. When he finds the word that does not match the others, he can circle it. Slowly scanning the line with his finger and his eyes will help your child spot two words, side by side, that are identical. Then it will be easier to spot the third word that belongs and find the fourth word that is different.

Encourage your child to sound out short words on these similar words worksheets

If your child is beginning to associate letters and sounds, you can provide an added exercise for him by pointing out words have the “consonant-vowel-consonant” configuration. Sit, bag, cup, and jet are examples of these words that are found on the worksheets. These short words are appropriate for very early readers to tackle. If your child is ready for a challenge, he might try sounding out these words, saying each letter’s sound aloud as he moves his finger under the word. This exercise also promotes careful observation of the letters in each word.

As your child reads some of these words, point out how changing one letter in the word creates a new word. For instance, jet becomes a very different word by changing the first letter j to an m to create met.

Extra activities to supplement the similar words pre-reading worksheets

  • After you child finishes an art project, ask him to dictate to you one or two sentences about what he created. You can write his words below the picture so he can see what the words look like.
  • Write down some of your child’s friends’ names on a piece of paper. Then have him count how many times certain letters appear and then report back to you with which letter appeared the most.
  • Give yourself and your child each a book and then suggest a particular letter. Race your child to see who can find that letter in their book first.
  • As you cook, let your child pull a chair up to the counter and look at the packages you are using. Suggest a letter, and have him count how many times he can find that letter on each package.
  • Get in the habit of pointing to each word as you read a story aloud to your child. Seeing your finger move from word to word will reinforce the left to right eye motion needed when reading.
  • Using post-it notes or small note cards, label different parts of your home. Seeing the word “bed” as he gets into bed each day, for example, will reinforce the importance of written words.
  • As you read your child a favorite book, have him count the number of time a common word such as “the” or “and” appears. This will encourage him to look carefully at the words while you read.
  • Play the “I Spy” game as you drive, trying to identify particular letters on signs or license plates. After you or your child finds to signs with a particular letter, pick a new letter and start over.
  • Give your child 26 cards with a different letter written on each one and explain that all words are a different combination of just those 26 letters. Let him mix and match the cards to form real and imaginary words
]]> Digraphs https://kidoti.com/digraphs/ Tue, 07 Apr 2020 11:32:13 +0000 https://kidoti.com/?p=1317 Digraphs is a phonics term that refers to two or more letters that make a single sound. As children learn to read, they must learn to recognize common digraphs (although they do not need to be familiar with the actual term “digraph”) so they can quickly apply the correct sound to the group of letters and not perpetually attempt to sound the letters out. The following worksheets are designed to introduce children to common digraphs. The beginning set of worksheets features the three most common digraphs children will encounter when reading, and the intermediate and advanced sets of worksheets (to be added soon) will feature some of the most complex digraphs children will encounter.

Digraph sh (beginning)
Digraph sh
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Digraph th (beginning)
Digraph th
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Digraph ch (beginning)
Digraph ch
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Digraph nk (Intermediate)
Digraph nk
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Digraph Listening (Intermediate)
Digraph ListeningOpen PDF

Digraph ng (Inermediate)
Digraph ng
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Digraph ck (Intermediate)
Digraph ck
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What is a digraph?

A digraph is a pair of letters that makes one sound. Consonant digraphs are just what their name implies – two consonants that make one sound. Often seen consonant digraphs include sh, ch, th, wh, kn, ck, nk, ng, and mb. As children encounter more advanced vocabulary in their reading material, it is helpful to know these digraphs. Some, such as ck, can be sounded out correctly. But others involve an entirely new sound (such as sh) and still others contain a silent letter (kn). So learning to spot these digraphs and know their sounds can enhance reading (and writing) comfort.

Why I like digraph worksheets

Digraph worksheets are ideal for isolating a consonant pair and giving children practice hearing that new sound. These worksheets also show children the letters that create that sound. When children have the chance to practice with new sounds and letter combinations on a worksheet page, they can learn, have fun and most importantly, gain confidence with new skills.

Tips for using these digraph worksheets

To begin, point to the letters that comprise the digraph on the worksheet, say the letter names and then and say the digraph sound clearly. Ask your child to repeat the digraph sound. Tell him that these letters are special because together they make just one sound. Ask your child to follow your example and name the letters and then say the correct sound.

Next, look at the pictures on the worksheet. For all of these digraph worksheets, it is necessary to name the picture correctly for your child to be successful. On the sh page, for example, the tennis shoe must be called a “shoe,” not a “sneaker,” for your child to be able to make the correct match. Let your child know the correct names of the pictures on the worksheet pages and ask him to point to each picture as he repeats its name.

Some children may quickly and comfortably hear the digraph sound in the beginning position in words and they can go ahead and make the line to connect the picture to the digraph. However, if your child is struggling just a bit, it may be helpful to direct him to say the digraph sound first before saying each picture word. This may help him to isolate, hear, and then recognize the digraph sound.

Additional activities to supplement these digraph worksheets

  • To focus on the ch sound, say a string of words and ask your child to say “ch” and point to his chin for each word he hears that begins with that digraph.
  • For practice hearing the sh digraph sound, say a string of words and ask your child to say “sh” and put his finger over his mouth as if he is asking you to be quiet.
  • You can continue this game with the th sound by suggesting that your child point to his head as if he was thinking and say “th” each time he hears that digraph sound.
  • Read to your child some tongue twisters or nursery rhymes that highlight a digraph sound. Some suggestions are: “She sells sea shells by the seashore” or Three Blind Mice.
  • Make a list with your child of names of relatives and friends. Ask your child to use a marker to circle any digraph letter pairs that he spots. You may wish to write the letter pairs at the top of the list for your child to refer to as he searches.
]]> Dolch Sight Words https://kidoti.com/dolch-sight-words/ Tue, 07 Apr 2020 09:58:17 +0000 https://kidoti.com/?p=1219 Sight words are words that appear frequently in written text or words that do not follow the rules of phonics so can be difficult for a child to “sound out.” By learning to identify these words on sight, children are able to read quickly and comfortably. The following worksheets are meant to be cut into eight separate sight word flash cards and include all preschool sight words (pre-primer) and kindergarten sight words (primer) on the Dolch sight word list. The sight words on these worksheets progress in difficulty from the first page to the twelfth page.

Dolch sight words flashcards

Dolch Sight Flaschcards Beginner 1
Dolch Sight Flaschcards Beginner 1
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Dolch Sight Flaschcards Beginner 2
Dolch Sight Flaschcards Beginner 2
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Dolch Sight Flaschcards Beginner 3
Dolch Sight Flaschcards Beginner 3
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Dolch Sight Flaschcards Beginner 4
Dolch Sight Flaschcards Beginner 4
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Dolch Sight Flaschcards Beginner 5
Dolch Sight Flaschcards Beginner 5
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Blank flashcard for dolch words
Blank flashcard for dolch words
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Dolch Sight Flashcards Intermediate 1
Dolch Sight Flashcards Intermediate 1
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Dolch Sight Flashcards Intermediate 2
Dolch Sight Flashcards Intermediate 2
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Dolch Sight Flashcards Intermediate 3
Dolch Sight Flashcards Intermediate 3
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Dolch Sight Flashcards Intermediate 4
Dolch Sight Flashcards Intermediate 4
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Dolch Sight Flashcards Intermediate 5
Dolch Sight Flashcards Intermediate 5
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Dolch Sight Flashcards Intermediate 6
Dolch Sight Flashcards Intermediate 6
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Dolch Sight Flashcards Intermediate 7
thumbnail of Dolch Sight Flashcards Intermediate 7
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Dolch Sight Word Sentences

Dolch Sight Word Sentences Beginner 1
Dolch Sight Word Sentences Beginner 1
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Dolch Sight Word Sentences Beginner 2
Dolch Sight Word Sentences Beginner 2
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Dolch Sight Word Sentences Beginner 3
Dolch Sight Word Sentences Beginner 3
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Sight Words Game – Bingo

Dolch Words Bingo Beginner 1
Dolch Words Bingo Beginner 1
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Dolch Words Bingo Beginner 2
Dolch Words Bingo Beginner 2
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Dolch Words Bingo Beginner 3
Dolch Words Bingo Beginner 3
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Dolch Words Bingo Beginner 4
Dolch Words Bingo Beginner 4
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Dolch Words Bingo Beginner 5
Dolch Words Bingo Beginner 5
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Dolch Words Bingo Intermediate 1
Dolch Words Bingo Intermediate 1
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Dolch Words Bingo Intermediate 2
Dolch Words Bingo Intermediate 2
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Dolch Words Bingo Intermediate 3
Dolch Words Bingo Intermediate 3
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Dolch Words Bingo Intermediate 4
Dolch Words Bingo Intermediate 4
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Dolch Words Bingo Intermediate 5
Dolch Words Bingo Intermediate 5
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Dolch sight words

Sight words are just what the name suggests; they are words that children commit to memory so that they can read them “on sight” and do not have to decode or sound them out. These words are also words that are used very frequently in typical text for young readers, so knowing them on sight helps children read more smoothly and effortlessly. Dolch sight words are on a specific list of sight words created in 1936 by Edward Dolch, who identified them as key “service” words that young children should be able to read quickly.

The Dolch sight word list

The Dolch sight word list is a list of 220 sight words for children ages preschool through third grade, plus a list of 95 nouns:

  • (Pre-primer) Preschool sight words: a, and, away, big, blue, can, come, down, find, for, funny, go, help, here, I, in, is, it, jump, little, look, make, me, my, not, one, play, red, run, said, see, the, three, to, two, up, we, where, yellow, you
  • (Primer) Kindergarten sight words: all, am, are, at, ate, be, black, brown, but, came, did, do, eat, four, get, good, have, he, into, like, must, new, no, now, on, our, out, please, pretty, ran, ride, saw, say, she, so, soon, that, there, they, this, too, under, want, was, well, went, what, white, who, will, with, yes
  • 1st Grade sight words: after, again, an, any, as, ask, by, could, every, fly, from, give, giving, had, has, her, him, his, how, just, know, let, live, may, of, old, once, open, over, put, round, some, stop, take, thank, them, then, think, walk, were, when
  • 2nd Grade sight words: always, around, because, been, before, best, both, buy, call, cold, does, don’t, fast, first, five, found, gave, goes, green, its, made, many, off, or, pull, read, right, sing, sit, sleep, tell, their, these, those, upon, us, use, very, wash, which, why, wish, work, would, write, your
  • 3rd Grade sight words: about, better, bring, carry, clean, cut, done, draw, drink, eight, fall, far, full, got, grow, hold, hot, hurt, if, keep, kind, laugh, light, long, much, myself, never, only, own, pick, seven, shall, show, six, small, start, ten, today, together, try, warm

Additional thoughts about kindergarten sight words

The list of Dolch sight words includes a list of (pre-primer) preschool sight words and (primer) kindergarten sight words. In my experience, once children are ready to learn sight words, there is no reason to distinguish between preschool sight words, kindergarten sight words, or first grade sight words, for example. Children who are ready and able to learn what words look like and recall the word on sight are, generally speaking, able to do this for any word to which they are introduced.

The first Dolch sight words flash cards I added to this page were the preschool sight words and the kindergarten sight words. I believe these two groups, combined, are suitable for kindergarten-aged children to learn. Once these lists are mastered, children can progress to learning the other, more challenging, sight word lists.

Tips for using Dolch sight words flash cards

Begin with a group of three sight word flash cards. Showing your child a large group of unknown words can be overwhelming and beginning with a smaller group of sight words will help boost his confidence. Show your child each sight word flash card, read the word on the flash card and then ask him to point to the flash card and repeat the word. Once your child has repeated the word on the first sight word flash card, move that card aside and repeat the process with the second and third sight words.

When your child is familiar with the three sight words and can identify them when you rotate through the cards, test his memory by putting all three sight word flash cards face down in front of your child. Ask him to pick a card and read it. Mix the cards up (or let him mix them) to keep the game interesting. When your child can randomly pick up a sight word flash card and read the word on it, he has committed that sight word to memory.

Once your child has learned all three sight words in the original batch, introduce three new sight words following the same procedure. Once your child is familiar with those new sight words, you can add the new sight words with the ones your child has previously learned and test his memory by having him randomly select flash cards from this larger pile.

As your child learns new sight words, consider collecting the cards on a small loose-leaf ring. This makes it easy to quickly quiz your child at any free moment by turning to a card on the ring and asking your child to read it. Your child can even carry the ring with him to practice reading the words.

Using sight word sentences

The sight word sentences provide lots of practice reading sight words. Once your child has learned a batch of sight words, you can introduce him to the sight word sentences that coordinate with the sight words he just learned. He will delight in being able to read full sentences and this will bolster his confidence as he begins to view himself as a successful reader.

If seeing eight sentences on the page is a bit overwhelming for your child (which it may be if he is new to playing sight word games), fold the paper to reveal one sentence at a time. Or use sheets of blank white paper to cover other sentences on the page and expose just one sentence.

As your child reads each sentence, encourage him to move his pointer finger below each word as he reads to help his eyes focus on the words. As his reading becomes more fluent, his finger can move quickly and smoothly under the words he reads.

More sight word activities and sight word games to try at home

  • Flip through the pages of some children’s books and challenge your child to find and read as many sight words on each page as he can. He will not need to read the entire sentence for this game, since he is just acting as a “sight word detective.” Make this game more fun by counting the words he reads on each page, or see which book he can pull off his shelf has the most sight words inside it.
  • Hide the Dolch sight words flash cards throughout the house and ask your child to search for the cards. Each time he finds a flashcard, challenge him to read aloud the word on the card to announce that he found it.
  • At bedtime, take turns reading to one another. First you may read a picture book to your child and then he can be the one to read his sight words to you. Bedtime is a great time to practice with Dolch sight words flash cards since your child will most likely be eager to read at this time because it buys him some extra “stay up time” at the end of the day.
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