How to Create a Fry Word Stack

Here I am sharing the method I use to begin focused sight word practice with my students.

This is a free tutorial for teachers and parents from www.freewordwork.com

This How to Create a Fry Word Stack tutorial will help you with a strategy for focused sight word practice.

While this is a strategy I used in my classroom with my students, it can also be used at home. It is perfect for parents looking for a great way to help their children practice sight words at home.

You will want to begin with a Fry Word assessment. To find out how I assess my students, take a look at How to Assess Fry Words. This is another video tutorial that includes the printable resources you will need.

Once you have completed the assessment above, you are ready to start with your sight word practice.

Do you need to find an easy way to give your children focused sight word practice?

This tutorial will help you get started!

This tutorial is helpful if you know what words your children need to practice.

Free Word Works Video Series

This is the second in a series of videos I am creating due to requests. I am finding many parents looking for ideas on how to help their child with reading at home. In this series, I will be sharing some of my favorite easy-to-implement strategies.

What are sight words?

Sight words are common words that we ask students to memorize. We want students to know these words on sight instead of needing to sound them out.

Often sight words are words that are not attached to meaning. Some examples are to, the, of and is.

Other terms you might hear to name sight words are:

service words
high frequency words
snap words
instant words
Dolch Words
Fry Words

The final two, Dolch Words and Fry Words, refer to a specific list of sight words. You can find a list of each grouping of words and read a little bit about by reading An Introduction to Fry Words and An Introduction to Dolch Words.

Resources Needed for this Focused Sight Word Practice Tutorial

I personally prefer to use Fry Words when working on sight words with my students. For this tutorial, I will be using the first 100 Fry Words.

To find the Fry Sight Word List and Fry Sight Word Checklist I used in the first video, visit the first video.

For this video you will need your completed checklist plus:

Index cards
A marker or other writing tool
A binder ring or baggie (to help your child store their words when they are finished.)
You will also need a pen for yourself while completing this check.

Tips for this Approach

You will create your child’s Fry Word Stack in a one-on-one setting with a student. Again, if you are a classroom teacher this can be a challenge.

I always tried to squeeze in a few minutes whenever possible. I would pull a child to the door during morning entry while I was greeting other students or maybe practice during a transition time. Of course, a block of time devoted to this task is ideal but not always realistic.

I love this simple strategy because it works! I was amazed at how quickly my struggling readers could learn new words with this approach.

If you have kids who have no known words to get their stack started, don’t focus on just Fry words. Their name and your name can be known words. Another idea is to add color words. For students who don’t know these, write the colors with a marker of the same color. Children also often know mom and dad or other family members. One other common word is stop.