High-Frequency Words - Just for Primary?

High-frequency words and/or sight words are best known from lists like Fry's Instant Sight Words, Dolch's 220 Sight Words, Fry's 1000 Word List, or Cunningham's 100 Word Wall Words. (By the way, Cunningham has a primary and intermediate list available.) These lists of words sometimes take on a life of their own. I've observed some schools that seem to ground their early reading instruction on students' memorization of these "magical" words. In primary grades, it is not uncommon for teachers to send lists of these words home for students to learn by rote. After second grade there seems to be less emphasis on high-frequency words and often by the 4th grade, teachers no longer give them a second thought. So what are these words, how important are they for readers to know, and what are some ways to teach them?


Sight Words vs. High-frequency Words

First let's look at the two types of words.

Sight words are a words that readers need to know "at sight" to read fluently. It does not matter if these words are decodable or not. These are high-utility words that occur most frequently in English.
High-frequency words are high-utility words that are used most commonly in English. Because they occur so frequently, knowing these words assist a reader in becoming more fluent.

In other words, they are pretty much the same thing. Some think of the sight words as the group of 100 - 200 words that make up most of what is written. For example, it is said that the 220 words in Dolch's list make up from 50% - 75% of words in most books. Others say that if a reader knows the first 100 of Fry's list, h/she will be able to read 50% of all words in most books. (Many of these words are not decodable; therefore, students will not learn them through phonics instruction.)

Fry has listed 1000 words that are most often used in English. He has these words listed in groups of 100. It is important for a school to decide which words are taught in which grades. A quick search on the internet will produce many samples from schools across the country.

What does it mean to KNOW these words?

As mentioned above it is really important for readers to know these words - especially the words that are not decodable. But, what do we mean by "know" them? Readers need to know these words with automaticity so that the brain does not use cognitive energy when it confronts them. High-frequency words are usually in a child's oral vocabulary; therefore, it is not necessary to include them in a vocabulary curriculum. I suggest that students should be able to read and write them fluently. Because these words are the utility words of our language, not only will fluency be effected by the reader's knowledge of these words but a student's writing skills will be impacted as well.

When mapping our curriculum, we should set expectations for students sight word knowledge. We can assign a set of words to each grade-level. We can set goals as to when students should be able to read and/or spell high-frequency words. However, be careful! Even if we have mapped when students should know them, we still have to be aware of ALL students' actual abilities to read and write them. For example, students might read the word because with automaticity in second grade, but it is not uncommon for 8th graders to misspell this seemingly primary word. Therefore, if a teacher discovers that a good portion of her class does not spell because correctly, it would be appropriate for her to revist it as a high-frequency word.

Instruction

I have found interactive Word Walls the most effective method of teaching sight words (Cunningham, 1995). Note: I specify interactive because a static list of words on display that are not used will not help students learn them. Here is a quick reminder of Cunningham's method:

• The teacher introduces 5 words a week.
• The words are added to a display in alphabetic order and in a way that all students can read them from their desks.
• On the day of introduction, the class claps the consonants and snaps the vowels while chanting the spelling.
• Each subsequent day, the teacher leads a short activity to practice the words and to draw attention to the Word Wall.

Many of Cunningham's activities require students to think about the word's use (syntactic), its meaning (semantic), and its spelling and sounds (graphophonic). This comprehensive approach embedded in the method helps students see the connection of phonics, reading, and writing.

For Primary Teachers: To add a layer of phonics instruction to the Word Wall, Cunningham has identified words on her list of 100 words that can be used to teach word patterns. For example, the word at can be used to teach the -at pattern. In fact, she suggests that a teacher should frequently ask questions such as "What other words can you read because you know how to read at?"

As you have noticed, I have not mentioned sending home lists of words, sight word card rings, etc. I think these types of strategies are very useful. However, I do not think they should take the place of classroom instruction of the words. If (when?) we place the responsibility of teaching into the hands of our students' parents, inevitably some of our students will be left behind. Not all parents have equal amounts of time to lead activities with their children. Therefore, some students will have ample opportunities to practice while others get little. If we depend on our parents for instruction, achievement gaps will persist.

Lastly, I would like to explicitly state that I do think there is room in any grade for teachers to teach high-frequency words if data shows that students cannot read and write these important words. I have given one example of how I might choose a word in 8th grade. Another approach might be to revisit the words during the middle school years to address multiple meaning words. For example, the word product is on Fry's 1000 Word List. At what grade could the multiple meanings of product be relevant? - in math? - in economics? - in science?

Let me know if you have any questions about teaching high-frequency words. Also, if your school has divvied up Fry's or Dolch's list and you would like to share it, let me know and we can attach a link to it.

Peace and happy word studying,
Jimi