Rainbow Words: A bright new way to learn Sight Words!

Rainbow Words have been a fun addition to our classroom this spring.  I made these sets as a request from our 1st grade teachers to get students ready for first grade.  Our basal only requires 40 sight words in kindergarten and over 100 in 1st grade. That's quite a jump!  If they are ready for it then why not go for it?

Each week I progress monitor my class so I just added a Rainbow Word Assessment to my routine. Students read the list they are on and if they read through without any problems they get to move to the next color.  Once they have completed all 6 levels they are proficient in the first 150 sight words (from Fry's list).  It has been a HUGE motivator for my kiddos!

I've had some requests to show how I make this work in my classroom.  Here are a few tips for how I make it an easy no stress center in my classroom.

#1 Keeping track of copies!

When I started out I made the EXACT number of copies I needed to hand out each work and that didn't work out so well.  A few weeks ago I took a few minutes at the end of the day to make a big stack of each color.  I'm keeping them in the file folder that I use to file student work.  This has worked out great!

Now I can grab whatever color the student needs and attach it with their weekly work packet.  Easy peasy!

#2 Keeping activities available

I found these GREAT little containers at the dollar store to hold each set of words.

It's really easy for my kids to see what set of cards they need and they can get to work QUICK!  I cleared off a shelf I was using for some other centers and turned this into our sight word station.  It stays open all of the time, everything is available, and I never have to do anything except for replace some copies every once in awhile.  This is my favorite part of RAINBOW WORDS!

The activities included that work with any of the word lists are:

ABC Order- Grab 8 cards, put them in ABC order, and record them.
Word Sort- Sort and record words by 2 letters, 3 letters, 4 letters, and 5+ letters.
Pyramid Words-Write words one letter at a time to create a pyramid.
Rainbow Write- Write words in the colors of the rainbow.

Some of my kiddos just like to use the cards like flash cards and quiz a partner.  I put a few sets together on rings to keep those together too.

Rainbow Words have made a HUGE difference this spring in the number of sight words my students are able to read without hesitation.  The best part is the motivation I've witnessed in students I have had a hard time lighting a fire under!  Suddenly they are putting in the work because they have a clear goal in mind.  The success they feel as they pass each level has been a huge motivator!


Click here to see these in my store! 

Thanks for stopping by today!  We are on the downhill stretch right now....4 and half days to go.  It is NOT going to be easy saying goodbye to this group (it never really is!).