Revised 1/2022
The Lone Tree Elementary Sight Words
What are sight words?
A sight word is any word that is automatically known by a reader .
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Fundations teaches words that can't be sounded out (because they are not phonetically correct or because a child needs the word before they have been taught that particular phonics concept) as TRICK WORDS.
The LTE Sight Word Lists include words from: Fundations (2nd Edition), i-Ready (Zeno, Fry, & Dolch lists), the Fountas and Pinnell High Frequency Words, and Jan Richardson's Sight Word Lists.
These words have been arranged into lists and the words in the earlier lists are usually needed before the ones in the later lists. Lists are under grade levels but all students should master the earlier lists before moving on to the lists in the next grade level. If a student knows all the words at their grade level they are ready to go on to the next lists. The Decodable Lists are the BEST place to start because these words follow the phonics rules.
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New research on the science of reading makes it very clear that the most effective way to learn sight words is by a process called orthographic mapping (a mental process that allows us to learn words). This process helps the student to use sound-symbol relationships for the parts of the word that are phonetically regular and then to see and understand the part(s) of the word that are irregular or don't follow the phonics rules. The resources below explain this process and provide resources for orthographically mapping words for students. We do NOT learn sight words by memorizing the whole word.
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Links to resources & information about learning sight words:
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Really Great Reading's Heart Words
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Really Great Reading's blog which explains about the research behind how to Make Heart Words Sticky
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UFLI Heart Word Slides (PowerPoint)
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UFLI Heart Word Slides (Google Slides)
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David Kilpatrick "How We Remember Words, and Why Some Children Don't"
This is a little technical but explains what orthographic mapping is all about.
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LTE Decodable Sight Word Lists
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The words in these lists are also contained in the numbered lists below.
The concepts needed to decode these words are taught in first grade Fundations with the exception
of the last three words (most, give, & old). The lists are in the order that the concepts are taught.
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VC: vowel consonant
CVC: consonant vowel consonant
Digraphs CVC: consonant vowel consonant words that include digraphs (wh, ch, sh, th, ck)
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Blends CVC​: consonant vowel consonant words that include blends (nd, st, lp,nt, xt, sk)
Glued Sounds: am, an, all, ang, ing, ong, ung, ank ink, onk, unk
R-Controlled Vowels: ar, er, ir, or, ur
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Y as a Vowel: 1 syllable word - sounds like /i/​
2 syllable word - sounds like /e/
Closed Syllable Exceptions: ind, ild, old, olt, ost, ive
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Each list has ten words. You will need 5 pages of card stock to print each set below.​
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Most students will master these words in Kindergarten
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Most students will master these words in First Grade
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Most students will master these words in Second Grade
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Third Grade and Beyond
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Students in the third grade and above should be able to recognize, spell, and use the LTE Sight Words in their daily writing. If your child knows all of these words, use the list of the 1000 most frequently used words as a resource for more words!
