Reading sight words are a crucial component of any K-2 curriculum plan, but when it comes to teaching ESL kids the fundamentals that can be puzzling! This post will outline some easy ways incorporate Memory Games Printables into your lesson lans to enhance sight word learning.
ESL Memory Game Printable Ideas (materials you already have)
A memory game is a type of game that tests a person’s ability to remember items. It is usually played with two players, where each player takes turns to turn over cards from a deck until they find two cards that match. Whoever finds the matching cards first, wins the round.
Memory games are not only for kids! They can be used in many different ways such as at work or at home as a way to improve your cognitive skills and overall brain health.
Memory games are a fun way to help kids develop skills such as concentration, memory and problem solving.
Some of the most popular memory games for kids are Memory Match, Memory Fives and Memory Game. These games can be played in a variety of ways, depending on the age of the child.
The game is a memory game for kids where they have to match the pairs of cards.
There are two sets of cards – one set with objects
and another set with their names.
The child has to find the pair of cards that match each other and then put them together.
Memory games for kids are a great way to keep children entertained and engaged. They are also an excellent way to increase their memory skills.
What are the benefits of memory games for kids?
Memory games are a great way to stimulate your child’s brain and help them to remember things more easily.
Memory games are a great way to stimulate your child’s brain and help them to remember things more easily. They can be used for children of any age, but are especially effective for children with learning disabilities or ADHD. Memory games can also be used as a supplement for school work or as an alternative method of teaching concepts that may be difficult for some kids.
Memory games can also be used as a supplement for school work or as an alternative method of teaching concepts that may be difficult for some kids.
Printable Activities for Memory Games
Sight words are words that occur often in a text that readers should be able to read them by sight without having to stop, pause and try to decode the words. Here are some easy ideas and steps you can use to help your ESL students read sight words.
1. Sight word heads-up: this game promotes sight to sound correspondence. When students hear the word – they can practice identifying the word in print. To set up this game, have a set of sight word cards programmed with the sight words you want to work on and then split the class in two groups. One student is allocated to begin by holding up a sight word card, then the first student to call out the sight word name gets a point and gets their turn to hold up a card. If a student makes a mistake then they will lose a turn and the group will not get a point. Keep doing this until all sight words have been used! You can use a generic list of sight words like the FREE ones below from Teaching in China or any sight word cards you may have on hand.
- 2. Read sight words in context: have the students read as many books and print literature that you have on hand in your classroom. This is a sure fire way to get them exposed to their sight words as much as possible! Make sure that they are reading at their level and have them mark their sight words using dry erase markers or even coloring them in on printed sheets. I use printed sentence posters of sight words and get the students reading them in a group or even laminating the posters and using them as booklets. Need a great done for you method in teaching sight words to ESL students? Check out these Sight Word Sentence Posters here for Fry’s First 100 list or the Bundle here for all 300 sight words. This FREE take home sight words reading booklet works wonders for students too!
ESL Memory Games Printables
3. Play a memory game: this activity is fairly simple, make two sets of any sight word cards you may have. I think it’s great to have a theme like monsters or fish like this fun shark themed one from Brenda Tejeda. Once you’ve printed two sets of the sight words, lay them face down on the table and have each student have a go at uncovering two cards at a time. If they get the same word they get to keep the cards, if they don’t they turn them over again and so on. They continue this until all cards are done. The student with the most cards wins!
Sight Words ESL Memory Game – Play this with ANY sight word cards!
Pick up this fun penguin themed sight word memory game from the form below.
This game can be played in several ways. It includes the Dolch pre-primer and the primer set of word lists. Empty penguin cards are also included so you can add your own words. Two recording sheets are also included.
Game 1: Memory Snap. Print and laminate as many cards as you wish to use (also depends on your class’s ability and exposure to the words. There are two versions of each word needed to play. Students need both in order to make matching pairs of the words. There is an optional page that you could print to laminate on the back of the cards so that you could keep track of the cards for storage. Lay out 5 pairs of matching cards along with about 3 ‘Uh Oh Snowball’ cards in the mix (you could choose to put more). Students then play in a group of 3-5 to try to collect as many cards as they can get. They begin by uncovering three random cards, then if they get two matching pairs they have to read the word and if they can read it, they take both cards. If they uncover a snowball card, they have to give their cards to the next person and they lose their turn and so on! This will soon become a favorite go-to sight word game in class!
More sight word printables you might like:
- 3 of the Best Common Core Kindergarten Sight Words Worksheets and Activities
- 15+ Ridiculously Easy Printables to teach Sight Words for ESL Students
- Free Sight Word Spin Read and Color Penguin Themed Blog Post
Game 2: Matching Pairs. This is a simple game, you make two copies of the cards and then align them in a column, have the students play with a partner. They begin by uncovering the first card on the left then a random card on the right and see if they match, if they do they yell ‘snap’, read the word and take the cards. They continue this until all cards have been taken.
Game 3: Flash Card Race. In this game, the teacher hands out a deck of cards for each group. Each person takes a turn to flip a random card and read the word, then flip it over again and spell the word. If they do the ‘reading’ and ‘spelling’ of the word correctly, they will keep the card. If they pull a ‘snowball’ card, they give their cards to the next person in their group and so on! 🙂
Thanks for stopping by!
I hope you loved the ideas in this post! If you’re looking for some more sight word activities check out the FREE activities below.
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