5 Best Apps for Teaching Sight Words

In this post, I’m sharing 5 sight word apps (many free) that are perfect for beginning readers to practice high frequency sight words on an iPad or other mobile device. You’ll also get details about the Heart Word method for teaching sight words and details about my Heart Words Word Mapping resource which is another effective way for students to practice their sight words.

One of the best and most important jobs we have as teachers to young learners is teaching them how to read.  While there are many skills and strategies we use to do so, one that gets a lot of time and attention is word recognition. 

Although not a substitute for the ability to decode (also important!), the ability to recognize some words automatically, or on sight, contributes to reading effortlessly and with understanding. Words that can be recognized this way are known as sight words.

Sight word mastery is so important for young readers! For one, it allows them to free up cognitive resources so they can focus on the tougher words that require strong decoding skills.  Secondly, knowing sight words is a huge confidence booster for students! If they have strong sight word knowledge they will be able to understand the majority of the text, even when their decoding skills are still developing.  

What is the best way to teach sight words?

The Science of Reading tells us that effective instruction follows the “I do, We do, You do” model.  This means you must stop expecting students to learn sight words through flashcards and rote memorization. Instead, integrate irregularly spelled, high-frequency words into your phonics lessons using the Heart Word Method. 

The Heart Word Method requires students to use their phoneme knowledge to map the regular part of the words.  You explicitly teach them the sounds that are irregular in the word. The irregular part of the word is the part they must “learn by heart”, thus the name Heart Words. 

Once students have received your direction instruction (“I do“) and had plenty of opportunities to practice their heart words with you (“We do“),they need time to practice and apply these skills on their own (“You do“).

Students will spend a lot of time working on word recognition.  To keep things fresh and engaging it’s important we provide them with a range of sight word activities that offer different ways to work with the words.  

Today I’m happy to share with you a variety of activities that give students the practice they need to master their sight words. I’ll share 5 of the best sight word apps, as well as resources of my own that will provide a more hands-on approach to sight word practice.

5 Best Apps for Teaching Sight Words 

Reading Ninja An engaging educational game that helps kids learn to read three letter words by sight, sound, and touch.

With 150 words to choose from, you pick which ones the students will work with. The game supports 3 difficulty settings: EASY, MEDIUM, or HARD.  Reading Ninja on iTunes $1.99

Spelling City There are lots of FREE sight word activities within this one app including: word searches, memory, hangman, find the missing letter, and more! 

Sight Word Learning Games and Flash Cards  This app includes 6 different sight word games.  Students might tap words they hear read aloud, spell words they hear read aloud, or go through sight word flash cards. It includes all 220 words from the Dolch list.

You can see the instructions and get a preview of the app here:  Sight Word Games and Flash Cards on iTunes $2.99

Learn Sight Words  This FREE app includes 300+ sight words and is easy for both teachers and students to use. You can choose to turn the sound on so that children can listen to the sight words as they practice, or turn it off so that they can read them independently. 

Words are arranged into 9 different lists, or students can work through all 300 at once! It also allows you to flag challenging words that may need extra attention.  

Sight Word Sentence Builder  This app is a fun game that covers all levels of Dolch Sight Words and lets students practice them in context.  Using grade appropriate Sight Words, children assemble short sentences from given words.

The player receives visual and auditory feedback indicating whether the response is correct. Once the student answers correctly, the exercise moves to the next sentence. 

• Sight Word Sentence Builder on iTunes
• Sight Word Sentence Builder on Android

More Sight Word Practice Activities

If you are looking for additional ideas to give your students more hands-on sight word practice (without a device), I’m happy to share some of my very own sight word activities for kindergarten, 1st and 2nd grade students!  

Heart Words Word Mapping Centers and Activities

These science of reading-based literacy centers are truly what your students need to store heart words into their sight word memories.  

My Heart Word Centers and Independent Activities were designed to be used after you have explicitly and systematically introduced heart words to your students. They offer students the repeated exposure they need to commit the words to memory.  

With this bundle, you’ll get FOUR NO PREP heart word center activities.  Each activity helps students build phoneme-grapheme associations and work on phonemic awareness skills. They are self-checking and provide immediate feedback to ensure students are practicing spelling their heart words the correct way!  

Let’s take a peek at each center activity included in the bundle: 

Heart Words Digital Word Mapping 

In this digital center, students first hear an audio clip of the word. Then they read a sentence and map the word by moving a chip for each sound they hear.  Next, they graph the word by spelling the word with graphemes (letters).  Finally, they identify the “tricky” part of the word that they must learn by heart.

Heart Words Word Mapping Task Cards

Students first read a sentence to hear the high-frequency word used in context.  Next, they map the word by placing counters/cubes in the sound boxes. They then graph the word by spelling the word with graphemes and finally, write the word three times.

Heart Words Word Mapping

In this activity, students map the word by popping a dot for each phoneme they hear. Then they graph the word by spelling out the word. You can use the pop-it printables that are included or purchase your own.  Either way, this activity is highly engaging for students!! 

Mystery Heart Words 

Here students identify the sound represented by each picture and blend the sounds together to identify the mystery heart word. You’ll get 56 game mats that include 220 words- enough to last year all year long! 

In addition to the activities, this bundle also includes information about Heart Words and a high-frequency words list and scope and sequence to help ensure your instruction is systematic and informed.  

Fine Motor Sight Word Activities

Typically students who are are learning to recognize, read, and spell sight words also need to develop fine motor skills. Each activity in this bundle offers a hands-on, engaging way for young learners to develop their fine motor skills and hand-eye coordination as they work to read, write, and spell their sight words. 

Students use hands-on materials that develop fine motor skills as they play games, fill, cut, trace, and spin sight words. Take a closer at Sight Word Activities for Fine Motor Development for more details about each activity included in this resource!  

Download a fine motor sight word FREE activity here!  

Sight word practice is an integral part of reading instruction for our young learners.  I hope that the resources I’ve shared today will help you keep this important practice fresh and engaging in your classroom.

Be on the lookout for my next post, where I’ll share 5 online games for sight word practice! (These are activities that can be accessed on a desktop or laptop computer, rather than a device like an ipad or smartphone.) Until then, I’d love to hear about any other apps your students love to use in the classroom!  Feel free to leave me a comment and share your favorites below!

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