The entire world seems to be at a standstill, and the reason is the Covid-19 pandemic. Daily work and life have been drastically affected by a virus outbreak. No one might have ever imagined such a situation where people have to confine themselves inside the home, no unions or meeting with friends.
However, the crisis era has changed the perspective/perception of different things. Initially, students enjoyed lockdown as a holiday. After the repeated extension of lockdown, every student has understood the value of school. Teachers have been trying their best to teach and provide study material.
Research suggests that online learning has observed a significant increase in recent times. Due to such a sudden event, education’s quality and physical aspects seem to be slightly faded. Factors like network issues, technical issues, adaptability, computer literacy, and time management have been the primary reason.
In the present situation, it’s better to cope up with the issue and keep patience. As it’s said, if your head is intact, you can have a thousand turbans. Currently, it’s not the time to be upset about the helplessness we humans are facing. It’s time to take appropriate preventions.
Amidst coronavirus, it’s more important to keep kids disciplined. Subsequently, kids can be taught virtually to support their studies carefree and safe. It has several advantages (especially for younger kids).
Virtual/e-Learning can enhance adaptability, information retention, and time management at an early stage of life. So why not use this opportunity to make kids better and sharpen the skills they possess.
Sight Words or high-frequency words are words that are used frequently in a reading context. These words are usually non-phonetic words, i.e., they don’t follow phonic rules. Thus, kids are needed to memorize these words. Teaching sight words in a lockdown situation where kids are not allowed to come to school for education has resulted in a nightmare for kindergarten teachers.
Reasonably, kids are naughty, and teaching them in schools is not an easy task. Just imagine trying to teach kids virtually. It’s time for teachers and parents to gear themselves up for the troublesome task of thinking about how to teach sight words virtually? Don’t worry! Here are the best ways to vitalize teaching virtually.
- Videos & Songs
Videos and Songs are engaging activities for kids. It is a strategy that works even for 2nd standard students. So it never gets old. There are two ways to execute this idea. First, use videos where the speaker dances and alphabets are displayed accompanied by audio. Let’s say “h-o-w, how, repeat, h-o-w, how.”
Another way is to get all the students online, say each alphabet and what sounds collective. Now, tell them to repeat the same. Please give a tune to it. When they sing, their mouth is used, and eventually, they understand the word verbally and visually. It might sound funny if all kids unmute themselves, but it works!
- BINGO
Everyone knows what a BINGO game looks like and how it’s played. For this, parents need to be with their kids. It is Teacher vs. Child Bingo. Each Bingo will have 9, 16, or 25 words to form a matrix of 3, 4, or 5. Following is a pictorial representation of the same. Each box will have a sight word in it.
Suppose the teacher reads a word; the word needs to be canceled from both boxes (child’s bingo box and teacher’s). Now comes the kid’s turn; he reads a word, and the word gets canceled. The first one to form 3, 4, or 5 straight lines wins the match. For UKG, it’s better to opt for 3 x 3 matrix bingo.
Teaching Sight Words On Zoom
- Musical Chair
Yeah, this game is played in a group. Are you wondering how to teach sight words through the musical chair that too virtually without grouping up? Well, here’s the way! Each student needs a whiteboard or notepad, a chair, and a pen. Now, connect all the students, play music, and kids need to revolve around the chair (they have kept).
Read a word twice or thrice. When you stop the music, the kid needs to sit and write the word quickly and show it on the camera. Continue the play for another term.
- Competition
Competition is key to kid’s development. Why not use this stimulus? Let’s divide the class into boys and girls or roll number-wise. Create a PowerPoint Presentation with sight words. Suppose girls get the first chance, view the slide, and countdown until a girl reads the word.
Immediately view the second slide for boys. Now, go on changing slides and turns. Deduct one point for the wrong answer and add 2 points for a correct solution. If there’s a tie, go for the countdown statistics. You can even try kids vs. teachers and sometimes let the kids win the match.
Online Sight Word Flashcards
- Show Us
Most probably, the classroom is going to be of a group of students. And, giving equal opportunity to each student is a must in this game. You can use a whiteboard or flashcards for each student. In flashcards, you may ask the kid’s parents to make cards according to you.
Suppose you have 10 students and you have selected 5-10 sight words for 1-2 weeks. Now, parents are expected to be with their kids with cards. Connect all 10 students on an online video meeting application. Now, call roll number one and ask him to show “and.” The child will try to identify the word and holds the card in front of the camera. If he isn’t able to locate, access him.
Similarly, ask every student and revise it randomly. Continue the same drill for a week or two until all students can identify all ten words. Now, go for list 2. This visual learning can be a game-changer.
- Beat Me
As the title suggests, beat me isn’t beating. It’s a competitive game between students and teachers, better if it’s an individual one. Take a whiteboard, flashcard, or notepad.
Now, slowly write a sight word, and the student needs to identify it before you write it entirely. If the student identifies it, he gains a point. If not, you gain a point. The competition can be 1-3 points to reach every student—a fun way to indulge kids in learning and think simultaneously. You can reward the kid if he wins or a fake cry to make him happy.
Conclusion
Amidst pandemics, people have learned many lessons of life. The situation has made us understand to appreciate people for whatever task they do. Parents have got some free time from their hectic schedule, investing in looking after their kids. People have never got so close to each other in the past.
On the other hand, spending time with family allowed us to understand each other. So, this is the perfect time to spend with your kids and teach them too. We have discussed six ways to teach sight words virtually. Even parents can take the initiative.
Secondly, if parents tend to spend valuable time with their kid’s studies, they will observe better learning in their kids. Parents can be the best teacher in the lockdown period because they are closest to them, and they can make a warm, safe, comfortable environment for their kids.
