File Folder Activities

I don't know about you, but I have some kiddos that really struggle with learning their sight words. For Deaf/hard of Hearing students, they cannot rely on phonics to read, they must memorize every single word. It can be very difficult for students that have memory issues and/or learning disabilities. So we do TONS of repetition and practice in my classroom.

Over the years,  I have collected all sorts of sight word worksheets for the students to use to practice their words. But frankly, they get boring very quickly. So this year I thought I'd make my own file folder activities to make practicing sight words fun.

My two little girls really enjoyed these activities. I got them out to take pictures and they wanted to do folder after folder! One of them is going into first grade, so the sentence writing and word searches were perfect for her. My other little one is going into Transitional Kindergarten. She tried them and was able to tell me if it was the word we were looking for or not on the activity page. I was quite impressed.

But naturally, the kinesthetic part of rolling out the playdoh and making the words was hands down the most fun for the girls. I can see my students enjoying this part as well.

On the front of each folder, the students use either playdoh, pipe cleaners, yarn, etc to make their word. For the Deaf/hard of Hearing students, there are circles to indicate how many signs there are for the word. After they sign each of the meanings/signs they place a little playdoh ball on the circles.

On the inside of the folder, there is a place to practice writing the word, framing the word, and then a sentence to write. The second part is an activity. Each of the activities is a little different. They might find and circle their word from a bunch of words and fonts, a word search, an I-Spy where they use a magnifying glass to find and circle their sight word, or cross out their words.

It took a little bit of prep to get these made, but I can see using them for years to come as a center activity or independent work. In my class, we learn 4 new sight words a week. Rather than the boring worksheets I used last year right after recess time, we'll be doing something a lot more fun and engaging!

I've made folders for the basic Dolch Sight Words available over on TpT. You can check them out by clicking on the picture.