Snap Words
In reading and writing workshop, we have been talking about “snap words”. These are words that your child should recognize quickly and automatically, or in a snap. Snap words include high frequency words such as: the, and, is. When a word is a snap word, you don’t need to sound it out, you recognize it instantly. Your child now has a word ring with some snap words on it.
We have also been talking about snap words in writing workshop. These are words that your child should spell correctly because they have been reading them AND writing them. Your child’s list of writing and spelling snap words will be smaller than their list of reading snap words. Often your child will learn to read a snap word before he or she learns to spell it. That is expected.
In Fundations, kindergarteners learn to read and spell some “trick” words. These are high frequency words that they have not learned the spelling patterns for yet (like “my”) or that have irregular spellings (like “they”). In our class, we are including these in our “snap” words.
The white index card snap words on your child’s word ring are words that everyone in the class is learning at the same time. We would like your child to be able to read AND spell their white card snap words correctly by the end of the year. The blue index card snap words on their word ring are words that were introduced in books read in their reading group. Most students will have different blue cards. Some blue cards may become white cards later in the year. Students are not responsible for learning to spell all the blue card words correctly.
Here’s what you can do at home to support snap word development:
In reading and writing workshop, we have been talking about “snap words”. These are words that your child should recognize quickly and automatically, or in a snap. Snap words include high frequency words such as: the, and, is. When a word is a snap word, you don’t need to sound it out, you recognize it instantly. Your child now has a word ring with some snap words on it.
We have also been talking about snap words in writing workshop. These are words that your child should spell correctly because they have been reading them AND writing them. Your child’s list of writing and spelling snap words will be smaller than their list of reading snap words. Often your child will learn to read a snap word before he or she learns to spell it. That is expected.
In Fundations, kindergarteners learn to read and spell some “trick” words. These are high frequency words that they have not learned the spelling patterns for yet (like “my”) or that have irregular spellings (like “they”). In our class, we are including these in our “snap” words.
The white index card snap words on your child’s word ring are words that everyone in the class is learning at the same time. We would like your child to be able to read AND spell their white card snap words correctly by the end of the year. The blue index card snap words on their word ring are words that were introduced in books read in their reading group. Most students will have different blue cards. Some blue cards may become white cards later in the year. Students are not responsible for learning to spell all the blue card words correctly.
Here’s what you can do at home to support snap word development:
- Make your own snap word cards. Index cards work well. You can write one word on each card and have your child practice reading these words like flash cards.
- Gradually add words to your snap words. Words that work best are high frequency, short words such as: this, am, we, will, etc.
- To learn to spell a snap word, your child should say the letters out loud as they spell it, then read the word they wrote at the end (“t - h - e - the”). Engaging multiple senses (visual, auditory, kinesthetic) at the same time reinforces the learning of new words and increases the likelihood of retaining the word in long term memory.
Illustrative Math Family Support Materials for Kindergarten