Fall Color by Sight Words Worksheets
Say goodbye to boring flashcards. Your child will learn the sight words in a fun hands-on way with the fall color by sight words worksheets.
I recently got an email from a mom about the dreaded sight words flashcards that came home from school.
Guess what? There is a faster, easier, and more efficient way to teach your child sight words.
Plus you can make sight words a fun, seasonal activity with these Fall Color By Sight Words Worksheets. Schoolwork feels more like fun when it’s thematic and engaging.
That’s exactly what you’ll find with these free Fall Color By Sight Words Worksheets.
Disclosure: This post may contain affiliate links. Read more here.
What are sight words?
“Sight words” is a term teachers and parents use for high-frequency words like “of” and “the.” They are words you want your child to know instantly, or by sight, to make reading fast and easier.
There is a misconception that children can not decode, or sound out, sight words. While there are a few words like “of,” that aren’t decodable, they are exceptions.
The good news is most sight words are completely decodable. These are sight words that children can sound out:
- and
- it
- that
- but
This means that sight words don’t have to be memorized! You don’t need to use flashcards and instead you can use more hands-on learning.
Read everything else you need to know in the blog post How to Teach Sight Words.
When should I teach my child sight words?
Children generally can start learning sight words between the ages five and six.
Before children are ready to learn sight words they need to be able to:
- identify letters of the alphabet quickly and accurately
- separate the sounds in words when said aloud, also called segmenting sounds
- know the most common sound-letter spellings for consonants
- know the short vowel sound-letter spellings
It’s important not to rush ahead to sight words if your child has mastered the skills above.
Read more in Teach Your Child to Read.
Should my preschooler learn sight words?
Sight words do not need to be a part of the preschool curriculum. As a matter of fact, if I saw them being taught in a preschool, I would likely not choose that school for my child.
It is more important that preschoolers learn the alphabet and have a play-based, thematic curriculum where they learn a lot of vocabulary.
These two skills, along with strong phonological awareness, are stronger predictors for good reading than learning sight words early.
Fall Color By Sight Words Worksheets
These Fall Color by Sight Words worksheets are a gift to my email subscribers. You can just scroll down the box and enter your name and email.
They’ll be sent straight to your email. Just click the button in your email and the worksheets will open in your internet browser.
These are for personal home use or individual classroom use. Please do not share them elsewhere.
What words are included?
I used the Dolch Sight Word List to create these printables. They include the first 20 sight words:
- the
- and
- to
- he
- a
- I
- you
- it
- of
- in
- was
- said
- his
- that
- she
- for
- on
- they
- but
- had
Fall Count the Sounds Sight Word Worksheets
Before your child can color by sight words, you need to make sure they can hear and count the sounds in the sight words.
For example, the word “they” has only sound sounds: /th/ and /A/.
Here’s how you can help your child with the Fall Count the Sounds Sight Worksheets.
- Before you give your child a worksheet, say each of the 6 words aloud.
- Show your child how to count the sounds on their fingers.
- Say the word, “the.”
- Help your child separate the sounds into /th/ /uh/.
- Show your child with fingers that it’s two sounds.
- Continue with the rest of the words: to, and, he, you, and it.
- Then give your child the worksheet.
- If your child can not independently read each word, read it aloud.
- Count the sounds again.
- Ask your child to color in the same quantity of leaves.
Does this sound way different than how you were taught to read? I know, me too!
But the science of reading has shown up that children are most successful when they go from hearing the sounds to the printed word.
A lot of us were not taught to hear the sounds in words. So to help you learn this, there is an answer key provided in the free Fall Sight Word Worksheets.
Fall Color by Sight Word Worksheets
The Fall Color by Sight Words has 20 sight words from the Dolch Word List.
There are four words on each of the five worksheets.
Here’s how you can help your child use the Fall Sight Word Worksheets:
- Explain to your child that they will color each leaf a different color based on the sight word.
- Show your child how to use crayons or markers to color code the marker keys at the top of the page.
- Your child will read each word and color it with crayons or markers that match the keys.
- Make sure you hear your child reading the word aloud.
Using Do a Dot Markers with the Color by Sight Word Worksheets
You can also you the Fall Color By Sight Word Worksheets with dot markers. Dotting the words is so motivating and hands-on for children.
Just like coloring my sight words, you will:
- Help your child color code the key (i.e. use the red dot marker to dot the word the).
- As your child reads each word, they will use the correct dot marker that matches the key.
- Make sure your child is reading each word aloud.
I’ve learned the hard way – bargain brand dot markers aren’t as good as Do a Dot Markers. But any dot marker or bingo dauber will work.
Supplies for the Fall Sight Word Worksheets
You probably already have the supplies you need for the Fall Sight Word Worksheets:
- crayons
- markers
- Do a Dot Markers
- printer
- paper
Want more Sight Word Printables?
In the Printable Parents’ Shop you can grab these worksheets and printables.
Dot the Sight Words
If your child liked the Fall Color by Sight Words Worksheets, they will love Dot the Sight Words.
You’ll love that it’s arranged in 11 lists of 20 words each so it covers all 220 Dolch Sight Words. But working on 20 words at a time is manageable.
You’ll also like that you can help your child color code each word.
For example, in the word “have”, we color-coded h, a, and green because they are a regular spellings for the sounds /h/, /a/, and /v/.
We color-coded “e” yellow. Words in English don’t end in the letter v, but your child probably hasn’t learned this job of silent e.
Sight Words Read and Spell
Parent know their children need to be able to read the sight words, but did you know your child actually needs to spell them, too?
In fact, if you teach your child to spell alongside reading, they are more likely to learn the words. Check out the Dolch Sight Word Read and Spell Printable Workbook for Dolch List 1.
Or grab the complete Dolch Sight Word bundle with all 220 words to get your child reading and writing fast!
Recapping Fall Color By Sight Words Worksheets
Here’s the summary for busy parents:
- Your child doesn’t need to do flash cards – hands-on activities are usually better.
- Sight words is a term for high-frequency words like “the” and “of.”
- A lot of the words are decodable and don’t need to be memorized.
- Preschoolers do NOT need to learn sight words.
- They need to focus on the alphabet and phonological awareness.
- It’s best that children can and count the sounds in the sight words (part of phonemic awareness).
- Use the Fall Color By SIght Word Worksheets to practice the first 20 Dolch words.
