Gopher Finding vs Read Spell Picture Sight Words

Gopher Finding is a great app for 5-8 years old children. It is divided into 4 levels to help them practice sight words in their levels (from kindergarten thru 3rd grade) and have one more level for high frequency words. All of 217 sight words (from Dolch Sight Word List) and 126 high frequency words used in this app are important and useful for beginning readers. In this game, your child will help gopher to find sight words. Every time they get 20% correct, they will get the reward (i.e., a shirt, hat, pants, sunglasses or shoes) to dress up the gopher. Moreover, they can collect all the different dress-up collections as they go. The rewards from each game will also collect in the reward chest and they can dress up the gopher as they want for their own collection. This really encourages them to learn things and have fun at the same time. Gopher Finding also includes the progress report for parents and teachers to see how well their children can learn and recognize the words. This game will help your child master identifying sight words and high frequency words for their early reading skills. **All sight words have been recorded by professional voice talent. *** If you have any questions or problems related to our app, please email us at playsmart.kids@gmail.com. We are willing to assist you.

I See, I Spell, I Learn® products support early literacy in children. They have been tried and tested on emerging readers (4-8 years). Our research shows that children are more successful using these learning products as they are visually engaging and fun to use. WHAT ARE SIGHT WORDS? Children start to read by “sounding out” words. However many words cannot be sounded out. Words like “are”, “your”, “come”, etc. appear so frequently in early reading material, that children must be able to recognize these words by “sight”, hence the name “sight words”. So sight words must be memorized or recognized instantly, rather than being sounded out or decoded. WHY PICTURE SIGHT WORDS™? We have worked extensively with children who struggle with reading and spelling. The traditional method of exposure to and repetition of sight words can be difficult, boring and worse, ineffective! Picture Sight Words™ can help a child read, spell and understand sight words much faster. The words have been taken from Dolch Sight Words lists (Pre-K to 3rd grade). Each set has 25 words that go from a beginner level in Set 1 to an advanced level in Set 3. • READING: Picture Sight Words™ are a research-based, multi-sensory teaching tool that help children recognize and, thus, read sight words much faster. Picture cues allow a child to recall a picture instead of a letter - the picture provides a context that helps your child understand and recognize what the word says. Simply put, the picture tells a story which makes recalling the sight word easier. • SPELLING: Picture Sight Words™ are the first cards that help a child spell sight words. The picture cue embedded in the word is in the shape of the tricky letter. Now when the child tries to recall that letter, he can recall the picture, which will tell him what letter it is because it has the same shape. The cards are not cluttered with confusing visuals. There is usually just one picture in the word, making recall easier. For the first time, your child can "draw" a word, and spelling sight words can become fun! • COMPREHENSION: The sentence at the back of each card uses the sight word, and helps your child understand the meaning of the word in context. WHO CAN BENEFIT FROM THE PICTURE SIGHT WORDS™ PROGRAM? The program works best for emerging readers (4-8 years old), since the pictures keep younger children engaged. The cards can be used alone or as part of any reading or spelling program. These cards have proved to be a great learning tool for children with learning differences like dyslexia, since they use right-brained strengths of recalling a picture, instead of relying on the weaker left-brain to recall a sequence of letters which have no meaning to them. HOW TO USE THE PICTURE SIGHT WORDS™ PROGRAM? • Instructions for reading: Show your child the card, and listen to the audio. Have your child repeat this 3 times. Flip the card and listen to the sentence. Have your child make up a sentence with the sight word. Flip back to the word and discuss the picture. Make comments like “Oh that’s a nice color!” or “Why do you think they used that picture?” or “What is the picture telling us about?”. The more you engage children, the more likely they are to remember the picture. Move to the next card. You can wait till your child can read all 25 cards before working on spelling, or you can start once reading 5 cards has been mastered. Learning to spell sight words takes longer than learning to read them, so patience is key! • Instructions for spelling: Show your child the card and repeat the sentence as needed. Discuss the shape of the letter and show its connection to the picture cue and to the sentence. Help them remember the picture, rather than memorizing a letter over and over. The PSW app also lets you browse and access other educational material like Phonics and Sight Word Readers, Reading Comprehension Workbooks, Inspirational books for children and reference materials for teachers, tutors and parents.