1. Overview

Sight Words Fishing provides additional opportunities for practicing sight words and improving retention. The child catches a fish, then reads the word on the fish in order to keep their catch. The novelty of catching the fish makes the game a favorite with children, and they will happily play independently. This is an excellent game for providing repetition and building toward mastery of the words.

Sight Words Fishing

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2. Materials

The game requires a fishing rod and sight words fish. The fishing rod has a magnet on the end of the line for the child to catch the fish. The sight words fish are fish-shaped flash cards, printed on cardstock paper, that have a metal staple or metal paper clip to allow them to be “caught” by the magnet on the rod.

2.1 Fishing Rod

• Stick or dowel (approximately 14 inches)
• String or Yarn (approximately 24 inches)
• Magnet (push pin magnets work best)
• Scissors

Tie one end of the string to the magnet. Tie the other end of the string to the stick. To stop the string sliding around, tie a knot on one side of a natural bump in the stick, wrap the string around a few times, then tie on the other side of the bump.

If you are using something smooth, like a dowel, cut a notch in the wood, then tie the knot in the notch.

Trim excess string with scissors.

2.2 Sight Words Fish

• Fish templates (download here)
• Cardstock (approx. 110 lb / 200 gsm)
• Printer
• Stapler (or paper clips)
• Scissors

Print out the fish templates on some cardstock paper. Then cut out the fish with the scissors. On the head of each fish, place a staple or a paper clip. (In our experience staples work better, as sometimes the paper clips slip off the fish.)

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3. Activity

Set up the exercise by placing all the fish, word side down, on a table or the ground. Show the child how to catch a fish by dangling the fishing rod magnet near the fish’s head to “catch” it, taking the fish off the line, and then reading the word.

Adult: We are going to play Sight Words Fishing. Are you ready to fish?
Child: Yes!
[Adult models catching a fish, removing fish from line, and turning it over to read.]
Adult: Dog [sweeping finger from left to right under the word]. Your turn.

As the children play the game, if they get the word correct, they keep the fish, making a pile by their side.

Child: Cat.
Adult: That’s right, that says cat.

The game ends when all the fish are caught. For more repetition, you can go through all the caught fish.

Adult: Let’s look at everything you caught.
            [Point to first fish.] What does this say?
Child: Dog.
Adult: [Point to next fish.] And this?
Child: Cat.

Once a child has a bit of experience with the game, they can play by themselves, coming to you only at the end of the game with any words that they had trouble sight reading. The game can also be played with small groups.

Note: The fish should be close to identical. Avoid making the fish different colors, different shapes, or having the children color them in. Decorative features can focus attention on the wrong things and encourage the children to develop shortcuts, guessing the word based on the design of the fish rather than by recognizing the actual word. It also allows children to choose words that they find easy, and avoid the words they find challenging.

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4. Variations

4.1 Fish in a Bowl

Fish in a Bowl is essentially the same game, but dispenses with the rod and the complication that the rod adds. You simply make the fish and place them in a ‘fish bowl’ (if you want to be fancy, you can purchase an acrylic fish bowl, but most people just use a bowl or bucket they have lying around the house). Instead of fishing, the child simply picks a fish out of the bowl and reads the word.

By dispensing with the fishing rod, this game is simpler to make. It also reduces the distraction that the rod can create. The trade-off is that without the rod, the game is not quite as fun.

4.2 Group Fishing

A small group of children (up to five) take turns fishing. One child fishes, then attempts the word. The other children in the group act as judges to check that the word is correct. The children can keep any fish they name – if they don’t know the word, the other children in the group say the word, and the fish is put back. At the end of the game, ask the children to show their fish one at a time, and the whole group reads the words together.

4.3 Fishing Contest

A child or group of children see how many fish they can catch in three minutes. Set a kitchen timer for three minutes, and let them fish, again allowing them to keep all the fish they can read, and returning fish that they struggled with.

At the end of the game, review the children’s “keep” piles. Just as importantly, review the fish left in the pond that no one was able to win, so they can identify and practice these problematic words.

4.4 Different Reading Levels

In your classroom, you may have kids who are at different reading levels. Print more difficult words on a different color of paper and direct the more advanced students to “fish” that color.

For example: print Dolch First Grade words on blue paper and Dolch Second Grade words on green paper. Tell the struggling readers to catch blue fish, and have the advanced readers catch green fish.

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5. Assessment

An observer can keep track of the words each child is getting correct and the words on which the child is struggling. The game is an unobtrusive way to take inventory of progress.

To demonstrate mastery of the exercise, the child should be able to confidently produce the correct word for 100% of the words.

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6. Printable Fish Templates

Create your own custom fish cards or use some of our pre-made templates below.

To download a template, right-click and select Save As.

These materials are provided under the Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported License. Essentially, this means you can do whatever you want with the resources, provided you leave the attribution hallmark on the resources. You may use these materials in the classroom, at home, as part of a for-profit tutoring business, or for any other purpose. (Except starting forest fires. That’s bad.) You do not need to contact us for permission to use the materials. We want you to use them!

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