What Are SnapWords?

SnapWords: I know a lot of you are wondering how these Snap-Words Sight Word cards work. Let’s break them down a bit and talk about them.

What are SnapWords?

Snap Word sight word cards are awesome because they have a visual picture on one side. The back of each card has a plain text version, as well as a motion and language cue to match each picture front.

Talk about connecting all the senses. I know these cards are perfect for those students with special learning needs, ADHD, and also young learners. These cards simply make sense to them. They make learning fun.

How I Used SnapWords at Home

Let me show you how I use SnapWords with my own child today. When we get a new pack of cards or new words, I let S just play with them. She looks through them and usually read the words she can make sense of or makes up the words she wants others to be.

She also LOVES the pictures. She often makes up sentences using pictures. If she knows the word, I put it in the smiley face baggie. If I think she knows the picture clue, but not the word itself, I put it in the plain baggie. If we don’t know the word at all, it does in the frown face baggie.

I pull out a few words SnapWords to work on and place them on the counter at home. This just allows me to see them often and ask her about them. This week, we worked on the words many, tell, on, and then.

Since they were in sight, S saw them often too, and would pick them up and read them. I would hold them up in passing as well.

Because we had some snow days and we do “homework” together for a few minutes every day,
I wrote the words we were working on for her on mini-post-it. I put them on her seat at the kitchen table next to her “art supplies.” I knew she would find them and create with them.

And I was right. She got excited and began to play with the words just because they were in her “area.”

She even started making her own words on the mini post-its. Another easy and quick way to include sight words is to use window markers. I wrote the words on one side of the window and put the curtain down. Since we get a lot of sun through that window, this is what she saw.

She picked up her window markers and began to write the sight words too! She even added a sentence or two… with prompting from Mom. I brought home this pocket chart from school because it was looking rough.

We hung it up for S to play school with. She loves to put things in it. Today she put her words in it and she became the teacher. Guess who was the student? ME! We play lots of games like this, but honestly… the games are all her idea and I go along with it. My job is to facilitate her learning, not to control it. {Meaning, I set her up for learning.}

S just turned 5 in January, right when we started these SnapWords cards. She knows well over 100 words! Most of the words she knows are without the picture clue, but some words she is still working within her brain and using the picture clue to help.

I assess her on the fronts {with picture clues} and backs {without picture clues} to see where she stands. I gave her a goal to reach… 100 words!

As we read words, I would randomly reward her with a small piece of candy to keep her motivated and focused. You can even use grapes or peanuts… just pick something they enjoy. When she reached her 100-word goal, she got a reward! A Frozen Accessory Kit!

{You can see my marker, candy, and cards in the background.} Since she has the attention span of a just-turned-5-year-old… I had a problem. She knows too many words to go over every day in one sitting! {What a GREAT problem to have, right?}

I know she knows the words because she is reading everything and anything we give her the confidence these cards give students is truly amazing!

We still go over and use the SnapWords cards at least once a week and I continue to see her progress. We still play games with the words. We still READ these words every day. As you can see, we are huge fans of these Snap Words at my personal house. I also use them at school and love them there too.

I hope this has helped answer some of your SnapWord and sight word questions. But… please leave me more below so I know what you want to know! I know a lot of you are wondering how these Snap Words Sight Word cards work.