What are sight words?

Sight words refer to high-frequency words that children are encouraged to recognize immediately and automatically, rather than relying on phonetic decoding strategies. This approach promotes fluent reading since many sight words do not follow standard phonetic rules or are too frequent in text to be decoded each time they appear. By memorizing these words, students can focus on comprehension rather than getting bogged down with decoding, enabling smoother and more efficient reading. Sight words typically include common words such as "the," "and," "is," and "you," which frequently appear in early reading materials, helping young learners build confidence and increase their reading speed.

In contrast, the other options refer to different aspects of language and literacy that do not accurately describe sight words. For example, words requiring complex decoding skills do not align with the purpose of sight words, which are meant to be recognized instantly. Similarly, associating sight words solely with literary texts or labeling them as advanced vocabulary does not reflect their function and significance in early reading development.