Why are sight words important in reading instruction?

Sight words are crucial in reading instruction primarily because they significantly increase reading fluency and comprehension. These are words that students are encouraged to recognize instantly without decoding. Many of these words do not follow standard phonetic rules and often do not relate easily to their spelling, which makes them challenging for early readers if they need to sound them out each time.

By mastering sight words, students can read more quickly and smoothly, allowing them to focus their cognitive energy on understanding the text, rather than on decoding each individual word. This increased fluency leads to better comprehension, as they can devote more attention to the overall meaning of what they are reading instead of getting stuck on words that disrupt their flow.

The other choices do not capture the comprehensive role of sight words in enhancing reading development. While sight words do occur frequently in literature, they are not necessarily the majority of words overall. Sight words can be irregularly spelled, which makes the option of them being always spelled phonetically inaccurate. Lastly, sight words are typically the most common and essential words, not lesser-known words, since their recognition is vital for fluid reading.