Sight Words Set 4: We, Was, Not, For

The four words on this page — we, was, not and for — make up set 4 of the sight-word series. They are short, plain and stubbornly important. Each one is printed on its own row of school handwriting lines: the child reads it aloud, traces the dashed version, then proves ownership by writing it unaided on the blank line at the end of the row. Short words, but real handwriting practice all the same.

Set 4 is the glue-word set. None of these four can be drawn or pictured — there is no picture of 'for' — which is exactly why they must become automatic: they hold sentences together while the interesting words do the storytelling. Was deserves special watching, because beginning readers love to flip it into saw; if that swap appears, have the child touch the w and say the word before reading on. Not is the set's gift to comprehension, since spotting it instantly is what keeps 'do not run' from reading as 'do run'.

Print it free as a PDF and keep the routine short and daily rather than long and rare. Set 3 — here, come, little, down — comes before this page, and set 5 steps up next with big, went, are and she.