According to the suggested teaching schedule, teachers spent about 9 weeks to finish the teaching of the three lists in 2007/2008. The teaching commenced in April and ended in May. Teachers followed the agreed teaching schedule. They taught about 7 to 8 new sight words each day and revised what was learned the day before. Peer assessments were done in pairs in students' free time. Teacher assessment was done after the teaching of each list. The same arrangement took place in 2008/2009 to complete the teaching of the 2nd and 3rd level lists.

Time	What happened (2007/2008)
November 2007	Teachers of Cheung Chau Sacred Heart School wanted to work on enhancing students’ vocabulary building skills. Sight words were systematically taught to primary three students in every lesson. Teachers decided to first teach the pre-primer, primer and the 1st level of the Dolch word list. The team also worked together to identify from textbook units and readers other vocabulary building skills to be included in the teaching plans.
February 2008	The teachers used a sight word teaching kit consisting of a full set of teaching PowerPoints and flashcards, a suggested teaching schedule and peer assessment and teacher assessment papers.
April 2008- May 2008	According to the suggested teaching schedule, teachers needed about nine weeks to finish the teaching of the three lists.  Teachers followed the agreed teaching schedule.  They taught about seven to eight new sight words each day and revised what was learned the day before. Students were given a sight word booklet to assist after-class individual study.  The booklet comprised the word lists taught and example sentences which were made up of sight words.  Students were encouraged to make sentences with the sight words that they learned in class. More capable students produced sentences while less capable copied from the reading materials they encountered, e.g. textbook and readers. Peer assessments were done in pairs in class. Teacher assessment was done after the teaching of each list.
2009	The same arrangement took place in 2008/2009 to complete the teaching of the 2nd and 3rd level lists.

• The role of assessment in the learning and teaching of sight words:

1. Using peer assessment to promote peer learning and independent learning
   • Assessment focus: word recognition: to read aloud a word on sight. Pronouncing the words accurately was the signal for successful recognition.
   • Students were given a chance to read aloud the words in front of their partners. Each word was assessed 3 times throughout the learning process before the teacher assessment took place. The student assessors put a tick or a cross on the peer assessment checklist as they listened to all the sight words pronounced by their partners.
   • The assessment in turn provided an opportunity for the student assessors to listen to the sight words. Awareness of letter-sound relationship could then be improved.
   • Students gained feedback and support from their peers as the peer assessment itself provided a reason for spontaneous discussions of the pronunciation of words among students. It is worth noting that the informal discussions about the learning did not necessarily take place in the classroom. It took place outside the classroom as well. Therefore, while doing peer assessment, students actually revised what they had learned. They learned from each other while gaining support from their peers.
   • Each pair of students formed a small learning community. Since each student was able to trace his/her own learning progress, intrinsic learning motivation and learning ownership were enhanced.
     
     
2. Using teacher assessment to collect data about student learning
   • Teacher assessment was done to supplement the data collection for student learning. The teacher read the words aloud once. Three options were given for each word said by the teacher. Students listened to the teacher and ticked the correct boxes as they identified the word.
   • Assessment focus: word recognition: to identify a word when you hear it. Identifying the words accurately was the signal for successful recognition.
   • By doing peer and teacher assessments with different formats, two sets of data about student learning on different aspects were collected. Teachers were able to triangulate the results in order to get a fuller picture of student learning for follow up work.