Dolch sight words
All 220 Dolch service words in five grade lists, plus the 95 nouns: flash cards for the projector, a checklist and printable sheets.
Choose a list. Each page has the words, a full-screen flash mode with a big word and arrow-key control, a checklist of the words a child knows (saved on this device), and a printable set of flash cards and a printable list. No sign-in, nothing sent anywhere.
| List | Words | Usually met in |
|---|---|---|
| Pre-primer | 40 | Pre-K, K (pre-k and kindergarten) |
| Primer | 52 | K, 1 (kindergarten and early first grade) |
| First grade | 41 | 1 (first grade) |
| Second grade | 46 | 2 (second grade) |
| Third grade | 41 | 3, 2 (third grade) |
| Nouns | 95 | Pre-K, K, 1, 2 (pre-k to second grade) |
The words are the Dolch lists as published; the grade levels are traditional and approximate. See also the reading fluency timer, the reading level finder and the readability checker.
Questions
What are the Dolch sight words?
Edward Dolch, an educator, published a list of 220 common 'service words' (the, and, said, because) in the 1930s and 1940s, sorted into five lists by approximate grade level, plus 95 common nouns. They are the words that make up a large share of what children read in early books, which is why teachers teach them to be read quickly.
Which list should I start with?
Start with pre-primer and move up as the words become automatic. The grade levels are traditional and approximate: a list is ready when the child reads nearly all of it at a glance, not when the calendar says so.
Are sight words the same as high-frequency words?
Often the same words, but the terms differ. High-frequency words are the words that occur most often in print. Sight words are words a reader recognises instantly. Many high-frequency words are taught as sight words because they are irregular. Other lists, such as Fry's, order the common words differently, and many schools use those instead or as well.
Should children learn sight words by memorising the whole word?
Reading research favours linking the letters to the sounds, even in irregular words, so the word sticks. Teach the parts of a word that follow the usual sounds as well as the tricky part. These tools are for practice and checking, alongside decoding instruction rather than instead of it.
Is the checklist saved?
Only on the device you tick it on, in this browser, one checklist per list. Nothing is sent to us. Clear all resets it, so you can reuse it for the next child.