Article - Dolch Sight Words

If you're anything like me, you've never heard the name Dolch before.  I know I hadn't but I remember learning sight words.  So when my daugther's pre-school teacher suggested I look them up and have her start working on them, I knew to do just that. 

Dolch Sight Words are just that...words that should be recognizable (once learned) by sight, without the aid of sounding them out or help of pictures.  The Dolch Word Lists were developed by Edward W. Dolch who found that there are 220 most common words that appear over and over again. Over 50 - 75% of the most commonly used words are found in the 'Dolch List' below. When students, especially those with Dyslexia or language learning disabilities focus on the Dolch words, confidence and reading ability improve.

Each grade level (K-3rd) has their own set of words, plus a 'primer' level that need to be memorized by the end of each school year...and what a better time to start learning the words than the previous summer break?

Below is the break down of each "grade's" Dolch words:

Pre-Primer
a, and, away, big, blue, can, come, down, find, for, funny, go, help, hers, I, in, is, it, jump, little, look, make, me, my, not, one, play, red, run, said, see, the, three, to two, up, we, yellow, and you


Kindergarden/Primer
all, am, are, at, ate, be, black, brown, but, came, did, do, eat, four, get, good, have, he, into, like, must, new, no, now, on, our, out, please, pretty, ran, ride, saw, say, she, so, soon, that, there, they, this, too, under, want, was, well, went, what, white, who, will, with, yes


1st Grade
after, again, an, any, as, ask, by, could, every, fly, from, give, going, had, has, her, him, how, just, know, let, live, may, of, old, once, open, over, put, round, some, stop, take, thank, them, then, think, walk, where, when


2nd Grade
always, around because, been, before, best, both, buy, call, cold, does, don't, fast, first, five, found, gave, goes, green, its, made, many, off, or, pull, read, right, sing, sit, sleep, tell, their, these, those, upon, us, use, very, wash, which, why, wish, work, would, write, your

3rd Grade
cut, done, draw, drink, ate, far, fall, full, got, grow, hold, hot, hurt, hit, if, keep, kind, laugh, light, long, much, myself, never, only, own, pick, seven, shall, show, six, small, start, ten, today, together, try, warm