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Sight words: the Dolch lists by grade, with audio

Sight words are the very common words children need to read instantly, like the, said, was and you. Here are all six Dolch sight words lists, from pre-k to third grade plus the nouns, with audio for every word and a quick listening game.

Sight words lists

Sample sight words to hear

Sight words game

Short answer

What are sight words?

Sight words are high-frequency words, such as the, and, said, was and you, that children are expected to recognise instantly instead of sounding out each time. The best-known sight words list is the Dolch list: 220 service words split into pre-primer, primer, first, second and third grade lists, plus 95 common nouns. Many sight words are fully decodable, and even irregular ones are learned most reliably by linking their letters to their sounds, with only the unusual part learned by heart.

  • The Dolch sight words list was compiled by Edward W. Dolch from children's reading books, first published in 1936, and is now in the public domain.
  • It has 220 service words in five levels (pre-primer, primer, first, second and third grade) plus 95 nouns, 315 words in total.
  • Many Dolch words, such as can, big, it, up and jump, follow regular phonics patterns and can be sounded out.
  • A heart word is a sight word with an irregular part, such as the ai in said, that is learned by heart while the rest is decoded.

How sight words fit into learning to read

A sight word is any word a reader recognises instantly, without stopping to sound it out. For skilled adults, almost every word is a sight word. For beginning readers, the term usually means the small set of very common words that appear on nearly every page of a children's book: the, a, and, to, said, was, you, they. Knowing these words by sight frees a child's attention for the harder words in a sentence and makes early reading far less tiring.

The most widely used sight words list is the Dolch list, published by Edward W. Dolch, who collected the words that appeared most often in children's reading books of his time. It has 220 service words (the little words that hold sentences together) split into five levels, pre-primer, primer, first grade, second grade and third grade, plus a separate list of 95 nouns. Schools use the levels differently; on this site the pre-primer list is labelled pre-k and the primer list kindergarten, the way many US classrooms use them. The Fry list is another common high-frequency list; it overlaps heavily with Dolch but runs to 1,000 words.

Sight words are often taught by flashcard drill, as if each word were a picture to memorise. Reading research points to a better route. Children store a word in memory by connecting its letters to its sounds, a process called orthographic mapping, and each successful decoding attempt helps fix the spelling in memory (share1995). Many Dolch words are completely regular: can, it, up, jump and help can be sounded out on day one. Irregular words usually have only one odd part, such as the ai in said or the o in of. Teachers call these heart words: decode the regular letters, and learn the irregular part by heart.

How to teach sight words

  1. 1Start with the pre-k listBegin with the 40 pre-primer words. Pick five to eight at a time, and choose regular words such as can, big and up alongside one or two heart words.
  2. 2Map the sounds firstFor each new word, say it, count its sounds, and match each sound to its letters. For heart words, circle the part that does not follow the usual rule and practise that part.
  3. 3Read words in sentencesMove from single words to short sentences quickly. Seeing said and was in real sentences is what makes them automatic.
  4. 4Review little and oftenA few minutes a day beats one long session. Bring back earlier words every few days so they stay fresh, and move up a level only when the current list is read without hesitation.

Sight words: frequently asked questions

How many sight words are there?

The Dolch list has 315 words: 220 service words in five levels and 95 nouns. The Fry list has 1,000. There is no single official number, because any word a child reads instantly is a sight word for that child.

What is the difference between sight words and high-frequency words?

High-frequency words are simply the words that appear most often in text. Sight words are words a child recognises instantly. Lists like Dolch are high-frequency words that teachers want children to turn into sight words.

Should children memorise sight words?

Children should be able to read them instantly, but the fastest way there is not rote memorising of the word shape. Linking the letters to the sounds, and learning only the irregular part by heart, makes the words stick and supports spelling too.

How many sight words should a kindergartner know?

Expectations vary by school. Many US kindergartens aim for the pre-primer and primer Dolch lists, 92 words, by the end of the year. A child who is far behind and struggling to learn words despite practice is worth screening for reading difficulties.

Sources

  1. Share DL (1995). Phonological recoding and self-teaching: sine qua non of reading acquisition. Cognition, 55(2), 151-218.
  2. Cepeda NJ, Pashler H, Vul E, Wixted JT, Rohrer D (2006). Distributed practice in verbal recall tasks: a review and quantitative synthesis. Psychol Bull, 132(3), 354-80.