Third grade sight words: the Dolch list
The Dolch third grade list is the last of the five service word lists: 41 words such as about, laugh, eight, together and myself. Hear every word, read the sentences and play the game at the bottom.
Third grade sight words list (41 words)
Tap a word to hear it.
Group 1 (about to eight)
Group 2 (fall to keep)
Group 3 (kind to pick)
Group 4 (seven to warm)
Third grade sight words game: listen and find
Hear a word from the list and pick it from four look-alike words. Eight rounds, about two minutes.
Short answer
What are third grade sight words?
Third grade sight words are usually the 41 words of the Dolch third grade list, the last of Dolch's five service word levels, including about, better, carry, done, eight, laugh, light, myself, only, together and warm. Most follow patterns taught by third grade, such as igh in light and the long i in kind, while a few, like laugh, eight and done, have an irregular part learned by heart.
- The Dolch third grade list has 41 words, from about to warm.
- It completes the 220 Dolch service words; the 95 Dolch nouns are a separate list.
- Heart words include laugh (augh says /af/), eight (eigh says /ay/) and done (o says /u/).
- Kind shows a common pattern: i often says its name before nd, as in find and mind.
About third grade sight words
The third grade list is the fifth and final Dolch service word level. With it, a child has met all 220 of the small, frequent words that Dolch found in children's books. Many of these words are longer (together, myself, better, never), and several are number words: six, seven, eight and ten.
Most of the list is very readable with third grade phonics. Cut, got, hot, if, six, ten, much, pick, bring, drink, long and shall are short vowel words with blends and digraphs. Clean and keep use vowel teams, grow, show and own use ow for long o, and light uses igh. Far and start have ar, and hurt has ur. Kind and hold show how i and o often say their names before nd and ld. Fall, small and draw use the vowel sound heard in saw, spelled a before ll or aw. Two-syllable words such as better, carry, seven, never and today can be split into syllables and read one part at a time: bet-ter, sev-en, to-day. The remaining heart words are few: laugh (augh says /af/), eight (eigh says /ay/), done (o says /u/), full (u says the short oo of book) and warm (after w, ar says /or/).
If a child reaches this list and is still reading earlier sight words slowly, more flashcards are rarely the answer. Instant word reading grows out of accurate decoding: each word a child sounds out correctly gives the brain another chance to store its spelling (share1995). For a struggling third grader, the most useful step is often to check which phonics patterns are secure and which are not, then practise those patterns in real words.
Third grade sight words in sentences
Practice sentences built from words on this list.
- We laugh together every day.
- Please bring a small light.
- I can carry it myself.
- Keep warm and drink a hot cup of milk.
- Six and two make eight.
- Hold on and never let go.
- Try to draw a long line.
- Today we start at ten.
Common mix-ups with third grade sight words
Laugh and light
Both have gh, but it does different jobs. In light, igh together says /ฤซ/. In laugh, gh says /f/, and the au says /a/. Draw a heart over augh in laugh; light follows a regular pattern shared with night and right.
Done, gone and bone
Done looks like bone and cone, which say long o. In done, o says /u/, as in come and some. Put done with those words so the heart part is learned once for the whole group.
Warm and farm
Warm looks like it should rhyme with farm. After w, ar usually says /or/: warm, war, ward. Teach warm as part of that small family rather than on its own.
Third grade sight words activities
Syllable split
Write the two-syllable words (better, carry, seven, never, today, myself, about) on cards. Your child draws a line between the syllables, reads each part, then reads the whole word. Clapping the syllables first helps.
Number word match
Write six, seven, eight and ten on cards and the digits on others. Your child matches each word to its number and reads it aloud. Eight gets a heart over eigh; the others can be sounded out.
Sound-alike families
Build a family around a pattern: light, right, night, might; hold, cold, old, told; show, grow, own. Your child reads each family down, then writes one more word that fits.
Read, cover, write, check
Your child reads a word aloud, covers it, writes it from memory while saying the sounds, then uncovers it to check. Spelling practice forces attention to every letter, which also speeds up reading.
Third grade sight words: frequently asked questions
How many sight words should a third grader know?
By the end of third grade, children are commonly expected to read all 220 Dolch service words. Many schools also expect instant reading of the 95 Dolch nouns.
Are there sight words after third grade?
The Dolch lists stop at third grade. After that, children build vocabulary through reading and phonics for longer words. The Fry list continues to 1,000 high-frequency words if you want a longer list.
What are the hardest third grade sight words?
Laugh, eight and done, because each has a part that does not follow the usual rules. Warm and full are close behind.
My third grader struggles with sight words. What should I do?
Check decoding first: can your child sound out regular words like drink and start? If decoding is slow or inaccurate as well, a reading screening can help you understand why and what to practise.
Practise next
- Second grade sight wordsThe Dolch second grade list has 46 sight words, such as always, because, does, their, which and would. Hear every word, read the sentences and play the listening game at the bottom.
- Dolch nounsAlongside the 220 service words, Dolch published a list of 95 common nouns, such as apple, bird, house, mother and water. Here they are grouped by topic, with audio for every word, sentences and a listening game.
- Vowel teamsA vowel team is two or more letters that work together to spell one vowel sound, like ai in rain, ee in tree and igh in night. Hear every word, read the sentences, and try the game.
- R-controlled vowelsWhen a vowel is followed by r, the r changes the vowel's sound: cat becomes cart, fist becomes first. Hear the words for ar, or, er, ir and ur, read the sentences, and play the game.