Dolch Word Lists

All the Dolch sight word lists, divided by grade, also available as printable PDFs.

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Dolch Sight Word Lessons

Five techniques for teaching Dolch sight words. Learn proven ways to introduce words, reinforce learning, and correct mistakes.

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Dolch Flash Cards

Print a set of Dolch sight word flash cards, or use our generator to create your own custom cards.

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Dolch Sight Word Games

Print cards and game boards for 18 Dolch sight word games. A fun way to reinforce sight words lessons!

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The Dolch Sight Words list is the most commonly used set of sight words. Educator Dr. Edward William Dolch developed the list in the 1930s-40s by studying the most frequently occurring words in children’s books of that era. The list contains 220 “service words” plus 95 high-frequency nouns. These words comprise 80% of the words you would find in a typical children’s book and 50% of the words found in writing for adults. Once a child knows this list of words, it makes reading much easier, because the child can then focus his or her attention on the remaining words.

The Dolch words are commonly divided into groups by grade level, ranging from pre-kindergarten to third grade, with a separate list of nouns. There are a total of 315 Dolch Sight Words.

Dolch Word Lists

  • Pre-K Dolch Sight Words
    (40 words)

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

  • Kindergarten Dolch Sight Words
    (52 words)

    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

  • First Grade Dolch Sight Words
    (41 words)

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

  • Second Grade Dolch Sight Words
    (46 words)

    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

  • Third Grade Dolch Sight Words
    (41 words)

    about, better, bring, carry, clean, cut, done, draw, drink, eight, fall, far, full, got, grow, hold, hot, hurt, if, keep, kind, laugh, light, long, much, myself, never, only, own, pick, seven, shall, show, six, small, start, ten, today, together, try, warm

  • Noun Dolch Sight Words
    (95 words)

    apple, baby, back, ball, bear, bed, bell, bird, birthday, boat, box, boy, bread, brother, cake, car, cat, chair, chicken, children, Christmas, coat, corn, cow, day, dog, doll, door, duck, egg, eye, farm, farmer, father, feet, fire, fish, floor, flower, game, garden, girl, goodbye, grass, ground, hand, head, hill, home, horse, house, kitty, leg, letter, man, men, milk, money, morning, mother, name, nest, night, paper, party, picture, pig, rabbit, rain, ring, robin, Santa Claus, school, seed, sheep, shoe, sister, snow, song, squirrel, stick, street, sun, table, thing, time, top, toy, tree, watch, water, way, wind, window, wood

  • All Dolch Sight Words by group
  • All Dolch Sight Words in alphabetical order

106 Responses to “Dolch Sight Words List”

  1. Maria Neely

    What an excellent resource! Thanks so much!

    Reply
    • Vanessa Arrington

      Thank you so very much for this very excellent resource. I am an Artist and former teacher who i no longer in the classroom, but who is very passionate about the Art of Reading. I used art to engage my struggling readers of any age.

      Reply
      • Heather

        Vanessa,

        I am not an artist, but I would love to hear how you use the materials to teach children to read. I am working with 2 children in foster care who need support in reading. I would love your ideas.

        Thank you!

        Reply
        • Jessica zheng

          Thank you for it!

          Reply
        • Megan Henderson

          Hi Heather, I’m a special education instructor, and I’d love to help you with some ideas on how to help your foster kids with reading. Please email me at wildrootsadvocates@gmail.com

          Reply
          • Jodian Grey

            I am a Special Educator from Jamaica. I would love for you to share some activities and strategies that you use with your children. Thank you.

        • Carol Gravante

          I appreciate you! Thank you for helping foster children. We have a book series, Freddy the Foster Frog…It is a fabled story with a twist of rhyme…I can email you the ebook…if you are interested. please check out https://www.el4kids.org/
          Carol Gravante

          Reply
      • selena

        hello
        id love to know how you used art in your teaching of reading

        Reply
    • oscarr

      Thank you for the words. It will be a great help.

      Reply
  2. Lisa Leary

    How wonderful! This is going to be quite helpful for my volunteer summer tutoring program!

    Reply
  3. TiKara Worthy

    These word list will be wonderful for my students that have mastered the mClass word list. Thanks for adding the Pre-K and Nouns. 🙂

    Reply
  4. Mrs. Brant

    Thank you so much these words are for my grandson. He had his first spelling test on Friday.

    Reply
  5. Veronica C

    Love it. This is helping me with my preschool. Great resource.
    Thanks so much. I am sharing this resource with other parents with pre-k to elementary school kids.

    God bless you.

    Reply
  6. Annise

    Thank you so much for this excellent resource. Saves me hours in my kindergarten classroom. Makes quick assessment easy. Kids will love the games. Delighted to get this resource.!!!

    Reply
  7. Lynn

    Thank you for all of the excellent free resources! It’s so wonderful to find real games instead of just flashcards or screen practice. A lot of your sight word games are games my daughter already loves to play. Maybe these will help her break through the sight words she just can’t seem to remember.

    Reply
  8. Lake

    Wow! Can’t thank you enough for all the free games, teaching tools, and lessons to help students. I’ve been spreading the word to family and friends. A hidden gem 🙂 Thank you a million!!!

    Reply
  9. Nadine Stokes

    Wow!!!! Great resource, thanks.

    Reply
  10. florida mom

    We homeschool and have found this resource wonderful. Thank you so much for saving me lots of time creating these lists independently!!

    Reply
  11. marisol

    Thank you so much for this resource!

    Reply
  12. Lea

    Thanks you so much! It’ll be a great help to my students.

    Reply
  13. radiah

    Thank you very much. Awesome. Great for teaching at word level and saving time creating lists of words.

    Reply
  14. dan

    Great information and resources… Thank you so much.. It was of great help in my tutoring…. arigato……

    Reply
  15. Kashif Zahid

    This is an outstanding resource. Really helpful!

    Reply
  16. Viv

    Time saving resource, thank you.

    Reply
  17. Rasheed

    Wow… excellent resource… thanks a lot. Much helpful for my kids.

    Reply
  18. CELESTE

    Goodness Me – I’m anticipating that this will help me to help my Granddaughter Significantly improve her reading/comprehension skills – she is going from Kindergarten to First Grade!

    Also, a list of books (that can be saved/printable) that are highly recommended for reading during the Summer as the children matriculate from Kindergarten to the First Grade, and so on, would prove most helpful.

    Thank You Again Every So Much!

    Reply
  19. Carrie

    Awesome resources and instruction; thank you:)

    Reply
  20. Ann

    Thank you sooo much for this. The simple clean layout, the variety of ways you have presented it – this has been a boon to me today. I’m studying for a certificate relating to Specific Learning Difficulties and I’m writing a term report. I’ve got five books beside me that relate to spelling/dyslexia /teaching phonics and NOT ONE has a list of the sight words!!
    Thank you, again!

    Reply
  21. Joye

    These words are great, my granddaughter is going to kindergarten and is reading these words at first grade level. I’m so happy, that shows I need to make her read more. Thank you so much.

    Reply
  22. Prachiti Sharangdhar

    Thank you so much for this fantastic collection. All the words are so beautifully compiled together. This makes my work a lot more easier. I know What has been missed in the Pre K years so the separation of the grade wise section helps in tracking the progress of my child’s learning.

    Reply
  23. Sebastien

    Thank you very much. My son is going to 3rd grade.These words are very helpful. Great resources.

    Reply
  24. Victoria Secomb

    Fantastic and much appreciated. Thank you for having an incredible site for free.

    Reply
  25. ARVENSEAN

    Thank you so much!These words are very helpful to my pupils……

    Reply
  26. Delores

    Awesome sight just what I needed for my granddaughter. Thank You So much for the free site and much needed information thanks

    Reply
  27. Mary Kent

    Wow! Excellent resource and easy too. Thank You!

    Reply
  28. Sylenda D

    Thank you so very much! I absolutely love the way you have the words grouped and sorted. It really helps when you have multiple children at different grade levels. Thanks again!

    Reply
  29. Yogini

    First of all I would Like to thank you for the website. I have a 4 1/2 year old daughter who is in Pre-k. I was trying to teach her sight words but she was uninterested and thought they are very boring. I had tried all sorts of things to make her learn sight words ex: using ipad, iphone, computer etc etc. but just printing a paper with simple word on it did the trick. She knows all her Pre-k 40 sight words and now has moved on to Kindergarten words. Just awesome.

    Reply
  30. Sarah Madden

    Love this site! I’m trying to collaborate on a book using these lists to tell stories. No more guessing on which words would be best for which age group!

    Reply
  31. Anushree

    Thank you so much for having the words all in one page. They are of great help!

    Reply
  32. Dianne

    Thank you for the list . I help students at a center to help them be better students….
    Some need help with sight words the lists will be a great resource

    Reply
  33. Karen

    Thank you for having these valuable word lists available and the other extended help links.

    Reply
  34. chesca gutierrez

    thank you for sharing this for free! God bless!

    Reply
  35. Isa

    Thanks for these words

    Reply
  36. christina baygar

    Thank you so much for this. It’s a big help for me. Godbless…

    Reply
  37. Judy

    Thank you so much. I’ve been looking for these words and other materials for a long time. God bless you.

    Reply
  38. Oliver

    Thank you. Nice resources

    Reply
  39. vera

    Great sight word list will continue to use Dolch

    Reply
  40. Eunice Osborne

    Thanks for the valuable word lists. My students are utilizing the word lists as a resource to assist them throughout the day, especially during our word attack activities.

    Reply
  41. Julia S

    Please stop recommending that children be taught to read with “Sight Words.” You are making children worse at reading. All scientific research on the subject says that this is a bad idea. Please, stop. You’re just embarrassing yourselves.

    ADMIN – Hi Julia,

    We think kids should be taught to read with a foundation of phonemic awareness. Then with a combination of phonics and sight words. You need both. Phonics lets you decode new words. Sight Words gives you speed and helps you with phonetically irregular words. You need both.

    Reply
  42. alfie

    It has been very easy to teach reading using your resources. Let God continue blessing you!

    Reply
  43. Sharon S.

    Thank you for this sight word lists. I have been teaching primarily this year with phonics and have just used the sight word list as an evaluation tool. It has proven to be a valuable, handy assessment resource. Thank you for this wonderful site.

    Reply
  44. basudha

    Thank you so much. This has been really helpful for my special needs kid as she finds it difficult to individually make words but can read these so easily.

    Reply
  45. SUBHI

    Subhanallah .. whoever created this, you made our live much much much easier. Thank you very much!

    Reply
  46. Julie

    What a great resource!! I am a kindergarten teacher and my school district has just changed to DOLCH words. Can anyone tell me what order they should be taught in? Besides Pre-Primer first, then Primer? Should they be taught in order of frequency?

    ADMIN – Hi Julie,

    The order of frequency makes the most logical sense because they will be reinforced more often in written grade level text that children encounter. However, there is no hard and fast rule about the order in which to teach them.

    Reply
  47. Rethina

    Thank you very much for the amazing service. I hope to make use of it for practicing with my Kid.

    Reply
  48. Scarlet

    Thanks for the list

    Reply
  49. Rohit Kumar

    Thanks a lot for compiling this useful list. Its a great resource for the teacher, parents and the students also.

    Reply
  50. Rebecca Ann Vanderhorst

    Best presentations that I have uncovered thus far. I need a Master’s Degree in Teaching Reading and\or Reading Skills Diagnosis. Any suggestions??

    ADMIN – Hi Rebecca,

    Thank you. I presume you need the degree to help you further your career. I would talk to the headmaster/HR in your top-5 schools, and ask them which programs they recommend. Not only will they be well calibrated on which schools produce the most classroom ready teachers, they will remember you when it comes time for you to apply for jobs and will be impressed you ask.

    Reply
  51. Gowri

    Thanks a lot for the list.

    Reply
  52. marie

    Thank you so much, for this great resource and the other links. I will use them to help my students read better and faster.
    God bless.

    Reply
  53. Elaine K

    Thanks for having these lists available. Bright and cheery for the students, too!

    Reply
  54. Ruth Marie L. Ramos

    Thank you so much.it help us so much.

    Reply
  55. Dan S.

    Great resource!! Thanks so much!

    Reply
  56. Bond

    Thank you so much for this great resource. I will use it with my children at home.

    Reply
  57. Joni

    Thanks so much for these, they are a lifesaver !

    Reply
  58. Bruce Vayo

    Thanks for making it easy to find these lists. Much appreciated.

    Reply
  59. uma

    The list of sight words his has been very helpful to me in making my picture book for kids. Thank you very much

    Reply
  60. Suliasi Bola

    Thanks so much….really helpful…God Bless.

    Reply
  61. tess

    Thank you so much! It is of great help for me to teach my four year old granddaughter.

    Reply
  62. geniya

    This is exactly what I need. So many resources for teaching sight words. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.

    Reply
  63. Jose A. Rodrigues

    This resource is great! I have the opportunity to use these resources for my students especially when they need to be sight tested.

    Thank you for the resource!

    Best,

    Jose A. Rodrigues

    Reply
  64. Victoria

    May I check that age group for Primer is 6 years old? Thank you.

    Reply
  65. Lomavuna settlement school

    Thank you, thank you, thank you.
    We’re using the resources to help our struggling readers.
    God Bless.

    Reply
  66. Bev

    Wonderful resource ,thank you for sharing. 🙂

    Reply
  67. Jean Hanna

    I have diligently searched all day to find these lists and nobody had them. THANK YOU so much. This will help me tutor a little boy struggling in reading!!!!!

    Reply
  68. Flo

    Thanks this will be very helpful as I work with my grandson this summer

    Reply
  69. Rosa Prenger

    This is the best list by far that I’ve found. I was recommended by DR.RUNION, my son’s school psychologist, to obtain the first 100 words on the Dolch List and practice them with my 4 year old. Thank whomever(s) broke down the list into these very helpful categories.

    Reply
  70. Joe Aguilar

    Awesome! This will help our kids to fill some gaps in both their speaking and reading vocab. The last two pdf files were all I needed. Cheers to that!

    Reply
  71. Luz

    Outstanding resource! Thank you!

    Reply
  72. Kate

    Thank you for this!!!

    Reply
  73. Natalie Mackay

    At what age do you use the dolch noun list?

    Reply
  74. Patricia

    AWESOME !!! I looked all over for my old list and could not find it.Thanks for sharing yours.:)

    Reply
  75. Olga

    This is just what I need. THANK YOU very much.

    Reply
  76. Guyla Conway

    As an author,I will be making a presentation to a group of parents at a Literacy Event, and this list will be a tremendous help! Thank you!

    Reply
  77. Rushia B Fuller

    Nice website! ~Jourden’s Mimi (grandmom)

    Reply
  78. Prachi

    Thanks for the words. It was very useful.
    But I have a question, aren’t there Dolch words for Grade 4?

    Reply
  79. Laura

    Wonderful resources thank you for sharing, it helped me a lot

    Reply
  80. Lu Yu

    Grouping sight words in grade level is worthwhile to use in teaching. Thanks for your energy.

    Reply
  81. Grace

    Very useful. Thank you for sharing.

    Reply
  82. maria garcia

    Thank You Love This!

    Reply
  83. Keyara Barrett

    I love these words they are fun

    Reply
  84. Ernestine

    Thank you so much for this website! It’s a great resource for parents and teachers.

    Reply
  85. Jessica DuBois

    Thank you so much for this site! I love it!
    Jessica

    Reply
  86. Shubhangi Gurudas Dalal

    Awesome, very innovative & useful.

    Reply
  87. Sharoyal

    Hi, this is Sharoyal and I’m trying to learn.

    Reply
  88. Amanda

    Can these also be used for children with ASD?

    ADMIN – Hi, Amanda. That is a great question, and the answer is YES, absolutely! You may refer to this resource for guidance.

    Reply
  89. Ruth Christiane

    One never knows the power of the Dolch Sight Words until one is totally immersed in the education of our young students!!!

    Reply
  90. Annie chungu kaposa

    Good words! I really need help on this. I recently open a kindergarten.

    Reply
    • Annie chungu kaposa

      Am a teacher and I have found great help for my pupils and more help on how to go about this.

      Reply
  91. Annie chungu kaposa

    Thanks a lot for the Dolch sight words list. I really need more help for my pupils in class on how to go about teaching.

    Reply
  92. Angelica peña

    Can i use this instrument?

    Reply
    • Sight Words Admin

      Hello, You are free to use and download any of our resources on this website.

      Reply
  93. Ilene S.

    I just wanted to write my appreciation for these sight words. I am homeschooling my 4 kids and I really needed this. I know this will help our reading curriculum : )

    Reply
    • Sight Words Admin

      Thank you for your kind words, Ilene. We are happy to be able to help you in homeschooling. Hope your kids are enjoying the learning process!

      Reply
  94. Justin

    This is fantastic….Another home schooler using it daily….Thank you so much!

    Reply
  95. Lisa

    It is great to find this all in one place! We will make great use of these lists. Thank you so much!

    Reply

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