What are Dolch sight words? They’re a list of 220 words, first published in 1936 by Edward William Dolch, that children ought to learn to recognize on sight as they’re learning to read. The theory is that these words are used so often in children’s literature that they are estimated to make up three quarters of all words used in children’s books. Because these words appear so often, they are also called high-frequency words.
As children are learning to read, the four key skills are decoding, fluency, comprehension, and knowledge. The ability to decode (or sound out) words is crucial to reading. But to become a fluent reader, it helps if kids don’t need to stop to sound out every word they come across. So being able to “read” or recognize high-frequency or sight words can help children read more fluently and, by extension, help them better understand what they read because they’re not stopping to sound out each word. In other words, memorizing these first grade sight words can help young kids keep going and gain momentum as they learn to read.
The 220 Dolch sight words are separated into lists for preschool through third grade and a list of 95 nouns. Here are the Dolch sight words for first graders.
1st grade sight words
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
what
white
who
will
with
yes
Check out the Dolch sight words for preschool, kindergarten, 2nd grade, 3rd grade — and the list of preK-3rd grade nouns.
More ways to support 1st graders as they learn to read
• Play: Decoding activities for your beginning reader
• Read: Books to boost your 1st grader’s decoding skills
• Watch: Follow my finger
• Do: 1st grade sight words worksheets (#1 of 20)
