Dolch Sight Words Teaching Resources
Help students quickly learn the Dolch Sight Words list with a range of teacher-created literacy resources for kindergarten, first-grade, second-grade, and third-grade readers.
This collection includes sight word games and flashcards, Google Interactive activities, reading center activities, printable Dolch sight word worksheets, digital learning resources and more curriculum-aligned teaching resources that have undergone rigorous review by our expert teacher team to ensure they're ready for your readers!
Want to learn more about the Dolch sight words list and the man behind them? Read on for a primer from our teacher team!
What Are Dolch Sight Words?
Dolch sight words are words used in teaching young children to read. This list includes high-frequency words which commonly appear in children's books.
The Dolch sight words are named for Professor Edward William Dolch, who compiled the first list of words and published them in Problems in Reading in 1948.
They're called "sight words" because children are taught to memorize this list of words in order to recognize them on sight, as many cannot be sounded out easily.
How Many Dolch Sight Words Are There?
The Dolch Sight Word list includes the 220 most common words and 95 additional nouns from children's books. The words are listed in alphabetical order on the sight word list, although they are not necessarily taught in that order in the classroom.
The 220 words on the Dolch list are divided into five categories:
- Pre-primer
- Primer
- First grade
- Second grade
- Third grade
Who Was Edward Dolch?
Curious about the man whose name is on your students' sight words list? Professor Edward William Dolch was a researcher and educator in the field of reading education.
He is best known for his work on sight word vocabulary development and, of course, his Dolch Word Lists. Dolch was a professor of education at the University of Illinois and also served as the director of the university's reading clinic.
What Is the Difference Between Dolch and Fry Sight Words?
Our extensive collection of sight words resources for elementary teachers includes not just the Dolch list but the Fry list too. Both Dolch and Fry sight words are used as part of sight word instruction and they're considered important for early reading development, as they make up a large percentage of the words in most texts.
So what's the difference?
The words on the Dolch list are generally shorter, more basic words that are commonly used in children's books. The Fry list includes words that are longer and more complex than the Dolch words, and are used in a wider variety of texts and contexts.
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Sight Word Lists – Teacher Resource Binder
Use this collection of checklists, student pages and quick-check assessments when reviewing Dolch sight words spanning from pre-primer to 3rd grade.
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Dolch Sight Word List – Complete Set
Practice word recognition with our set of 8 Dolch Sight Word Lists.
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Sweet Sight Words Worksheet - SAY
Practice reading, writing, and identifying the high-frequency word “say” from the Kindergarten-level Dolch sight words list.
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Dolch Sight Word Tracker - Google Sheets
Track mastery of Dolch Sight Words using a digital Google Sheets Sight Word tracking spreadsheet
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Daily Dolch Drills — Pre-Primer Weekly Homework
Practice weekly sight words to strengthen letter-sound recognition, spelling, and reading fluency with six weeks of sight word homework worksheets.
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Sweet Sight Words Worksheet - VERY
Practice reading, writing, and identifying the high-frequency word “very” from the Second Grade Dolch sight words list.
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Sweet Sight Words Worksheet - HAD
Practice reading, writing, and identifying the high-frequency word “had” from the First Grade Dolch sight words list.
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Roll it! Read it! Write it! Dolch 1st Grade Sight Words
Practice reading and writing Dolch’s first grade high-frequency words with this board game for multiple players.
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Sight Word Assessments and Data Tracking Sheets
Track Dolch sight word mastery with this set of printable assessments and data sheets.
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Sight Word Dominoes - Dolch 1st Grade
Improve identifying high-frequency words by sight with this set of 40 Dolch First Grade sight word dominoes.
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Dolch Sight Word Flash Cards
Practice the first 100 Dolch Sight Words with a deck of sight word flash cards.
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Sight Word SLAP IT! - Third Grade Dolch Words
Play a sight word matching game to enhance reading fluency and knowledge of third grade high frequency words.
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Google Interactive Sight Words - 1st Grade Dolch
Read, write, identify, and build all 41 Dolch first-grade sight words in an interactive Google Slides presentation.
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Google Interactive Sight Words - 2nd Grade Dolch
Read, type, build, and identify words from the Dolch Grade 2 Sight Words List in an interactive format.
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Sight Word Hunt — 2nd Grade Dolch Words List Activity
Practice reading 2nd-grade level sight words from the Dolch high-frequency words list with this activity.
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Sweet Sight Words Worksheet - RAN
Practice reading, writing, and identifying the high-frequency word “ran” from the Kindergarten-level Dolch sight words list.
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Sweet Sight Words Worksheet - WAS
Practice reading, writing, and identifying the high-frequency word “was” from the Kindergarten-level Dolch sight words list.
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Sweet Sight Words Worksheet - WRITE
Practice reading, writing, and identifying the high-frequency word “write” from the Second Grade Dolch sight words list.
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Sweet Sight Words Worksheet - OLD
Practice reading, writing, and identifying the high-frequency word “old” from the First Grade Dolch sight words list.
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Sweet Sight Words Worksheet - OF
Practice reading, writing, and identifying the high-frequency word “of” from the First Grade Dolch sight words list.
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Sweet Sight Words Worksheet - WERE
Practice reading, writing, and identifying the high-frequency word “were” from the First Grade Dolch sight words list.
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Sweet Sight Words Worksheet - ONCE
Practice reading, writing, and identifying the high-frequency word “once” from the First Grade Dolch sight words list.
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Sweet Sight Words Worksheet - STOP
Practice reading, writing, and identifying the high-frequency word “stop” from the First Grade Dolch sight words list.
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Sweet Sight Words Worksheet - THEN
Practice reading, writing, and identifying the high-frequency word “then” from the First Grade Dolch sight words list.
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Sweet Sight Words Worksheet - HER
Practice reading, writing, and identifying the high-frequency word “her” from the First Grade Dolch sight words list.
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Sweet Sight Words Worksheet - OVER
Practice reading, writing, and identifying the high-frequency word “over” from the First Grade Dolch sight words list.
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Sweet Sight Words Worksheet - TO
Practice reading, writing, and identifying the high-frequency word “to” from the Pre-Primer Dolch sight words list.
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Sweet Sight Words Worksheet - BIG
Practice reading, writing, and identifying the high-frequency word “big” from the Pre-Primer Dolch sight words list.
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Sweet Sight Words Worksheet - LITTLE
Practice reading, writing, and identifying the high-frequency word “little” from the Pre-Primer Dolch sight words list.
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Sweet Sight Words Worksheet - AFTER
Practice reading, writing, and identifying the high-frequency word “after” from the First Grade Dolch sight words list.
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Roll it! Read it! Write it! Dolch Pre-Primer Sight Words
Practice reading and writing Dolch’s pre-primer high-frequency words with this board game for multiple players.
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Sweet Sight Words Worksheet - THE
Practice reading, writing, and identifying the high-frequency word “the” from the Pre-Primer Dolch sight words list.