Sight Words: Lists, Flash Cards and Printables
Sight words are the short, common words that show up on almost every page a child reads: the, and, said, was, you. This page brings together the two classic lists, Dolch and Fry, plus picks for kindergarten and 2nd grade. Your child can practice any of them right here with flash cards and a find-the-word game. There is no login and nothing to install. Pick a list below and try five minutes today.
Practice sight words
Sight word lists
| List | Words | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Kindergarten sight words | 92 | Dolch pre-primer + primer |
| 2nd grade sight words | 146 | Dolch 2nd grade + Fry 101–200 |
| Preschool starter words | 20 | from Dolch pre-primer |
| Dolch Pre-Primer | 40 | often Pre-K |
| Dolch Primer | 52 | often Kindergarten |
| Dolch First Grade | 41 | often 1st grade |
| Dolch Second Grade | 46 | often 2nd grade |
| Dolch Third Grade | 41 | often 3rd grade |
| Dolch Nouns | 95 | often K-2 |
| Fry words 1–100 | 100 | frequency order |
| Fry words 101–200 | 100 | frequency order |
| Fry words 201–300 | 100 | frequency order |
| All 1,000 Fry words | 1000 | 10 lists of 100 |
Start here: Dolch pre-primer 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
Print sight word cards and worksheets
What counts as a sight word
Some sight words can be sounded out once a child knows letter sounds: it, and, can. Others do not follow the usual rules, like said, the, was and of. Many teachers call these "heart words", because the tricky part has to be learned by heart.
A common approach is to teach the decodable words with phonics and spend sight word practice on the tricky ones. Both kinds need to become instant. A reader who stops on every the loses track of what the sentence means.
Dolch or Fry: which list to use
- Dolch: 220 "service words" in five levels plus 95 nouns, published by Edward W. Dolch in the 1930s and 1940s. Short levels, good for pre-K to 3rd grade. See all Dolch words by level.
- Fry: 1,000 instant words in ten lists of 100, ordered by how often they appear in reading (Edward Fry, 1980). Handy once the early Dolch levels are solid. See the Fry lists.
The two lists overlap a lot. If your child's school sends one home, use that one. If not, start younger children on kindergarten sight words and 7- and 8-year-olds on 2nd grade sight words.
A 5-minute daily routine
- Pick 5 new words for the week, plus any tricky words left from last week.
- Run through them once with flash cards. Your child reads each word, then taps "I know it" or "Not yet".
- Play one round of find the word: your child taps the word among look-alike tiles.
- Finish by spotting one of the words in a book you read together.
Short and daily works better than long and weekly. Stop while it is still fun, even if you have not reached the end of the stack.
How to tell a word is really known
A word is known when your child reads it right away, in about 3 seconds or less, without sounding it out, on two or three different days. Getting it once after a long pause means "almost there".
Move known words to a review pile and check them every week or two. Words that slip go back into the practice pile, and that is completely normal.
Using the tools on this page
Flash cards keep a "not yet" pile that comes back later in the same session. Progress is kept on this device only. When you finish, you can print the tricky words as cards, 8 to a page.
Words are read aloud by your device's built-in voice, when it has one. If it does not, the speaker button is hidden and the word is shown instead, so a grown-up can read it aloud.
Frequently asked questions
How many sight words should my child learn each week?
Many families find 3 to 5 new words a week works for younger children, and up to 10 for confident readers. If older words start slipping, slow down and review.
My child guesses from the first letter. What helps?
This is very common. Ask your child to look at every letter before answering, and use "Show me" to reveal the letters. Find the word uses look-alike tiles, such as was and saw, on purpose.
Do sight words replace phonics?
No. Phonics helps children sound out new words, and sight word practice makes the most frequent words instant. Most classrooms teach both at the same time.
Do I need to print anything?
No. Everything works on a phone, tablet or computer. Printing cards is optional, for games away from the screen.