Dolch sight words for kindergarten

The Dolch sight words are the 220 words that appear most often in children's books, sorted into five levels. Kindergarten covers the first two: the 40 pre-primer words and the 52 primer words. Many can be sounded out; all of them need to become instant.

Free printable PDF, Kindergarten.

Lists
Checkboxes

One page, black and white, prints the same every time.

Tap the sheet to print it. The picture follows the options you pick.

What is on the sheet

The table below is the sheet as it prints with these options: Pre-primer and primer, Yes.

Pre-primer 40 words

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

Primer 52 words

all four out this
am get please too
are good pretty under
at have ran want
ate he ride was
be into saw well
black like say went
brown must she what
but new so white
came no soon who
did now that will
do on there with
eat our they yes

What the Dolch list is

Edward Dolch published the list in 1936 after counting the words that turned up most in the children's books of the time. The 220 service words (he kept nouns on a separate list of 95) still make up between half and three quarters of the words on any page a young child reads, which is why every reading programme teaches them early. Many of them, "the", "was", "of", "said", do not follow the phonics rules a kindergartener knows, so they are learned by sight.

The pre-primer list is the first 40, the ones a child meets before reading a primer; the primer list is the next 52. Together they are the kindergarten year. The lists on this page are the standard ones, printed in alphabetical order within each level.

Using the checklist

Tick a word when the child reads it instantly, without sounding it out, on three separate days. Words that get a hesitation stay unticked and go on the practice pile. Most kindergarten classes aim for the pre-primer list by winter and the primer list by the end of the year, but the order within a list does not matter; start with the words that appear in the books the child is reading.

For practice rather than reference, the kindergarten sight words worksheet prints a fresh sheet of these words each time, and the 1st grade Dolch list is the next level.

Common questions

Are Dolch words the same as Fry words?
They overlap heavily but are different lists. Dolch has 220 words in five levels from a 1936 count; Fry has 1,000 words in ten hundreds from a 1996 count of modern texts. Schools use one or the other. The Fry first hundred list is on this site too.
Why are the nouns not here?
Dolch listed 95 nouns separately, and they are not usually part of a kindergarten sight-word programme. The site's bank holds the 220 service words.
Can I print without the checkboxes?
Yes, choose "No" under Checkboxes for a plain list, for the wall or a reading folder.

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