Which Fry words do 4th graders practice?

This sheet draws from Fry's fourth, fifth, and sixth hundreds: words like measure, government, language, and beautiful. They're the high-frequency backbone of textbook prose, and in fourth grade the useful skill is spelling them automatically, since reading them is usually already solid.

Is this still sight-word practice?

Not quite, and that's by design. Past the first 300 words, most children can read these on sight already; what wobbles is the spelling. The cover-and-write routine turns the same list into spelling practice: read it, hide it, produce it from memory, check.

4th grade Fry instant words

4th grade Fry instant words worksheets

Fry's list keeps going past 300, and fourth grade is where its middle hundreds earn their keep: words like measure, government, and language that fill textbooks more than storybooks. At this age the sheet works as spelling and fluency maintenance; the words are already readable, and the goal is writing them correctly without a pause.

Free printable PDF worksheet, aligned to Common Core RF.4.3.a.

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The kind of words you'll practice

Say each word, then cover it. Write it twice from memory, and check your spelling.

slowlybirdsyetvoicereturnrockhalfwish

Each word sits beside a fold line with two write-on lines: read it, cover it, write it from memory twice, then uncover and check.

Every print pulls a new set of words at this level, so a make-up test or a second sibling gets a different mix.

What's on a 4th grade sheet

4th grade sheets draw from 300 words, 8 to a page. None of these words are on 3rd grade sheets.

Some of the words:

farmfivebuildingfilledruletenyesbillpaintpast

Cover and write. Say each word, then cover it. Write it twice from memory, and check your spelling. 8 words per page.

Every version prints on US Letter or A4, with a word list on the last page.

How to teach this

Reading these words is rarely the problem by fourth grade; spelling them under time pressure is. Dictate a few into real sentences after the sheet (Measure the room. The government agreed.) and mark only the misspellings for next week. Ten minutes weekly beats daily drilling at this age.

Watch for: Fry words and Dolch words overlap; they're two researchers' lists of the same idea, the most frequent words in print. The lists are ordered by how often words appear, not by how hard they are to spell.

Common questions about 4th grade Fry instant words

Which Fry words do 4th graders practice?: This sheet draws from Fry's fourth, fifth, and sixth hundreds: words like measure, government, language, and beautiful. They're the high-frequency backbone of textbook prose, and in fourth grade the useful skill is spelling them automatically, since reading them is usually already solid.
Is this still sight-word practice?: Not quite, and that's by design. Past the first 300 words, most children can read these on sight already; what wobbles is the spelling. The cover-and-write routine turns the same list into spelling practice: read it, hide it, produce it from memory, check.

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Aligned to Common Core RF.4.3.a. Reviewed by the One more sheet team. Content version 240, updated October 2026.

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