Dolch Sight Words
All 220 Dolch words across the five graded lists, plus the 95 Dolch nouns — every level in full, with free practice for each one.
What the Dolch List Is
In 1936, Edward William Dolch went through the books children were actually being given in their first years of school and pulled out the words that appeared most often. He left out nouns, which are tied to the subject of a book, and kept the connective tissue: articles, pronouns, prepositions, adverbs, verbs. The result was 220 service words, split into five lists by school year, with a separate list of 95 nouns alongside.
What makes them sight words is that most of them resist sounding out. A child who decodes said, was, come or one letter by letter gets the wrong answer every time. They have to be recognized whole.
Ninety years on, the list has aged remarkably well — the top of an English frequency list barely moves — and it is still the sight word sequence most US elementary schools teach.
The Five Graded Lists
Dolch Pre-Primer
40 wordsPre-K to Kindergarten · ages 4-5
Dolch Primer
52 wordsKindergarten · ages 5-6
Dolch First Grade
41 words1st Grade · ages 6-7
Dolch Second Grade
46 words2nd Grade · ages 7-8
Dolch Third Grade
41 words3rd Grade · ages 8-9
Dolch Pre-Primer (40 Words)
Typically pre-k to kindergarten, ages 4-5. Full Dolch Pre-Primer page · practice these words
Words 1–10
Words 11–20
Words 21–30
Words 31–40
Dolch Primer (52 Words)
Typically kindergarten, ages 5-6. Full Dolch Primer page · practice these words
Words 1–10
Words 11–20
Words 21–30
Words 31–40
Words 41–50
Words 51–52
Dolch First Grade (41 Words)
Typically 1st grade, ages 6-7. Full Dolch First Grade page · practice these words
Words 1–10
Words 11–20
Words 21–30
Words 31–40
Words 41–41
Dolch Second Grade (46 Words)
Typically 2nd grade, ages 7-8. Full Dolch Second Grade page · practice these words
Words 1–10
Words 11–20
Words 21–30
Words 31–40
Words 41–46
Dolch Third Grade (41 Words)
Typically 3rd grade, ages 8-9. Full Dolch Third Grade page · practice these words
Words 1–10
Words 11–20
Words 21–30
Words 31–40
Words 41–41
The 95 Dolch Nouns
Dolch published a separate list of concrete nouns to go with the 220 service words. These are not assigned to a year — they are taught whenever they come up, from kindergarten through third grade. Full noun list page · practice the nouns
Words 1–10
Words 11–20
Words 21–30
Words 31–40
Words 41–50
Words 51–60
Words 61–70
Words 71–80
Words 81–90
Words 91–95
Teaching the 220 in Order
The lists are cumulative and should be taught in the published order. A child who is shaky on the pre-primer words will be slow on every list after it, so the fastest route through 220 words is usually to go back rather than push on.
- One list per school year is the standard pace: pre-primer in Pre-K, primer in kindergarten, then one per grade.
- Five to ten words at a time within each list, held until they are instant.
- Keep everything learned in review. Sight words decay, and the earlier lists are the ones that matter most.
- Reading first, spelling second. A word is readable weeks or months before it is reliably spellable.
One transcription note. The canonical second grade list contains don't, apostrophe and all. Plenty of sites print it as dont; that is a copying error, and it is worth teaching the word correctly.
Practice these words now
A real SpellCrush session on 10 words from the Dolch list — each one read aloud with a picture, a definition and a hint. No account, nothing to print.
Start the 10-word session →The 10 words are drawn from 298 of the 315 on this page, so each visit drills a different set.
Frequently Asked Questions
How many Dolch sight words are there?
There are 220 Dolch service words, split into five graded lists: pre-primer 40, primer 52, first grade 41, second grade 46 and third grade 41. A separate list of 95 nouns brings the full Dolch set to 315 words.
What order should Dolch words be taught in?
In the published order: pre-primer, then primer, then first, second and third grade. The levels are cumulative, so a shaky earlier list slows every later one. The 95 nouns are taught opportunistically alongside them rather than at the end.
Why can't Dolch words be sounded out?
Many of them predate or ignore the regular English spelling patterns children are taught in phonics — said, was, come, one, two, could. Decoding them letter by letter gives the wrong answer, which is exactly why Dolch pulled them out into a list to be learned by sight.
Are the Dolch lists still used?
Yes. Published in 1936, they are still the sight word lists most US elementary schools use, largely because the words at the top of an English frequency list have barely changed in ninety years.
How long does it take to learn all 220 Dolch words?
Typically four school years, from Pre-K to the end of third grade, at roughly one list per year. Many children finish sooner; taking longer is common too and is not on its own a cause for concern.
Track which words are actually automatic
SpellCrush reads each word aloud, remembers the ones your child misses and brings them back until they stick. Free for 7 days.
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