Word lists
Dolch Sight Words
All 220 service words in five levels, plus 95 nouns. Each list plays as a free game.
The levels at a glance
| Level | Usually taught | Words | Examples |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pre-primer | Pre-K | 40 | a, and, away, big, blue, can |
| Primer | Kindergarten | 52 | all, am, are, at, ate, be |
| First grade | 1st grade | 41 | after, again, an, any, as, ask |
| Second grade | 2nd grade | 46 | always, around, because, been, before, best |
| Third grade | 3rd grade | 41 | about, better, bring, carry, clean, cut |
| Nouns | Alongside the levels | 95 | apple, baby, back, ball, bear, bed |
What are the Dolch words?
Edward William Dolch, an American education researcher, published his list of 220 "service words" in 1936 and his nouns in the 1940s. He drew them from the words children met most often in reading books at the time.
They're still widely used, because the words that hold English sentences together haven't changed much. Many can be sounded out, and some can't. Either way, children need to read them instantly.
Want to see how they fit together by age? Try sight words by grade.
Quick quiz: which word do you hear?
Questions
How many Dolch sight words are there?
220 service words, plus 95 nouns: 315 in all.
Dolch or Fry: which should I use?
Either is fine, and they overlap a lot. Use your school's list if it has one. We compare them in Dolch vs Fry.
Where do I start?
At the pre-primer list, or let the game work out the level by itself.
An app is on the way
We're building a Wordburrow app for iPhone. The plan is everything you can play here, plus offline play and a parent view of the words that have stuck. It isn't out yet. The whole game is free here in the meantime.
Coming soon on theApp Store