The Dolch List is Not the Only Sight Word List

Recognizing sight words is a solid first step toward mastering the key skill of reading. By definition, a sight word is a word that a child can read without phonetically decoding it. Sight words are also high-frequency words, being commonly found in most publications. The importance of introducing children to sight words is to lay a foundation for the reading process and to build up confidence as they become more comfortable with the written word. Specific research involving the use of sight words to teach reading reinforces this method, as studies reveal that with over a half million words in the English language, only a couple hundred are regularly used in printed material. Doctors Edward William Dolch and Edward B. Fry compiled practical lists that are still highly valued by both parents and teachers.

Edward William Dolch, PhD published a landmark study that revolutionized the way reading was taught. In his book, Problems in Reading, he developed his theory that children who memorize or are able to identify a core group of words by sight learn to read more easily and with greater comprehension. Dolch systematically compiled a list of 220 service words and 95 nouns (the Dolch lists). He chose words that were most often used in the children’s reading books during the 1930s and 40s. When beginner readers learned these sight words, they became more fluent readers in a shorter period of time.

In 1996, Edward B. Fry, Ph.D, took Dolch’s research to a new level with the publication of his book, 1,000 Instant Words. He compiled a list of the most common sight words and arranged them in order of frequency. Fry’s research discovered that a mere twenty-five words, (these appear at the top of his list) comprise about a third of all published work. He noted that one hundred words are commonly used in about half of all written publications. His list was designed around these facts, as he sought to encourage young children to memorize these sight words to better enable them to read.

Both Dolch and Fry grasped the thinking process involved in reading. With repeated exposure to common sight words, students will instantly recognize these words, automatically comprehending them whenever they appear in the text. This streamlines the reading process by making certain common words quickly understood, leaving the child to phonetically decode only the unfamiliar words on a page.

The common vocabulary word lists compiled by both Dolch and Fry are arranged in a level of increasing difficulty. Fry divided his list into six levels, which correspond to the first six grades. On the other hand, Dolch suggested that his words be thoroughly mastered by third grade. Today, however, most educators encourage students to to recognize upon sight the Dolch lists by the end of the first grade.

Er-u-di-tion is a sight words game that was developed to provide early readers frequent interaction with sight words and basic phonic sounds while playing a fun game. The game cards are categorized by reading readiness level so children of various reading levels can play together.

Edward W. Dolch, PhD’s Sight Words List

Courtesy of the University
of Illinois Archives © Learning to read is at the core of any curriculum. This single skill will determine a child’s academic success. While at the University of Illinois, Edward William Dolch, Ph.D. published a book called Problems in Reading to improve the way reading was taught. He devoted an entire chapter on basic sight word vocabulary.

Dolch identified a need for a sight word list as opposed to a standard word list which typically contains over five hundred words. He concluded that the most essential words will be repeated on the “best” lists of words used by children.


He obtained the following three lists:

A list published by a committee in an international kindergarten union that contains the words children recognize prior to entering first grade (Washington, International Kindergarten Union, 1928).

A list published in A Reading Vocabulary for the Primary Grades by Arthur I. Gates. Dolch used Gates’ first 500 hundred words (New York: Teachers College, Columbia University, 1926).

A list compiled by H.E. Wheeler and Emma A. Howell in the article A First-Grade Vocabulary Study which contained 453 words most frequently found in reading material in first grade(Elementary School Journal, XXXI, September, 1930).

After comparing the three lists, he excluded nouns and selected the most common words based on frequency. In addition, he exercised professional judgment and included 27 words which were on only two of the three lists. As a result, he compiled a list of 220 words and presented them according to level of difficulty, alphabetical and function or parts of speech.

The 220 words include

6 conjunctions - join clauses

16 prepositions - introduce phrases

26 pronouns – represent person or things

34 adverbs – modify verbs

46 adjectives – modify nouns

92 verbs - denote action

Dolch referred to the above words as “tool” or “service” words; they are used in all writing regardless of subject matter. He intentionally excluded nouns from his sight words list. He provided a separate list of nouns.

The Dolch list of 220 service words represents approximately half of printed material. Furthermore, he encouraged every child to learn to recognize sight words instantly.
When they later encounter them in the context of a book, they will have already learned their pronunciation and definition, which will make reading easier.

Most of the Dolch list words cannot be sounded out phonetically, nor can they be illustrated to add a visual cue to the learning process. He recommended a child should master the entire list by 3rd grade. However, many educators today feel that students should master all 220 service words by the end of first grade.

As new generations of students come to instantly recognize Dolch’s sight words, they will become stronger readers with greater comprehension. This will foster success throughout their academic studies. Both parents and professional educators are encouraged to find creative ways to help children instantly recognize this list of words.

Er-u-di-tion, the sight words game, is an excellent tool to help parents and teachers instill the Dolch list (and a few other sight words) in early readers. Game cards are separated by difficulty level so children of various reading levels can play together.

Learning Sight Words

Sight words are those high frequency words that comprise a large percentage of all written content. Depending on the particular sight word list, which usually includes 200 – 300 words, 50% to 75% of all English text represents sight words. The words “are,” “I” and “the” are the most concentrated – these three words represent 10% to 15% of English content.

To read quickly and effectively children must learn to identify and understand these words instantly. For parents and educators, teaching sight words can be a trial and error process. Grasping the meaning and understanding of this group of words is often one of the more difficult tasks for children and others when they learn to read. There are no picture cues or easy to understand definitions for many sight words. Further, many sight words are phonically irregular.

Parents and teachers can employ a combination of sight word activities and incentives to help children learn these high frequency words. For example, educators and parents can:
• Use sight word flash cards to achieve repetitive exposure
• Point out sight words in stories when reading to children
• Verbally repeat the spelling and pronunciation of words with children
• Create a sight word notebook in which children maintains a list of known words
• Offer rewards for learning a subset word list

While these can be effective methods, playing games that incorporate sight words is one of the best approaches as it is most likely to keep a young reader’s attention. Traditionally, common games like bingo, word search puzzles, and matching or memory activities have been used.

Today, there is a new sight words game. Er-u-di-tion was created to expose children to high frequency words in a fun and entertaining atmosphere. The words are categorized as beginner, intermediate, and advanced levels so children from pre-school through third grade can enjoy playing and learning together. Since a game card also includes the word’s definition and syllabication, players enhance more advanced reading skills like vocabulary and text comprehension.

Sight Words and Phonics

Over the past century educators and experts have employed and analyzed various methods to teach reading. Today most teachers and reading experts recommend a suite of approaches that focus on recognition of sight words and decoding with phonics. While these skills alone will not generally result in a great reader, they are necessary building blocks. These two approaches compliment each other and are usually developed on parallel tracks during the learn to read years (i.e. beginning in pre-school or kindergarten and continuing through 3rd grade).

The goal of frequent interaction with sight words, sometimes referred to as word study, is to enable beginning readers to recognize certain high frequency and common phonetically irregular words instantaneously. Instant recognition of the most common words increases reading speed and fluency, while providing the confidence to successfully develop other reading skills. As noted by the National Institute for Literacy, “having a bank of sight words releases a reader’s attention needed for comprehension and for figuring out more difficult and less frequent words.”

Phonics, also know as word analysis or decoding, is the process of using letter patterns to figure out (decode) unfamiliar words. Phonics focuses on teaching beginner readers specific letters and recurring patters and their related sounds to foster quick and accurate recognition of less familiar words. As readers progress in their phonic skills, they learn the meanings and spellings of prefixes, root words, and suffixes. While phonics instruction promotes recognition of unfamiliar words, it is also “effective in helping beginning readers learn to read with understanding.” (National Institute for Literacy).

Er-u-di-tion is a fun sight words game that exposes players to both phonics and sight words. The game cards are color coded so players with different skill levels can play together. Each of the blue cards, which are ideal for pre-school children, includes an upper and lower case letter with words emphasizing that letter’s phonetic sound. The green, yellow, and red cards contain beginner, intermediate and advanced level sight words.

Introduction to Sight Words

Many adults are not familiar with the term sight words (a.k.a. high frequency, Dolch, or wall words) until their children enter kindergarten. Beginning in kindergarten and continuing through 3rd grade, most educators, including parents that home-school, focus on sight word recognition as part of their reading curriculum.

While the exact number and precise words may vary slightly from teacher to teacher, sight words lists generally total 200 – 300 words and are categorized into kindergarten, 1st, 2nd and 3rd grade words. The words share a few common characteristics – they are:

• frequently found in English text,
• often phonetically irregular,
• mostly pronouns, adjectives, adverbs, prepositions, conjunctions, and verbs,
• generally service words which give meaning and direction, and
• difficult, or impossible, to represent with pictures.

Educators and parents work with early readers to memorize these words so that they are identifiable upon sight. This serves to jump-start the road to reading and provides children the ability to read beginner level books. Mastering common sight words also provides early readers the confidence to succeed in other reading curriculum areas (e.g. phonics). Er-u-di-tion, the sight words game, helps players master recognition and comprehension of 284 sight words in a fun setting.