Edward W. Dolch, PhD’s Sight Words List

Learning to read is at the core of any curriculum. This single skill will determine a child’s academic success right through to the college level. Yet, it all starts at an early age. Edward William Dolch, Ph.D (1889-1961) conducted important research in 1948 at the University of Illinois in an effort to improve the way reading was taught. His theory was that if children could identify a number of words by sight (sight words), they would be able to later recognize them in context. This, in turn, would help them develop a higher mastery of reading. Dolch’s breakthrough concept revolutionized the way educators taught reading, and his influence and methods are still being used in classrooms today.

Dolch carefully compiled a list of the most common words used in children’s books. He believed that beginning readers should memorize and identify these high frequency words. When they later encounter them in the context of paragraphs in a book, they will have already learned their pronunciation and definition, which will make their reading smoother and more meaningful. 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. Dolch’s list contains 220 service words and 95 common nouns. He also arranged them according to grade level, up to grade three, when he suggested that a child should have mastered the entire list. However, many educators today feel that students should master all 220 service words by the end of first grade.

Dolch’s analysis indicated that sight words comprise almost seventy percent of any text in a book. He based his theory and word list upon this vital principle. When children learn Dolch’s list of words by sight, those words are locked into their minds and are able to be retrieved when the student is ready to read sentences and paragraphs. Dolch included pronouns, adjectives, adverbs, prepositions, conjunctions and verbs in the list of 220 words. He created a separate list of 95 common nouns. By doing this, he highlighted and separated the more concrete words of our language, while subtly pointing out the various parts of speech.

The pioneer research of Edward William Dolch is still being used in today’s schools. As new generations of students come to recognize Dolch’s sight words, they will become stronger readers with greater comprehension. This will foster success all 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.