What are Dolch sight words? They’re a list of 220 words, first published in 1936 by Edward William Dolch, that children ought to learn to recognize on sight as they’re learning to read. The theory is that these words are used so often in children’s literature that they are estimated to make up three quarters of all words used in children’s books. Because these words appear so often, they are also called high-frequency words.
As children are learning to read, the four key skills are decoding, fluency, comprehension, and knowledge. The ability to decode (or sound out) words is crucial to reading. But to become a fluent reader, it helps if kids don’t need to stop to sound out every word they come across. So being able to “read” or recognize high-frequency or sight words can help children read more fluently and, by extension, help them better understand what they read because they’re not stopping to sound out each word. In other words, memorizing these first grade sight words can help young kids keep going and gain momentum as they learn to read.
The 220 Dolch sight words are separated into lists for pre¾ÅÉ«ÊÓÆµ through third grade and a list of 95 nouns. Here are the Dolch sight words for first graders.
  
1st grade sight words
again
an
any
as
ask
by
could
every
fly
from
give
going
 had
 has
 her
 him
 his
 how
 just
 know
 let
 live
 may
of
 old
 once
 open
 over
 put
 round
 some
 stop
 take
 thank
 them
then
 think
 walk
 were
 when
 what
 white
 who
 will
 with
 yes
Check out the Dolch sight words for pre¾ÅÉ«ÊÓÆµ, kindergarten, 2nd grade, 3rd grade — and the list of preK-3rd grade nouns.
More ways to support 1st graders as they learn to read
• Play: Decoding activities for your beginning reader
 • Read: Books to boost your 1st grader’s decoding skills
 • Watch: Follow my finger
 • Do: 1st grade sight words worksheets (#1 of 20)