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Sight Words

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Beginning High Frequency Words Found in Bundles
Irregular words

Teach

Sight Words are instantly recognizable and read without conscious effort. They include both high frequency and irregular words.

High Frequency Words are the words that are most common in the English language. High Frequency can also be irregular. Examples are: is, said, the, they.

Irregular Words are spelled irregularly. Irregular words can also be high frequency. Examples are: of, does, psychic, choir.

Map sounds to letters when learning words.


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Mapping sounds to letters example from another training

When many words are read automatically, fluency is developed and comprehension is boosted.

Teaching Videos: Words and introduction to activities.

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Dolch List 1
Dolch List 2 
Dolch List 3 
Dolch List 4 
Dolch List 5
Dolch List 6
Dolch List 7
Dolch List 8
Dolch List 9
Dolch List 10
Dolch List 11

Sight Words are words learners need to recognize instantly by sight (like identifying their own name).

It is important for beginning learners to start by learning a handful of the most common words.

Beginning High Frequency Words:  These are the first words learners need to know automatically. These are words that may or may not be irregular, but are so common we need to know them by sight. Say a word, figure out the individual sounds in the word, then map (connect) each sound to the letter(s) that represent it. See map sounds to letters below.
Beginning Sight Words Lists

Irregular Words:  Some of our oldest and most common words have changed through the centuries so the spelling and pronunciation no longer match (ie. said). These can be tricky since there are sounds being represented un unusual ways. However, the key is still to focus attention on the sounds in the word and what letters are representing them. For example the word “said” has 3 sounds /s/, /ĕ/, /d/. These sounds are represented by the letters s, ai, and d. It is unusual for ai to represent the /ĕ/ sound, but noticing how each sound is represented is key to remembering the word. See map sounds to letters below.
Big List of Common Unusual Words, Chunks and Schwa Words

Map the sounds in the word to the letter(s) representing the sounds, even if it is not a letter combination that has been taught yet. Only an unusual sound/letter combination needs to be remembered “by heart ♥️.” Mapping the sounds to the letters is how we remember what words look like. See example below:

Map Sounds To Letters examples

Be sure to reinforce what you know and are learning about words, for example:
Schwa Sound: Any vowel might say /ŭ/. Point out that this happens in many common words like: the, of, was, some, from…

Working on new words (or sounds) with flashcards (Work on about 90% known words/sounds and about 10% new words/sounds.  We need to keep practicing the known words for weeks and months so they become an automatic part of our long term memory.)

Be sure to talk about each new word first! Practice on a beat:

3 Beats for new words:
Beat 1: Show Word
Beat 2: Teacher Says Word
Beat 3: Learner Says Word

3 Beats for known words:
Beat 1: Show Word
Beat 2: Pause
Beat 3: Learner Says Word

2 Beats for automatic words:
Beat 1: Show Word
Beat 2: Learner Says Word

Learn and practice sight words this way so that students are not verbalizing incorrect answers while looking at the word, not talking over the teacher, and giving student(s) a beat of think time. Encourage students to hold their answer in their heads until it is time to answer on the beat (and not before!)

More Ideas for Using Flashcards Here!

Can use same strategies for Sounds and Chunks

Flashing Words for learners who struggle to move from sounding out words to reading words automatically.

Timing Students

Use spaced retrieval practice for memorizing. Use flashcards to have the learner “retrieve” the information. Practice for short periods of time and space them out! Practice a couple minutes many times each day rather than 15 minutes once a day. I used to have cards in the kitchen so my own kids could go through them quickly at meal and snack times. *Spaced retrieval has been proven to produce more long-lasting learning.

/a/ Using backslashes means the sound the letter makes, not the name of the letter.  The sound for the letter t will be written /t/.   The sounds for the word cat will be written /c/, /a/, /t/.

Directions for materials:

More on the Directions Page

Sample Bundles contain samples of the stories, games, lists, fluency pyramids, activities, and more you will find in the practice section below.

Beginning Dolch Sight Word Bundle 1 REBUS.
Dolch List 6 Bundle

Practice

Sight Words Materials

We need to know common words, especially common “cheater” words, automatically by sight.  If we stopped to think about reading the word “the” every time we came to it, reading would be laborious and difficult, and comprehension will suffer.

Teach Essential Sight Words!

Teach the 220 most common words with the individual Dolch 1-11 packs, or get the whole bundle!  There are also 3 Beginning Sight Word Rebus packs that have pictures for difficult words to keep it successful for the beginning reader!  You will love the ease of the print and go materials.  Students will love the success they experience!  Click to check it out!

Bundles and Packs for Purchase

Assessment and check off for Dolch Lists 1-11

Blue Heart: Beginning, grades K-11. Beginning Sight Word Bundle 1 REBUS. These first 17 sight words are introduced in activity pages using pictures for some words so learners are able to read sentences. The bundle also includes reviews, word drills and a game. Do these in order as they build on each other.

The words are introduced in the bundle 1 in the following order:

  • the, in, is
  • on
  • it
  • will, go
  • I, he, she
  • not
  • and, can
  • had
  • his
  • of
  • but

Blue Heart: Beginning, grades K-12. Beginning Sight Word Bundle 2. Do these in order, as they build on each other. At the same time your learner moves to the third set of beginning sight words, they can also practice with the Dolch List 1 Bundle below. The Dolch bundles have some more challenging words your learner may need help with, but they will also feel successful with the sight words they have already learned!
The words are introduced in the bundle 2 in the following order:

  • he, she (review)
  • we, me
  • was
  • what
  • they
  • you
  • said
  • do
  • for
  • to
  • that

Blue Heart: Beginning, grades K-13. Beginning Sight Word Bundle 3. Do these in order, as they build on each other. Once your learner has mastered these, they are now ready to practice with the Dolch List 2 below. The Dolch bundles have some more challenging words your learner may need help with.
The words are introduced in the bundle 3 in the following order:

  • am, as
  • with
  • have
  • him, her
  • look
  • up, down
  • at, all
  • little
  • be, me, my
  • there
  • then
  • some
  • out
  • from
  • your

Assessment and check off for Dolch Lists 1-11

Becoming automatic with these builds fluency!

Dolch List Bundles include games, phrase lists, stories and Fluency Pyramids, in horizontal format (better for distance learning via computer screens).

Pyramid Fluency Stories
Little Stories and Comics
List and Story
List and Story