Sight words
The high-frequency words readers are taught to recognise on sight.
The full Dolch sight word list, free to print: 220 service words plus 95 nouns, split into five grade sets with trace, write and find sheets.
The Sight Words Pack
Stop re-teaching the same five words — a revisit schedule that does it for you
Every sheet above is free and always will be.
The Dolch pre-primer set in groups of five, each revisited at one day, three days and one week, with a placement sheet, a tracker, and notes on what to do when a word will not stick. It prints as one job.
What the pack holds
Choose and complete one short sponsor offer, then come straight back to this page with the pack open. Nothing about you or your child is sent with you.
The sheets
7 sheets, all free, all printable from their own page.
The Dolch pre-primer set of 40 sight words, listed for recognition practice.
The Dolch primer set of 52 sight words, listed for recognition practice.
The Dolch first grade set of 41 sight words, listed for recognition practice.
The Dolch second grade set of 46 sight words, listed for recognition practice.
The Dolch third grade set of 41 sight words, listed for recognition practice.
The complete Dolch list of 220 service words, grouped into the pre-primer, primer, first, second and third grade sets.
Common sight words in dashed form to trace over, one word to a line, on a guide rule.
The Sight Words Pack
The sequence
Sight words are taught to be recognised on sight, and recognition is built by spacing, not by volume. The classic mistake is to show twenty new words in a session and review none of them; the classic result is that none of them stick. This pack uses the Dolch pre-primer set in groups of five, and each group is revisited at one day, three days and one week after first introduction. Spacing a review a day and then three days later forces the memory to be rebuilt each time, which is what makes it durable. The placement sheet shows where to start and the tracker records which words were met and which need another pass. When a word will not stick, the notes say to slow the cycle for that word alone rather than stop the whole sequence.
Introduce a, and, away, big, blue. Revisit each at +1 day, +3 days, +1 week.
can, come, down, find, for. Keep the spaced review of week one running.
Keep adding words in groups of five and reviewing the earlier ones on the schedule.
The primer set adds 52 words; take them in the same groups of five with the same review cycle.
These 41 words are more abstract; review cycles matter more here, not less.
The last two sets together. A word that recurs across sets is a word worth checking twice.
The placement sheet
The placement sheet is the first page of the Sight Words Pack, and it shows where to begin with the Dolch sets: the pre-primer set in groups of five, then the primer set in the same groups, then the first, second and third grade sets in turn. It is a route map rather than a worksheet, so a parent never wonders which set comes next. It belongs at the front of the sequence.
The placement sheet for the The Sight Words Pack, showing where to start and the order to follow.
The tracker
The tracker is the printable grid that records which sight-word sets have been met and which still need review. Each row is one Dolch grade set and each column a state: met, needs review, or stuck. The spaced review revisits each set, and the tracker keeps the +1 day, +3 days and +1 week schedule honest. A set marked needs review is simply one to come back to.
The printable tracker for the The Sight Words Pack, a grid of what has been done and what stuck.
When something will not stick
- For one stubborn word, write it where it is seen naturally — a card on the fridge — rather than drilling the sheet.
- If five words a week feels fast or slow, adjust the number; the range is a choice, not a rule.
- Stop the moment attention goes. A short frequent session outlasts a long rare one.