Sight words
First Grade Sight Words
The 41 Dolch first-grade words, from after and again to walk and when, with hangman, difficulty scores and a worksheet.
Read the word list
At first grade the Dolch list asks more of the speller. Of, from, were and some are common and not phonetic at all; walk, could and once hide silent or odd letters. The 41 words also include verbs like give, take, think and stop, which let children write about what happens next.
A good number of these words are easy to read and hard to spell. Students often write thay for they or wer for were, because the sound is right and the letters are not. That makes first grade the best time to use a game that makes every letter count.
Notice how many words share endings and starts. Then, them and thank all begin with th. Walk, know and think each carry a silent letter. Grouping words by these shared features gives students a way to remember them besides raw repetition.
41 entries. Our solver needed 6.2 wrong guesses on average: 0 easy, 14 medium and 27 hard. The toughest is by (15 misses), the quickest after (2).
- after Medium · 2
- again Medium · 3
- an Medium · 3
- any Hard · 8
- as Medium · 4
- ask Hard · 5
- by Hard · 15
- could Hard · 5
- every Medium · 2
- fly Hard · 10
- from Hard · 5
- give Hard · 8
- going Hard · 6
- had Hard · 6
- has Medium · 4
- her Medium · 4
- him Hard · 11
- his Hard · 5
- how Hard · 12
- just Hard · 9
- know Hard · 5
- let Hard · 6
- live Hard · 6
- may Hard · 13
- of Hard · 10
- old Medium · 4
- once Medium · 2
- open Hard · 6
- over Medium · 3
- put Hard · 12
- round Medium · 4
- some Hard · 6
- stop Hard · 6
- take Hard · 7
- thank Medium · 4
- them Hard · 6
- then Hard · 5
- think Hard · 7
- walk Hard · 9
- were Medium · 3
- when Medium · 4
Words worth a closer look
- ofTwo letters, but the f sounds like v, so it never matches its spelling.
- walkThe l is silent; call it the quiet letter.
- onceStarts with a w sound that is not in the spelling.
- wereRhymes with fur, and often confused with where.
Teaching it
Work with the words that you see misspelled in student writing, not the list in alphabetical order. If a class keeps writing wen for when, play when and then back to back and talk about the wh and th openings.
Phonics still helps even for odd words. In walk, w and k are regular and the l is the quiet part. In of, the o is regular and the f sounds like v. Mark the irregular part with a highlighter on the printable, and ask students to say the rest in their heads as they spell.
Print a First Grade Sight Hangman worksheet
Eight puzzles on one US Letter page, with a clue, letter blanks, an empty frame to draw in, an alphabet strip to cross off and circles to count misses. Page two is the answer key.
Need another sheet?
Draw eight different words from this list, right here. Same layout, new answer key.
Keep going
- Dolch Sight WordsThe Dolch service words from pre-primer to third grade, with the history behind the list, a difficulty score for each word and hangman to practice.
- Pre-Primer Sight WordsThe 40 Dolch pre-primer words, the first level of the list, with hangman, difficulty scores and a printable worksheet and answer key.
- Primer Sight WordsAll 52 Dolch primer words, from all and am to who and yes, with hangman, per-word difficulty and a printable worksheet.
- Second Grade Sight WordsThe 47 Dolch second-grade words, including because, their, would and don't, with hangman, difficulty scores and a printable.
- Third Grade Sight WordsThe 41 Dolch third-grade words, such as laugh, light, together and myself, with hangman, difficulty scores and a printable worksheet.
- Dolch NounsThe 97 Dolch nouns, from apple and baby to window and wood, with hangman, difficulty scores and a printable worksheet and answer key.