Sight words
Primer Sight Words
All 52 Dolch primer words, from all and am to who and yes, with hangman, per-word difficulty and a printable worksheet.
Read the word list
The primer list adds 52 words to the pre-primer set and is where sentences begin to sound like real talk. Here are he and she, was and are, they and there, plus colors (black, brown, white) and a few actions such as ate, ran and ride. Many programs reach it near the end of kindergarten.
Look for the pairs that cause trouble. They, then and there all start with th, and they, the and this share a sound but not a spelling. Was and saw are mirror images, a favorite reversal for young readers. Ate and eat, and ran and run, are worth setting side by side.
Several of these words have a silent or surprising letter: want, who, what, our. The hangman game helps here because every letter has to be guessed, so students cannot skip over the awkward ones.
52 entries. Our solver needed 5.6 wrong guesses on average: 7 easy, 14 medium and 31 hard. The toughest is be (16 misses), the quickest ate (0).
- all Hard · 5
- am Hard · 11
- are Easy · 1
- at Easy · 1
- ate Easy · 0
- be Hard · 16
- black Hard · 5
- brown Hard · 7
- but Medium · 4
- came Hard · 5
- did Hard · 5
- do Hard · 7
- eat Easy · 0
- four Hard · 5
- get Hard · 9
- good Hard · 9
- have Hard · 9
- he Hard · 7
- into Medium · 2
- like Hard · 7
- must Hard · 6
- new Hard · 7
- no Medium · 3
- now Hard · 7
- on Medium · 3
- our Medium · 2
- out Medium · 3
- please Medium · 2
- pretty Easy · 1
- ran Medium · 3
- ride Medium · 4
- saw Hard · 11
- say Hard · 12
- she Hard · 6
- so Medium · 4
- soon Medium · 4
- that Medium · 4
- there Easy · 1
- they Hard · 7
- this Medium · 3
- too Easy · 1
- under Hard · 6
- want Hard · 8
- was Hard · 10
- well Hard · 8
- went Hard · 7
- what Hard · 5
- white Medium · 4
- who Hard · 6
- will Hard · 12
- with Hard · 8
- yes Hard · 8
Words worth a closer look
- wasThe a sounds like u, so sounding it out leads astray.
- whoSilent w, and the o is not the o in go.
- ateA long a spelled with a silent e, same sound as eight.
- prettyDouble t in the middle; say it with two chunks, pret and ty.
Teaching it
Spend a day on contrasts. Write was and saw on a card, read both, then have the student spell each backward and forward in the game. Do the same with there, they and their (the last one is on the second-grade page) and with what, want and went.
For more help, ask for a sentence with each new word before you play it. A student who says she ate the pie has attached the word to a meaning and a sound, which matters more than speed. Rotate between the whole list and a single tricky group.
Print a Primer 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.
- First Grade Sight WordsThe 41 Dolch first-grade words, from after and again to walk and when, with hangman, difficulty scores and a 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.