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Dolch Primer Sight Words (52 Words) — Free Printable List & Flash Cards

There are 52 Dolch primer sight words. Primer is the second Dolch level and the longest one, usually taught in kindergarten once the pre-primer words are secure.

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Flash cards open in the maker with all 52 words loaded — the word on the front and again, printed light, on the back for whoever holds the card up. The word search takes the first 30 words of three letters or more, and bingo gets the whole list to shuffle.

All 52 Dolch primer sight words

In alphabetical order, as Dolch listed them.

  1. 1all
  2. 2am
  3. 3are
  4. 4at
  5. 5ate
  6. 6be
  7. 7black
  8. 8brown
  9. 9but
  10. 10came
  11. 11did
  12. 12do
  13. 13eat
  14. 14four
  15. 15get
  16. 16good
  17. 17have
  18. 18he
  19. 19into
  20. 20like
  21. 21must
  22. 22new
  23. 23no
  24. 24now
  25. 25on
  26. 26our
  27. 27out
  28. 28please
  29. 29pretty
  30. 30ran
  31. 31ride
  32. 32saw
  33. 33say
  34. 34she
  35. 35so
  36. 36soon
  37. 37that
  38. 38there
  39. 39they
  40. 40this
  41. 41too
  42. 42under
  43. 43want
  44. 44was
  45. 45well
  46. 46went
  47. 47what
  48. 48white
  49. 49who
  50. 50will
  51. 51with
  52. 52yes

Flash cards per page

Pick the size in the flash card maker. Sheet counts are for the 52 words on this page, fronts only — printing the backs doubles them.

Cards per pageSheets for 52 wordsWord sizeBest for
2 per page — extra large2660 ptWhole-class flashing from the front of the room.
4 per page — large1344 ptSmall group work and pocket charts.
6 per page — standard934 ptThe usual choice. Fits a rubber band.
8 per page — compact728 ptFact decks and word rings.
9 per page — small624 ptBig decks where paper matters.

How to teach these words

Five short activities that work in a classroom and at the kitchen table. A few minutes a day beats one long session a week.

  1. 1.Three-pile sort

    Flash each card. Words read instantly go in a Know pile, slow ones in Almost, missed ones in Not Yet. Five minutes a day on the Almost and Not Yet piles is enough.

  2. 2.A word ring

    Punch a hole in each card and put three to five words on a binder ring. Add a new word when one is read on sight for three days running.

  3. 3.Sound out what you can

    Most sight words are partly regular. Sound out the regular part together and point out the tricky bit — the ai in said, the o in of — so the word is learned, not guessed.

  4. 4.Sight word hunt

    Pick three words and hunt for them in a picture book, a cereal box or a street sign. Keep a tally and see which word turns up most.

  5. 5.Games with the same words

    Use the list for bingo, a word search or a game of slap: lay out a few cards, call a word, and the first hand on it keeps the card.

43 of these 52 words are also in Fry's first 300 Instant Words, so a child working through either list is practising most of the other.

Frequently Asked Questions

How many Dolch primer sight words are there?

There are 52. Dolch published 220 service words in five levels — 40 pre-primer, 52 primer, 41 first grade, 46 second grade and 41 third grade — plus a separate list of 95 nouns, so 315 words in all.

What are the Dolch primer sight words?

all, am, are, at, ate, be, black, brown, but, came, did, do, eat, four, get, good, have, he, into, like, must, new, no, now, on, our, out, please, pretty, ran, ride, saw, say, she, so, soon, that, there, they, this, too, under, want, was, well, went, what, white, who, will, with, yes.

What grade are the Dolch primer sight words for?

They are commonly taught in kindergarten. Neither the Dolch nor the Fry list was assigned to grades by any official body, so schools differ — follow your school's list if it has one.

How many pages of flash cards do the 52 words make?

At 6 cards per page, the standard size, the 52 words print on 9 sheets. At 9 per page it is 6 sheets, and at 4 large cards per page it is 13. Printing the backs as well doubles the sheet count.

Are the Dolch Primer words also Fry words?

43 of the 52 also appear in Fry's first 300 Instant Words. The two lists were built differently — Dolch from children's books of the 1930s, Fry by how often words appear in print — but they agree on most everyday words.

How many new sight words should a child learn at a time?

Many teachers add three to five new words at a time, mixed in with words the child already knows, and only move on when the new ones are read on sight for a few days running.

Is this sight word list free to print?

Yes. The Print this list button prints the words as a neat sheet from your browser, and the flash card maker prints the cards free, with a small PuzzlePage credit in the footer.

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More sight word lists

Dolch Pre-Primer Sight Words40 words · Pre-K and kindergartenSee the listDolch First Grade Sight Words41 words · First gradeSee the listKindergarten Sight Words92 words · KindergartenSee the listComplete Dolch Sight Word List220 words · Pre-K to grade 3See the list
Every sight word list, by grade