First Grade Sight Words

Sight Words for First Grade

You might be wondering, what is a sight word? In general, Sight Words are words that cannot be sounded out phonetically and must be read by sight. For example, the word “cat” can be sounded out with individual letter sounds “c—a—t” and thus is not a sight word. However, words like “four” and “she” cannot be sounded out phonetically or broken apart into chunks. These words must be memorized through repetition and exposure, or memorized by sight. This is why they are called sight words.

Of course, there are always exceptions to the sight word rule, but this is a good starting point for understanding the purpose of sight words and the need for sight word memorization as an important building block on the road to reading. You can read more about the importance of sight words for kids here.

What are First Grade Sight Words?

So, what are first-grade sight words and why are first-grade sight words important? There are two widely accepted high-frequency sight word lists that are used by teachers and homeschooling parents all over the world. Dolch Sight Words, which is a word list compiled by Dr. Edward William Dolch includes 41 common first-grade sight words. Fry’s Sight Words, compiled by Dr. Edward Fry covers 100 sight words students should learn during grade 1. If you’re wondering which first-grade sight word list to use, you can read more about each sight word list here.

Sight Words your First Grader Needs to Know:

Most commonly, we’ve seen the Dolch Sight Word first-grade list prevail as the accepted, grade-level specific list of sight words, however, many families and schools continue to use Fry’s 100 Sight Words Lists for first-grade as well. As Fry’s first 100 words are suggested for first grade. You might find that some school districts will use both, or a mixture compiled from each common sight word list.

First Grade Sight Word List

The free printable sight word teaching resources on this page use Dolch sight word lists for first grade. If you’ve decided to use Fry’s 100 Sight Words for First Grade, we have a variety of sight word charts, flashcards, and printables available as well. However, our suggested method order is to teach Dolch 220 first-grade sight words in Frequency order. Below you’ll find basic sight word first-grade lists for all 41 Dolch sight words.

First Grade Sight Word List

This is a free printable First Grade Sight Words PDF that includes all common and high-frequency words from the Dolch 220 first-grade word list. These sight words are in alphabetical order for easy reference. Print this sight word list as a reference chart, for extra practice, or even use it as a sight word preassessment to see how many words your students know!

First Grade Sight Words List Dolch 220

First Grade students can learn important sight words in order of frequency. This first-grade sight word list presents the Dolch 220 first-grade sight words in order based on use in texts. This is very helpful for building important reading fluency skills as these are the most common words your young students will come across in early-reader books.

First Grade Sight Words List

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How to Teach Sight Words in First Grade

Here are some helpful tools that will help you teach your first-grade students important sight words. First Grade students learn through play, so you’ll want to incorporate many hands-on first-grade sight word games, or even sight word songs! Repetition is key, so you’ll find that many of the printables and games we feature below will help your student with extra practice on important first-grade reading skills. Additionally, first-grade students generally have beginning handwriting skills so you’ll want to include opportunities for students to trace and write sight words on their own.

Free First Grade Sight Word Printables

The first-grade sight word printables on this page reference Dolch 220 Sight Word words intended for the first-grade year. There are 41 Dolch sight words for first-grade as listed below:

First Grade Sight Word Worksheets

Free printable first grade sight words worksheets and printables for kids. The ability to recognize common sight words requires repeated practice and exposure. Over the years we’ve created a TON of free and fun sight word worksheets, games, activity pages, and hands-on learning opportunities. Below we have some of our most loved first-grade sight word worksheets to provide your students with ample opportunity to practice reading, writing, and spelling common sight words. Make learning to read even more fun with our R.E.A.D. Grade 1 Curriculum Notebook.

First-Grade Sight Word Worksheets

Students work on a variety of skills for learning 41 sight words! With these free first-grade sight words worksheet PDF your students will work on a variety of sight word activities, sentences, and reading skills:

• Read Sight Words
• Recognize Sight Words
• Trace Sight Words
• Build Sight Words
• Read Sight Word Sentences
• Writing Sight Words
• Color and Write Sight Words

First Grade Sight Word Games

Learning sight words in first grade is FUN with our free printable Sight Word Games for First Grade! With our printable sight word flashcards, you can use our gameboards or create your own hands-on learning games, and small group activities for kids. We’ve created fun, hands-on learning activities for your first graders to learn sight words.

First Grade Sight Word BINGO

Learning sight words is fun with our free printable Sight Word BINGO games! Each game features unique sight words from the Dolch Grade 1 Word list for your kindergarten kids to find, read, and cover!

First Grade Sight Word Flashcards

Free printable first-grade sight word flashcards for Dolch 220 1st grade words list. These color-coded flashcards include every sight word your first grader should know! Great for learning to read, practice, or used with our Sight Word Games. These can be used as BINGO calling cards as well.

First Grade Sight Word Four in a Row

First Grade students can practice reading their sight words with this free printable first-grade sight word game. The goal of the game is to get four in a row on the gameboard. Students use free printable sight word flashcards to play.

First Grade Sight Word Assessment

If you are ready to test your first-grade students for sight word fluency, you’ll love our free printable sight word assessments. We’ve included teacher checklist assessment sheets, as well as printable sight word reading cards for students. With quarterly testing, this assessment is the perfect resource to track and monitor student growth.

First Grade Sight Word Assessment

Simple, no-prep sight word assessments organized by grade level. Your students can show proficiency for all of their first-grade sight words. Our sight word assessments present sight words in frequency order by quarter so each quarter your students will learn new sight words. These simple sight word quiz sheets provide low-prep testing and easy take-home reports.

Let’s Learn all 41 First-Grade Sight Words!

Editable Sight Word Bundle

We have an amazing solution if you’re looking for a fun and easy way to practice your first-grade students’ sight words! Our Editable Sight Word Activities Bundle contains a variety of editable Sight Word Worksheets, Activities, and Printables! You’ll love the versatility of our editable sight word printables as you can type and retype your current spelling words, sight words, student names, and more! Save with our sight word bundle and fill your literacy centers with custom learning resources suited to your students’ abilities.

First Grade Sight Words: Dolch Sight Words List

If you need a simple and quick list of sight words for first grade in alphabetical order, you can simply copy and print the list below! Use the list to plan out your homeschool, classroom, or target word list for the school year. These sight words are taken from First Grade Dolch Sight Words 220 first-grade Word List. We’ve also included a sight word list for the first grade ordered by frequency. Starting with the high-frequency words first will help your student learn beginner sight words, which are common words that will show up in early readers.