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Dolch pre-primer sight words

The forty Dolch pre-primer words: the ones a child meets before reading has properly started, so they are learned by sight. Open a list in SpellKitty and the kitty says each word while your child spells it out loud.

What the list is

Edward Dolch’s list is the 220 service words that fill most of a young reader’s pages, in five steps from pre-primer to third grade. This is the first step.

Dolch pre-primer, part 120 words
  1. a
  2. and
  3. away
  4. big
  5. blue the color of the sky
  6. can
  7. come
  8. down
  9. find
  10. for meant for someone
  11. funny
  12. go
  13. help
  14. here in this place
  15. i me, myself
  16. in inside
  17. is
  18. it
  19. jump
  20. little
QR code that opens Dolch pre-primer, part 1 in SpellKitty

Play these words in SpellKitty. On an iPhone or iPad with the app, open this list or scan the code, and the words go straight in. Without the app it opens a page that shows the list.

Dolch pre-primer, part 220 words
  1. look
  2. make
  3. me
  4. my
  5. not no, the opposite
  6. one the number 1
  7. play
  8. red the color of fire
  9. run
  10. said
  11. see to look with your eyes
  12. the
  13. three
  14. to toward a place
  15. two the number 2
  16. up
  17. we you and I
  18. where in what place
  19. yellow
  20. you
QR code that opens Dolch pre-primer, part 2 in SpellKitty

Play these words in SpellKitty. On an iPhone or iPad with the app, open this list or scan the code, and the words go straight in. Without the app it opens a page that shows the list.

How to practice them

A few words at a time, a little every day. Say each word, use it in a sentence, then spell it out loud letter by letter. Go back to the ones that were missed first next time.

Where a word sounds like another (to, two, too), the kitty says what it means with the word, so the right one is spelled. The other words are said on their own, as sight words are learned.

Using your child’s own list

If the school sends home a weekly list, type or paste those words into SpellKitty instead, up to thirty, with a meaning after a dash if you like. Your first list is free; more lists come with SpellKitty Pro. Opening a shared list is always free. Or make the list here and open it on the phone with a link or a code.

Other lists

Dolch primer Dolch first grade Dolch second grade Dolch third grade Fry words 1 to 100 Fry words 101 to 200 Fry words 201 to 300 Silent e words Double consonant words Silent letter words Commonly misspelled words Words by grade

The Dolch and Fry lists are public; the meanings and the pattern lists were written for this site. SpellKitty is independent and not affiliated with Scripps or any spelling bee organization.

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