English · Kindergarten–Grade 2
Free sight words worksheets (Dolch and Fry)
Free printable sight words worksheets for kindergarten to grade 2: trace, write and find sheets for the four Dolch lists, a Fry first 100 checklist, sentence fill-ins, color the word and 24 flash cards. Answer keys included.
Dolch pre-primer: trace, write, find (12 words)
The twelve most frequent pre-primer words (the, and, a, to, I, you, it, in, is, can, we, see): read the model, trace the dotted word, write it, then circle it among four. Free printable PDF.
Dolch primer: trace, write, find (12 words)
Twelve primer words (he, was, that, she, on, they, but, at, with, all, there, out) to read, trace, write and find. Free printable PDF.
Dolch first grade: trace, write, find (12 words)
Twelve first grade words (of, his, had, him, her, some, as, then, could, when, were, them) to read, trace, write and find. Free printable PDF.
Dolch second grade: trace, write, find (12 words)
Twelve second grade words (their, would, these, made, many, because, very, around, always, first, read, work) to read, trace, write and find. Free printable PDF.
Fry first 100 words checklist
All 100 Fry first-hundred words in frequency order with tick boxes, a score line and dates for monthly rechecks. Free printable PDF.
Sight word sentences: fill in the blank
Ten simple sentences with a ten-word bank (the, see, you, went, is, was, can, like, and, little). Answer key on page 2. Free printable PDF.
Color the sight word
Twenty-four boxes holding six target words (the, and, you, said, was, they) four times each; color by the key. Answer key on page 2. Free printable PDF.
Sight word flash cards: 24 words
Twenty-four cut-out cards from the pre-primer and primer lists in large clear type. Free printable PDF.
AI worksheet generator
Make a worksheet like this for your class
The 8 sheets above are fixed. The generator writes a new sight words (dolch and fry) worksheet for your grade, with the question types and count you choose, in about 20 seconds. Pick a grade to start:
What you get
- A fresh set of questions on sight words (dolch and fry), not a copy of the sheets above
- Multiple choice, fill in the blanks, true or false, open ended
- Answer key and print-ready PDF with Pro
Free account, 3 worksheets a week. No card.
Sight words are the words children learn to read on sight, without sounding out: the, and, was, said, they. About a hundred of them make up half of everything a child will ever read, so knowing them instantly is what turns halting decoding into reading. These eight worksheets cover the two lists teachers use. Four sheets take the Dolch lists one at a time (pre-primer, primer, first grade, second grade), each with the twelve most frequent words to read, trace, write and find. A checklist holds the Fry first 100 for monthly progress checks. Then the words go to work: fill-in sentences, a color-the-word page and a set of cut-out flash cards. The two sheets with answers have a key on page 2.
What's in this set
- Dolch pre-primer: trace, write, find. the, and, a, to, I, you, it, in, is, can, we, see. Read the model, trace the dotted word, write it, circle it among four.
- Dolch primer. he, was, that, she, on, they, but, at, with, all, there, out. Same layout.
- Dolch first grade. of, his, had, him, her, some, as, then, could, when, were, them.
- Dolch second grade. their, would, these, made, many, because, very, around, always, first, read, work.
- Fry first 100 checklist. All 100 words in frequency order with tick boxes, a score line and dates for the next check.
- Sight word sentences. Ten short sentences with a ten-word bank; write the missing word. Answer key.
- Color the sight word. Twenty-four boxes, six target words, a color key. Answer key shows the colors.
- Flash cards. Twenty-four pre-primer and primer words in large type, dashed cut lines.
Sight words sit beside phonics, not instead of it: children who can decode CVC words and word families still need to recognize the, was and said instantly, because those words do not follow the rules they know.
AI worksheet generator
Need a different sight words (dolch and fry) worksheet?
Generate a custom sight words (dolch and fry) worksheet: pick the grade, question types and count, and print it in about 20 seconds. Free accounts get 3 generations a week.
How to use these worksheets
Print at 100% on A4 or US Letter. Work on three to five new words a week, review the old ones daily for a minute or two, and move on when a word is read within two seconds every time. Kindergarten covers the pre-primer and primer lists; first grade adds the first-grade list; second grade finishes with the second-grade list.
- Trace, write, find (the four Dolch sheets). Say the word, trace it while saying the letters, write it, then find it among the four on the right. The find-it row is the point: the child has to recognize the whole word shape, not spell it out. Cover the model and ask the child to read the written word back.
- Fry first 100 checklist. Point to each word and give two seconds. A tick means instant, not sounded out. Write the score and date, then repeat monthly; children love watching the number climb.
- Sight word sentences. Read the whole sentence first, then try each bank word in the gap and pick the one that sounds right. The first word of a sentence is capitalized in the bank ("The").
- Color the sight word. Read, match to the key, color. With four boxes per word, children read each target word four times without noticing the repetition.
- Flash cards. Two seconds per card. Known cards go in one pile, practice cards in another; the practice pile is tomorrow's lesson. Keep the pile of known cards visible so the child sees it grow.
Common mistakes to watch for
- Sounding out sight words letter by letter. Many of them cannot be sounded out (was, said, the). Say the whole word, cover it, say it again.
- Confusing look-alikes. was/saw, of/for, where/there, then/than. Put the pair side by side and find the difference before practicing either.
- Too many new words at once. Three to five a week that stick beat ten that do not.
- Practicing only on worksheets. Point out the week's words in a storybook, on signs and in the child's own writing.
Frequently asked questions
What is the difference between Dolch and Fry sight words?
Two lists made by two researchers. Dolch (1936) has 220 words split by grade from pre-primer to third grade, plus 95 nouns; Fry (1957, revised 1980) has 1,000 words in frequency order, taught in groups of 100. They overlap heavily. Most classrooms use one or the other; these sheets give you the Dolch lists for practice and the Fry first 100 for assessment.
How many sight words should a child know by the end of kindergarten?
Typical targets are the Dolch pre-primer list (40 words) by mid-year and the primer list (52 more) by the end of kindergarten, or roughly the Fry first 50 to 100. Programs vary; steady progress matters more than the exact count.
Should sight words be taught before or alongside phonics?
Alongside. Phonics teaches children to read most words; sight words handle the very common words that either break the rules (said, was, of) or are needed before the rules for them are taught (the, they). Ten minutes a day on each is a common balance.
Which sheets have answer keys?
Sight word sentences and color the sight word have keys on page 2. The trace-write-find sheets, the checklist and the flash cards have nothing to mark.
Can I use these in a classroom?
Yes. The PDFs are free for home and classroom use. Print the checklist once per child and keep it in their folder for the year.
More reading practice
Decoding first: the CVC words worksheets, the word families worksheets and the phonics worksheets. Handwriting for the write column: the handwriting worksheets, the letter worksheets and the name tracing worksheets. Further on, the spelling worksheets and the third grade reading comprehension worksheets.
Free library
Related collections
Free CVC words worksheets
Free handwriting worksheets
Free phonics worksheets
Free name tracing worksheets
Free third grade reading comprehension worksheets
Free spelling worksheets
Free letter worksheets
Free Christmas worksheets: word searches, letter to Santa and writing
More worksheets
- Free cl blend worksheets
- Free Halloween math worksheets
- Free Christmas math worksheets
- Free hundreds chart worksheets
- Free ten frame worksheets
- Free Montessori teen board and ten board worksheets
- Free Montessori place value worksheets (golden beads)
- Free Montessori hundred board worksheets
- Free safety signs worksheets
- Free copy the picture worksheets
- Free repeating patterns worksheets
- Free before and after numbers worksheets