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Sight words

Pre-primer Sight Words

All 40 pre-primer Dolch sight words as printable practice. Trace and write them on handwriting lines, pick them out from similar-looking words, or print the list as a reference. Usually taught at preschool, around ages 3 to 5.

40 wordsTrace & writeFind the wordPDF · SVG
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Four steps

How to practise pre-primer sight words

  1. 1

    Take three to five words

    Not the whole list at once.

  2. 2

    Read before writing

    Say the word, then trace it, then write it unaided.

  3. 3

    Test recognition

    Use the find-the-word sheet to catch guessing.

  4. 4

    Move on when automatic

    No pause at all, not just a correct answer.

The pre-primer list

The first 40. Almost all of them are impossible to sound out or too abstract to picture, which is exactly why they are memorised rather than decoded.

aandawaybigbluecancomedownfindforfunnygohelphereIinisitjumplittlelookmakememynotoneplayredrunsaidseethethreetotwoupwewhereyellowyou

Using this list well

Take three to five words at a time and stay with them until there is no hesitation at all. Covering all 40 words once achieves very little; a handful practised to genuine automaticity is what changes reading fluency.

Watch for the child who reads the first letter and predicts the rest. It looks like progress and it is not, and it is exactly what the find-the-word sheets are built to expose, because they put similar-looking words from this same list side by side.

Where this sits

This is the first list, and the usual place to start. After it comes the primer list of 52 words.

Related printables

See all five sight word lists, turn this list into cards with the flashcard maker, or build the handwriting alongside with alphabet tracing.

Answers

Frequently asked questions

40. The first 40. Almost all of them are impossible to sound out or too abstract to picture, which is exactly why they are memorised rather than decoded.

Preschool, around ages 3 to 5. Ages vary a great deal, and the list a child is on matters far more than the label on it. Move up only when the current list is automatic rather than merely familiar.

There is no pause. A word that takes a moment to work out is not yet a sight word, whatever the child eventually says. The find-the-word sheet is the better test, because it makes guessing from the first letter fail.

Keep going

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Work through every level

Five Dolch lists from pre-primer to third grade, all on the same generator.

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