Sight Words Checklist Grade 1 - Free Printable List
Sight words are common words kids should recognize instantly, without sounding them out. They make up 50-75% of all text in children's books. This printable Grade 1 checklist covers the most frequent words from the Dolch and Fry lists - start with 5-10 words per week, reviewed daily. Fry's research found that the first 100 words make up about half of everything kids read in print.
What are sight words?
Sight words (also called high-frequency words) are the small set of English words that show up over and over in children's books - words like “the”, “and”, “was”, “you”. Many don't follow regular phonics rules (try sounding out “said” or “was”), so kids learn them by visual memory instead of decoding each letter.
Two classroom-standard lists dominate U.S. reading instruction: the Dolch list (Edward Dolch, 1936) and the Fry list (Edward Fry, 2000). The 100 words below combine the most-used words from both, in the order most children encounter them. When a child can read these instantly, the cognitive load drops and they can focus on comprehension instead of decoding.
The checklist - 100 Grade 1 sight words
Download PDFTip: print this page, tape it inside a folder, and check off each word once your child can read it instantly (under 2 seconds).
This free checklist is maintained by Readigo, an iOS app for kids ages 6–12 that listens while a child reads aloud and scores the reading in real time.
Tap each word your child reads instantly, without sounding it out.
68 to sound out · 32 to learn by heart
How to use this list
- ✓Pick 5-10 words per week. Don't try to teach the whole list at once. Smaller batches build mastery without overwhelm.
- ✓Review daily for 5 minutes. Spaced repetition wins. A short daily pass beats a long weekly session every time.
- ✓Drill to automaticity. A word is "learned" only when your child reads it without sounding out - within about two seconds.
- ✓Use them in context. After flashcard drills, find the same words inside a real book. Recognition in running text is the real test.
- ✓Revisit mastered words weekly. Without review, even "known" words can fade. Re-test once a week to keep them solid.
A note on the research
The National Reading Panel report (NRP, 2000) identified five pillars of skilled reading: phonemic awareness, phonics, fluency, vocabulary, and comprehension. High-frequency sight words sit at the intersection of phonics and fluency - the bridge that lets young readers move from sounding out every word to reading connected text fluently. Mastery of this list typically builds fluency faster than almost any other single activity at this stage.
Common questions
How many sight words should a 1st grader know?
About 100 by the end of first grade - roughly the first hundred words of the Dolch and Fry lists, which is what this checklist covers. A child who reads these instantly has automated about half the words they'll ever meet in print.
What order should I teach sight words in?
By frequency, not alphabetically. The list above already runs from most common to least, so work top to bottom. Early words like “the”, “and” and “you” pay off in almost every sentence your child reads.
Should my child sound out sight words?
Usually yes. Most high-frequency words follow regular phonics rules, so decoding is still the main route. The exceptions are heart words like “said” or “was”: sound out the regular part, learn the tricky part by heart. The checklist marks them for you.
Want word-by-word feedback while your kid reads aloud? Readigo listens and flags the words that trip them up - including sight words that haven't stuck yet.
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