What are Dolch Words?
Reading is the most important skill your child will ever learn. It is extremely difficult for a person to live a productive life without becoming literate. In most schools, children are expected to be able to read simple sentences and stories by the end of first grade. By third grade, they are expected to be able to read almost any kind of text. As well as being able to "sound out" (phonetically decode) regularly spelled words, children must also master reading basic, common sight words.
A list of English sight words, The Dolch Word List, was compiled by Edward William Dolch, PhD, in 1948. The list was originally published in his book "Problems in Reading". Dolch compiled the list based on words used in children's reading books in the 1930s and 40s. The list contains 220 "service words" that must be quickly recognized in order to achieve reading fluency.
The Dolch Word List is also called Sight Words or The Dolch 220. It includes the most frequently used words in the English language. Sight words make up 50 to 70 percent of any general text.
Many of the 220 Dolch words cannot be "sounded out" and have to be learned by "sight," or memorized. The list is divided into grade levels. It includes pronouns, adjectives, adverbs, prepositions, conjunctions, and verbs.
Because fluency in reading the Dolch 220 is essential to literacy. Repetition and practice are very important in making recognition of sight words automatic. Once this core of basic sight words has been memorized, children read more fluently, with greater comprehension and confidence!
