First Grade English: Dolch Pre-Primer & Primer Review
When you open any picture book, storybook, or reader, you will quickly notice that a small collection of words shows up on virtually every single page. Decades ago, an educator named Edward William Dolch studied children's literature and gathered the most common words into organized lists to help readers build reading speed and automatic recognition. In this chapter, you will review the foundational Dolch Pre-Primer and Primer word lists, ensuring that these bedrock words pop into your mind instantaneously.
What Are Dolch Sight Words?
Dolch sight words are high-frequency words that make up more than half of all the words you will read in first-grade books. When you recognize these words by sight in less than one second, your brain does not have to pause, stretch, or slowly sound them out.
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| THE AUTOMATIC READING HIGHWAY |
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| Without Sight Word Fluency: |
| "T-h-e ... the ... b-i-g ... big ... d-o-g ... dog ..." |
| (Slow, choppy, tiring, hard to remember the story) |
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| With Sight Word Fluency: |
| "The big dog ran fast to get the red ball!" |
| (Smooth, expressive, joyful, total understanding!) |
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The Difference Between Decodable and Irregular Words
Many Dolch words follow regular phonics rules that you already know, such as "can," "in," "big," and "not." Other Dolch words have unusual or historical spellings that do not follow standard patterns, such as "one," "said," and "come." Reviewing both types ensures that your eyes recognize them immediately without hesitation.
Review of the Pre-Primer Word Bank
The Pre-Primer list represents the very first words introduced in kindergarten. Review these forty essential words until they feel as familiar as your own name.
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| DOLCH PRE-PRIMER MASTER LIST |
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| a and away big blue can come |
| down find for funny go help here |
| I in is it jump little look |
| make me my not one play red |
| run said see the three to two |
| up we where yellow you |
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Action Words in Pre-Primer
Notice how many energetic action verbs live in this list: "go," "run," "jump," "play," "make," "help," "find," and "look." When you spot these words, picture the physical movement taking place in the sentence.
Color and Number Words
Pre-Primer includes foundational color words ("blue," "red," "yellow") and number words ("one," "two," "three"). These words describe nouns, helping you visualize the details of a scene.
Review of the Primer Word Bank
The Primer list expands your reading horizons with fifty-two additional high-frequency words that connect ideas and add narrative depth.
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| DOLCH PRIMER MASTER LIST |
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| all am are at ate be black |
| brown but came did do eat four |
| get good have he into like must |
| new no now on our out please|
| pretty ran ride saw say she so |
| soon that there they this too under |
| want was well went what white who |
| will with yes |
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Pronouns in the Primer List
Notice the powerful collection of pronouns: "he," "she," "they," "our," "who," "what," "this," and "that." These words take the place of nouns, allowing stories to flow naturally without repeating a character's name in every single sentence.
Past-Tense Story Words
Notice the past-tense verbs: "ate," "came," "did," "ran," "saw," "was," and "went." When you read a fairy tale or storybook, these words tell you that the adventure took place in the past.
Rapid Recognition Routines
To train your eyes for instant word recognition, practice the "Flash Card Sweep" and "Word Hunting" strategies.
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| THE THREE-SECOND RULE |
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| 1. Look at the word: "WHERE" |
| 2. Snap your fingers: Snap! (Less than one second) |
| 3. Read aloud: "Where!" |
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| If you can name the word before the snap, it is mastered! |
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Hunting for Sight Words in Books
Take your favorite storybook and choose three target words, such as "with," "there," and "said." As you read across the pages, point your finger whenever you spot one of your target words. Seeing these words surrounded by story illustrations cements them firmly into your reading memory.
Practice Exercises
Exercise 1: Read the following sentences smoothly aloud without pausing to sound out the words: He saw that she went into the new house. We will play with the little brown dog under the big tree. They came out to look at our pretty cat.
Exercise 2: From the Dolch lists above, find and write down three words that tell a color, three words that tell a number, and three words that describe an action that happened in the past.
Exercise Solutions
Solution to Exercise 1: Students should read the three sentences fluently and smoothly, recognizing high-frequency words like saw, that, she, went, into, new, will, with, under, they, our, and pretty without hesitating.
Solution to Exercise 2: Three color words are blue, red, and yellow (or black, brown, white). Three number words are one, two, and three (or four). Three past-tense action words are came, went, and saw (or ran, ate, did).