Second Grade English: Dolch Second Grade Word List
High-frequency words are the essential building blocks of fluent reading, and among the most celebrated collections is the Dolch Word List. Created by Dr. Edward William Dolch, this list identifies 220 service words plus 95 high-frequency nouns that children must learn to recognize instantly to become proficient readers. The Dolch Second Grade list contains 46 specific words that appear repeatedly in second grade literature, poetry, and nonfiction texts. In this chapter, you will study all 46 Dolch Second Grade words, examine their grammatical functions, and learn fun memory strategies to master them completely.
The Complete 46-Word Dolch Second Grade Inventory
The 46 words on the Dolch Second Grade list cover a wide variety of parts of speech, including verbs, adjectives, prepositions, conjunctions, and adverbs.
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| THE 46 DOLCH SECOND GRADE WORDS |
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| always cold five green off sleep |
| around does found its or their |
| because don't gave made pull these |
| been fast goes many read those |
| before first green off right upon |
| best fish sit sing tell us |
| both five wash which why wish |
| call fly which work would write |
| cold found very your buy use |
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Organizing Dolch Words by Grammatical Category
When you understand what a word does in a sentence, it becomes far easier to remember and use in your own writing.
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| DOLCH WORDS BY PART OF SPEECH |
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| Action Verbs: call, buy, fly, gave, goes, made, pull, |
| read, sing, sit, sleep, tell, wash, write|
| Descriptive Words: best, both, cold, fast, first, five, |
| green, many, right, very |
| Pronouns & Pointers: its, their, these, those, us, which, your |
| Connecting Words: because, before, around, off, or, upon |
| Helping & Irregulars:been, does, don't, would, found, always |
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Deep Dive into Key Dolch Words
Let us explore some of the most important and tricky words on the Dolch Second Grade list.
Tricky Contractions: don't and does
The word don't is a contraction combining do and not. Notice the apostrophe taking the place of the missing letter o. The word does is an irregular form of do that sounds like /dʌz/. Remember that both words begin with do!
Confusing Pronoun Pairs: these vs. those
The words these and those are used to point out multiple objects. Use these for objects that are close to you: "Look at these fresh apples in my hand." Use those for objects that are farther away: "Look at those tall pine trees across the field."
Tricky Spellings: would and write
The word would contains a silent l and an unusual oul spelling that sounds like short oo. It rhymes with could and should. The word write begins with a silent w and ends with a magic silent e, making the i say its long name: /raɪt/.
The Storytelling Starter: upon
The word upon is famous for opening classic fairytales: "Once upon a time..." It is a compound word formed by putting up and on together!
Fluent Reading Practice
Read this fable-like story that weaves together many Dolch Second Grade words.
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| DOLCH STORY: THE SQUIRREL'S WISH |
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| Once upon a time, a small green frog sat by a cold stream. |
| He saw two birds fly around the tall trees. |
| "I wish I could sing like those birds," said the frog. |
| An old turtle gave him a smile and said, "Always be proud |
| of your own voice, because you can swim very fast!" |
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Tracking the Dolch Words
Notice the rich presence of Dolch words in the story: upon, green, cold, around, wish, those, gave, always, your, because, very, and fast. Reading these words automatically allows the story's heartwarming lesson to shine through.
Practice Exercises
Exercise 1: Choose the correct Dolch word (these or those) to complete each sentence: "I love reading ___ books right here on my desk." "Can you see ___ birds flying high in the distant clouds?"
Exercise 2: Write three complete sentences. In the first sentence, use the word because. In the second sentence, use the word always. In the third sentence, use the word their.
Exercise Solutions
Solution to Exercise 1: In the first sentence, the correct word is these ("I love reading these books right here on my desk" because they are nearby). In the second sentence, the correct word is those ("Can you see those birds flying high in the distant clouds?" because they are far away).
Solution to Exercise 2: A student could write: I wear my warm wool jacket because it is cold outside. My mother always sings a cheerful song while making breakfast. The children put their backpacks inside the wooden cubbies.