How to make it
- Choose a word listPick Dolch pre-primer, primer or first grade, or My own words. The words appear in the box, where you can delete or add any.
- Choose card size and countUse 3 x 3 for beginners, 4 x 4 for most groups, 5 x 5 for confident readers. Make one card per child, up to 100.
- Print cards and the caller listPrint or download a PDF; two cards per page is the default. The caller list prints last.
What the Dolch sight word lists are
Edward William Dolch, an American education professor, compiled his lists in the 1930s and 1940s from words that appeared most often in the children's reading books of that time. The best-known part is a set of 220 so-called service words, grouped into five levels from pre-primer to third grade, with a separate list of 95 common nouns.
Many of these words, such as said, the, was and could, do not follow the spelling patterns children learn early in phonics, and they turn up in almost every sentence. That is why many teachers aim for children to recognize them instantly, by sight, while phonics carries the rest of the reading. Schools differ on how much weight to give whole-word practice, and plenty now teach these words through their sounds as well; bingo fits either approach, because the child still has to look carefully at every letter.
This page includes the first three levels, the ones used most in kindergarten and first grade. The lists are old, so check them against your school's own high-frequency words; you can edit the list freely.
The three levels on this page
The level names come from the stages of early reading books in Dolch's day: a pre-primer was the first thin book, then the primer, then the first-grade reader. Today many schools work through pre-primer words in pre-K or kindergarten, primer words in kindergarten, and first-grade words in grade 1, but the pace depends on the children.
Use the levels as a menu, not a ladder you must climb in order. A group that already reads most pre-primer words might start with primer cards that include five or six pre-primer words for confidence. And if your school uses another high-frequency word list, paste it in with My own words; nothing about the cards depends on Dolch.
| Dolch level | Words in the list | Examples |
|---|---|---|
| Pre-primer | 40 | and, can, come, here, look, said, see, the, you |
| Primer | 52 | are, came, have, like, please, she, want, was, what |
| First grade | 41 | after, could, every, know, once, thank, them, were |
Running a sight word bingo round with a reading group
A group of four to six children and ten minutes is plenty. Hand out one card each and a small pile of counters. Read down the caller list, which comes in a shuffled order, say each word clearly, and use it in a short sentence: was, as in, The dog was hungry. Tick it on the caller list.
The rule that makes bingo a reading activity rather than a matching one: a child who finds the word reads it aloud as they cover it. When someone has a line, they read every covered word back to you before the win counts. A child who gets stuck can be helped by a neighbor, which keeps the game kind.
For a kindergarten class of 22, play in two halves with a teaching assistant calling for the second group, or play whole class with 3 by 3 cards so rounds stay short. Once children know most words on a level, make the caller harder: spell the word aloud instead of saying it, and players have to read the spelling to find it.
With a single child at home, bingo still works: parent and child each take a card, and the child is the caller every other turn. Reading the word aloud for someone else to find is good practice too, and it keeps a reluctant reader in charge of the game.
Choosing card size and mixing known and new words
A 3 by 3 card needs only eight or nine words, which suits children who know a handful so far; a free middle square is available on 3 by 3 and 5 by 5 cards. The default 4 by 4 card has sixteen squares and no free space, and it works for most groups. Save 5 by 5 for confident readers, since twenty-five words on one card takes a while to scan.
You do not have to use a whole level. Delete words from the box until it holds the ones the group is working on, perhaps ten known words and four new ones, and the cards are built from that list alone. Keep a few more words than squares, so each card holds its own selection rather than the same words moved around; if the list falls short of the card size, the page switches to a smaller card, moves the Card size control to match and says so. Press Save this list to keep a group's set on this device for next week.
Using the game to see which words are secure
Bingo tells you a lot if you watch. A child who covers a word straight away knows it; a child who scans the whole card twice, or waits to copy a neighbor, does not yet. Keep a spare caller list on a clipboard and put a small mark next to any word that made several children hesitate. Those words go into tomorrow's practice and stay on the cards next time.
When most of the group reads a level fluently, rebuild the list: drop the words everyone knows, keep the shaky ones and add a few from the next level. Moving from pre-primer to primer this way is gradual, so no child faces a card full of unfamiliar words at once. A spare caller list can also be cut into slips that double as flash cards for a quick check with one child.
From reading the word to writing it
Recognizing a word and writing it are separate skills, and many teachers practice both in the same week. After bingo, the same list can go to sight word tracing sheets with the Use this list in menu, or from the Next, with the same list strip that appears after printing, where each word is traced across a row with start dots and arrows. Children who are ready for more can trace the words inside short sentences to trace, and a word search with the same words makes a quiet independent task.
If you need bingo with other kinds of words, such as vocabulary or party themes, the bingo card generator for any list works the same way.
Making a set that lasts all year
Print on cardstock and slide each card into a page protector, or laminate it, and the set can be reused with dry-erase markers or counters. Because each set has a Sheet number in the footer and Copy link rebuilds it exactly, a damaged card can be reprinted to match. Print at Actual size or 100% with browser headers and footers turned off.
Questions
What is sight word bingo?
It is bingo played with high-frequency words instead of numbers. Each child has a card of words, the caller reads one word at a time, and children find and cover it. Played with the rule that every covered word is read aloud, it gives young readers many quick, repeated looks at the words they meet in almost every book.
How do you play sight word bingo in kindergarten?
Use small cards, 3 by 3 or 4 by 4, with words the class has already met plus a few new ones. Say each word, use it in a short sentence and give children time to find it. Ask them to read the word aloud as they cover it, and to read a full line back before a win counts.
What are the Dolch sight words?
They are lists of very common words compiled by Edward William Dolch in the 1930s and 1940s from children's books of that era: 220 service words in levels from pre-primer to third grade, plus 95 nouns. This generator includes the pre-primer, primer and first grade levels, which you can edit before printing.
Can I use my own sight word list?
Yes. Choose My own words and type or paste your list, one word per line or separated by commas, or edit a Dolch list in the box. Your school's high-frequency word list, a phonics group's tricky words or a child's personal list all work. Save this list keeps it on this device for every generator.
Do the one-letter words a and I appear on the cards?
All 40 pre-primer words reach the cards, including the one-letter words a and I, which children often skip in a busy square. Practice them in sentences on a sentence tracing sheet too, or point them out in a book during the same lesson.
How many cards should I print for a reading group?
One per child, plus one or two spares for visitors or lost cards. Every card in the set is different, so neighbors cannot simply copy each other. Two cards per page is the default and gives a good square size; one per page makes very large squares for children who need them.