The Critical Importance Of Dolch Sight Words

Why You Should Teach Dolch Sight Words

The child who can recognize on sight 8 of the 10 words in the sentence before him can read that sentence and, generally, decode the remaining words by means of context, phonics, or illustrations. Most importantly, the child can understand its meaning!

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 75 percent of any general text. Therefore, teaching The Dolch Word List is a crucial goal of education in grades kindergarten through 3.

Many of the 220 Dolch words cannot be "sounded out" and have to be learned by "sight," that is memorized. The list is divided into grade levels. It includes pronouns, adjectives, adverbs, prepositions, conjunctions, and verbs. The basic list excludes nouns, which make up a separate 95 word list.

Because fluency in reading the Dolch 220 and the 95 nouns is essential to literacy, a variety of techniques are used to teach them, including: reading Dolch literature books, using flash cards, playing games, and writing activities. 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.

ハイファイブ キッズ インターナショナルのプリスクールとアフタースクールのカリキュラムの中に、ドルチサイトワード（Dolch Sight Words) の習得があります。

さてこのドルチサイトワードとは、いったい何でしょうか？

このサイトワードリストとは、イギリスのドルチ博士という方が使用頻度の高い220の単語を学年別に分けた、単語リストの事です。

このサイトワードとは意味の通り“視覚言葉”であり、通常フォニックスの方則で読めない単語を“視覚”目で認識する単語なのです。実は英語圏の殆どの児童文学本は、75パーセントのサイトワード（視覚言葉）で構成されています。子供の頃からこのサイトワード（視覚言葉）を学んでいく事により、読む力、速読力を伸ばすことができるのです。

Here is a link to a fantastic site where children can play interactive Dolch Sight Word games.

http://www.abcya.com/dolch_sight_word_spelling.htm