Second Grade Sight Words: Everything You Need to Know

Is your second grader struggling with reading? Learning sight words can be a great way for second graders to improve their reading fluency and their confidence at the same time. This free printable 2nd grade sight words list will help get started teaching your child the sight words that every 2nd grader should know.

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What are Second Grade Sight Words?

Sight words are words that a child recognizes right away, and can read without sounding them out first. There are two different kinds of 2nd grade sight words.

Decodable words, also called high-frequency words, are words that kids can read by using the rules of phonics. These are the words that appear most frequently in books. Although kids can sound these words out, reading is easier and faster when these words are stored in the child’s memory.

Irregular words don’t follow the rules of the English language and aren’t decodable. Because kids can’t sound these words out using phonics, they will need to be memorized instead.

Why Do Second Graders Need to Learn Sight Words?

Memorizing sight words is an important part of learning how to read. There are many benefits to memorizing sight words, including:

• Knowing sight words helps kids be able to read faster, without having to sound out every word
• Kids who have memorized sight words will have an easier time reading
• Understanding sight words gives kids more confidence
• Kids who can read more confidently will enjoy reading more
• Kids who understand sight words will be able to read independently

Students need a solid foundation of common sight word knowledge, coupled with strong phonics instruction as well, to become good readers. Kids should learn to read using both sight words and phonics.

2nd Grade Sight Word Lists

Dolch Sight Words List

The Dolch Sight Word list is commonly used for teaching sight words. The full list includes 220 words, which Dolch refers to as service words. These lists include 80% of the words found in children’s books and 50% of the words in books overall. There is a word list for each grade level from preschool through 2nd grade and an additional list of the 95 most common nouns.

Dolch Words for Second Grade

The Dolch word list for first grade includes 46 high frequency and irregular sight words. They are, in alphabetical order:

always, around, because, been, before, best, both, buy, call, cold, does, don’t, fast, first, five, found, gave, goes, green, its, made, many, off, or, pull, read, right, sing, sit, sleep, tell, their, these, those, upon, us, use, very, wash, which, why, wish, work, would, write, your

Grab a Free Printable List of the Dolch Sight Words for 2nd Grade Here!

These printable worksheets will make teaching second grade sight words fun and easy!

Fry Sight Words

The Fry sight word list was created as an updated version of the Dolch Words. The lists include 1000 commonly used words, divided into groups of 100. The groups are not organized by grade level, so kids can work through them at their own pace.

The Fry sight words list includes 90% of the words kids will find in the books they read.

Fry Words for Second Grade

The third Fry word list includes 100 sight words:

above, add, almost, along, always, began, begin, being, below, between, book, both, car, carry, children, city, close, country, cut, don’t, earth, eat, enough, every, example, eyes, face, family, far, father, feet, few, food, four, girl, got, group, grow, hard, head, hear, high, idea, important, Indian, it’s, keep, last, late, leave, left, let, life, light, list, might, mile, miss, mountains, near, never, next, night, often, once, open, own, paper, plant, real, river, run, saw, school, sea, second, seem, side, something, sometimes, song, soon, start, state, stop, story, talk, those, thought, together, took, tree, under, until, walk, watch, while, white, without, young

Create Your Own Second Grade Sight Word List

It can be helpful to create your own customized sight word list for your second grader. Many families create word walls by combining the Dolch sight word list for 2nd grade with some of the Fry words. They might even include some unique sight words of their own.

How many sight words should a second grader know?

The Dolch Sight Word lists for preschool through 2nd grade include a total of 179 commonly used words. By the end of second grade, your child should probably be able to read around 180 sight words. If your child doesn’t know as many sight words, that’s ok. Make sure that you are practicing consistently and continue to add new words at your child’s pace.

Tips for Teaching Second Grade Sight Words

Teaching reading, including sight words, is an important part of homeschooling. These tips will make it easier.

When Should I Start Sight Words with my Child?

As long as your child understands the concept of using phonics to blend sounds and make words, you can start introducing sight words.

What Order Should I Teach the Sight Words?

There are a variety of ways to teach second grade words. A good strategy is to teach the words in order of frequency, starting with the words that your child is most likely to find in the books they are reading first.

How Many Sight Words Should My Child Learn at Once?

It is best to introduce sight words in small groups. A good way to get started is to teach a few words at a time, practice with sight word activities, and then add a new group of words once your child can remember the words consistently.

Are Sight Words Enough to Help My Child Learn to Read?

Just memorizing sight words is not enough to help your child become a strong reader. Lots of research shows that kids learn to read best when they memorize sight words in combination with a strong phonics-based reading program. You can learn more about sight words vs phonics here.

Helpful Products for Learning 2nd Grade Sight Words

Sight Word Strategies

One of the best ways to teach sight words to second graders is with fun games and activities. Here are a few ideas to include in your lesson plans that will help kids practice their sight words in a fun way.

Stencils

An alphabet letter stencil is a great tool for helping kids practice writing their words in different ways.

Sight Word Collage

Use scissors to cut out sight words, or letters, from magazines. Kids can use a glue stick to glue the letters on a piece of card stock to form their sight words. Or, they can make a collage with all the sight words they found. For an extra challenge, ask your 2nd grader to write their own sentences with their high frequency words.

Invisible Sight Words

Use a white crayon to write your child’s sight word on a piece of paper. They can paint the paper with watercolor paints to make the sight word appear.

Sight Word Soccer

To play this sight word game, tape sight word flash cards onto play cones or plastic cups. Challenge your child to kick a soccer ball and knock down the cones. As each cone is knocked down, your child can practice reading the sight words.

Ring Toss

Spread out word cards from your word wall on a table or floor. Kids can take turns tossing checkers, math counters, pennies, or other small objects and trying to get them to land on the card. If they can read the word, they get a point.

Be sure to check out my huge list of fun ways to practice sight words at home. By implementing these fun sight words learning activities for extra practice, your child will be on his way to becoming a great reader at an early age!

Tips for Success with Second Grade Sight Words

Make Sight Words Fun

It is important to make sure that kids enjoy learning sight words. Fun games and activities will help them be more engaged in what they are learning.

Be Patient

Learning new sight words takes time. It is important to be patient and keep practicing with your child. Young students will continue to develop their reading skills over time.

Be Consistent

Kids who are learning new sight words need to practice every day. Helping your child practice daily (even for just a few minutes) is the best way to keep the information fresh and help them remember what they are learning.

Sight words are an important part of teaching kids how to read. When you practice sight words with your kids regularly, they will become better readers as they gain confidence and fluency with sight words.

Free Printable List of 2nd Grade Sight Words

This PDF file includes a printable list of the Second Grade words, a checklist you can use to keep track of which words your child knows, and a set of Dolch Second Grade Sight Words flash cards to help you practice with your child!

Sight Word Lists for Other Grades

Grab a printable pack of free teaching resources for each grade here:

Preschool

Kindergarten

First Grade

Third Grade