Popcorn (or Dolch) Words

Popcorn words come from the Dolch list of words created by E.W. Dolch. He studied many books at the Kindergarten through grade 3 levels and determined which words were used with the greatest frequency at each grade level. He created a number of lists of most commonly found words. He also created a list of the most commonly used nouns.

The lists are broken down into 11 lists with 20 words in each list beginning with the most frequent words used. We will be working our way through the lists over the course of the year; we learn 6 or 7 words each week. Ideally, ALL of the Dolch sight words should be learned by the end of Grade 1, however, children will learn the words at their own rate.

In our classroom, Dolch words are called Popcorn Words because they are the words that keep popping up all the time when you are reading. Children who are able to read the sight words without having to sound out the letters - they have immediate recognition of the words through memorization - are generally more successful readers.

We spend a lot of time in class working on these words. You can help by practicing these words at home. Please click on one of the links and then print out the list at home. Happy Reading!

Download dolch_list1.htm

Download dolch_list2.htm

Download dolch_list3.htm

Download dolch_list4.htm

Download dolch_list5.htm

Download dolch_list6.htm

Download dolch_list7.htm

Download dolch_list8.htm

Download dolch_list9.htm

Download dolch_list10.htm

Download dolch_list11.htm