Sight Words 101: A Simple Guide + 100 Words to Start With

You’ve sounded out c-a-t together three times today, but the word “said” keeps stopping everything cold. If this scene feels familiar, you’re not alone. Whether you’re a parent at the kitchen table, a teacher guiding a small reading group, or a homeschooler juggling multiple ages, those little words can feel like big hurdles.

Enter sight words. Short, high-frequency words that show up everywhere in children’s books and daily reading. Teaching sight words strategically helps young readers move more smoothly through text, building confidence and fluency.

In this guide, we’ll demystify sight words: what they are, how they work in the brain, and why they’re important for early literacy. You’ll get research-informed strategies you can use right away, plus a curated list of 100 common sight words to practice at home or in the classroom. We’ll also share practical routines, games, and tips for English learners and students with dyslexia, along with suggestions for assessing progress and keeping learning playful.

Our goal is to make sight words feel manageable and motivating—not another worksheet to power through. With a few minutes a day and the right approach, you can help your child recognize these words quickly and accurately, freeing up cognitive energy for comprehension and a love of stories. Let’s get started.

What Are Sight Words?

Sight words are high-frequency words that children are encouraged to recognize nearly instantly (within a second) without sounding them out letter by letter. Many of these words appear so often that it’s more efficient for young readers to know them “by sight.” Some sight words are fully decodable using phonics (like “in” or “at”), while others include unexpected spellings (like “said” or “was”).

Why Sight Words Matter

Fluent recognition of sight words boosts reading speed and frees up mental bandwidth for comprehension. When children don’t have to labor over every small word, they can focus on the meaning of the text and the joy of reading. For beginners, sight words also unlock predictable texts (like early readers) and everyday print (labels, signs, directions), which builds confidence and motivation.

Research on reading development supports a balanced approach: systematic phonics instruction for decoding, paired with targeted sight word practice to accelerate fluency. Together, these components help children move from sounding out words to reading with ease.

How Sight Words Work in the Brain

Reading scientist Linnea Ehri describes “orthographic mapping,” the process through which readers store words for instant recognition. Put simply, children connect the sounds in a word (phonemes) to the letters or letter patterns (graphemes) and anchor the word’s spelling, pronunciation, and meaning in memory. Over repeated exposures, the word becomes a sight word.

Even so-called “irregular” words often have predictable parts. For example, in “said,” the /s/ and /d/ are regular, while the “ai” is the tricky part. Teaching students to map the regular parts and learn the irregular part by heart (often called “heart words”) supports accurate and durable learning far better than pure memorization.

Which Sight Words Should I Teach?

Start with words your child will encounter most often in early texts. Below is a list adapted from the first 100 Fry high-frequency words, an excellent foundation for kindergarten through grade 2. You don’t need to teach all at once; select 5–10 at a time and review frequently.

100 Common Sight Words

the, of, and, a, to, in, is, you, that, it, he, was, for, on, are, as, with, his, they, I, at, be, this, have, from, or, one, had, by, word, but, not, what, all, were, we, when, your, can, said, there, use, an, each, which, she, do, how, their, if, will, up, other, about, out, many, then, them, these, so, some, her, would, make, like, him, into, time, has, look, two, more, write, go, see, number, no, way, could, people, my, than, first, water, been, called, who, am, its, now, find, long, down, day, did, get, come, made, may, part

When to Teach Sight Words

• Pre-K and Kindergarten: Introduce a few meaningful words (I, a, the, my, to, is, like, see, we) alongside letter-sound learning.
• Grades 1–2: Build a core bank of 100–200 high-frequency words while continuing explicit phonics. Focus on accurate mapping, not speed alone.
• Older Emerging Readers: Introduce sight words strategically connected to texts they are reading. Fill gaps with targeted review and multi sensory practice.

How to Teach Sight Words: A Simple, Evidence-Aligned Routine

Use this 5-step routine for each new word. It blends phonics with memory-friendly practice:

1. Say it and use it: Show the word on a card. Say it, define it briefly, and use it in a sentence your child relates to. Example: “said - Mom said it’s time to read.”
2. Map sounds to letters: Tap or segment the sounds. Highlight regular letter-sound parts and mark the “heart” (unexpected) part with a small heart or color. Example: for “said,” map /s/—s, /e/—ai (heart part), /d/—d.
3. Write to remember: Have learners trace and write the word while saying the sounds or letter names. Use fingers in sand, gel bags, whiteboards, or paper.
4. Read in context: Read the word in a short phrase or sentence, then spot it in a decodable or familiar text.
5. Review and retrieve: Mix old and new words for quick, spaced review. Aim for accurate retrieval within one second.

Multisensory Ideas That Stick

• Air-writing with big arm motions while saying the word aloud.
• “Build it” with magnetic letters before writing it.
• Rainbow write: outline the word three times in different colors.
• Syllable claps and chants for longer high-frequency words (e.g., “about”).

Games to Keep Practice Fun

• Swat It: Place cards on the table. Call a word; students swat it with a fly swatter.
• Memory Match: Make pairs of sight word cards. Turn, read, and match.
• Bingo: Use a 3x3 or 4x4 grid of current words. Call words in phrases (“We said yes”).
• Treasure Hunt: Hide cards around the room. Read to collect.
• Beat the Timer: How many can you read accurately in 30 seconds?

For Parents

• Post 5 current sight words on the fridge. Read them before snacks.
• Keep a ring of word cards in the car for quick practice at pickup.
• Write a silly note using today’s words and have your child read it to a pet or stuffed animal.

For Classroom Teachers

• Introduce 5–8 words per cycle, connected to your phonics scope and sequence.
• Use a “goal wall” rather than a static word wall: display only current, just-learned, and review words.
• Embed retrieval practice: 1-minute daily review, mixed order, with individual progress tracking.
• Leverage small groups for precise mapping of tricky or irregular parts.

For Homeschoolers

• Fold sight words into your morning basket: 3 minutes of review, then read them in a short poem.
• Rotate practice across the week: mapping on Monday, writing on Tuesday, games on Wednesday, phrases on Thursday, review on Friday.
• Connect words to read-alouds: spot and highlight today’s word in a favorite book page.

A 10-Minute Daily Practice Plan

1. 1 minute: Quick warm-up with 5 mastered words.
2. 3 minutes: Introduce or revisit 1–2 new words using the mapping routine.
3. 3 minutes: Write and build words (magnetic letters or whiteboard).
4. 2 minutes: Read the words in phrases/sentences or a decodable text.
5. 1 minute: Game or “beat the timer” review.

Short, consistent sessions outperform long, infrequent practice. Aim for accuracy first, then speed.

Common Mistakes to Avoid

• Relying on memorization alone: Skip-and-guess habits can form. Always connect sounds to letters, even in irregular words.
• Teaching too many at once: Limit new words to a small, doable set. Mastery beats quantity.
• Ignoring context: After flashcard work, read the words in phrases and real books.
• Dropping review: Without spaced practice, words are forgotten. Revisit mastered words regularly.
• Separating sight words from phonics: Integrate. If you’re teaching long a, include high-frequency words with long a patterns.

Using Sight Words in Real Reading

• Decodable texts: Use books aligned to your phonics stage that also include a handful of taught sight words.
• Shared reading: During read-alouds, pause to “find” today’s word in a big book or on a projected page.
• Environmental print: Spot sight words on signs, menus, and labels. Real-world reading is motivating.
• Writing connection: Start a “words we know” notebook. Each page features one sight word, a sentence, and a quick sketch.

A Final Word of Encouragement

Sight words don’t have to be a stumbling block. With a clear routine, a small set of well-chosen words, and playful practice, you’ll see real progress—often faster than you expect. Celebrate small wins, keep sessions short and positive, and pair sight word learning with rich read-alouds and decodable practice. You’re building not just a word bank, but a confident, joyful reader.