| One of the first steps of mastering the important skill | | | | findings with his book called “1,000 Instant |
| of reading is the recognition of sight words. A sight | | | | Words.” He compiled a list of words most |
| word is a word found with high frequency in printed | | | | commonly used and arranged them in order of |
| materials that emergent readers should identify without | | | | frequency. Fry’s research unearthed the fact that |
| phonetically sounding it out. The importance of teaching | | | | only 25 words (those at the beginning of his list) make |
| children to instantly recognize these words is that it | | | | up approximately one-third of all words published, and |
| builds a foundation for the reading process and builds | | | | that 100 words comprise approximately one-half of all |
| confidence in the beginner reader. Various research | | | | print. |
| studies, which used sight words to help teach reading, | | | | |
| support this method. These studies found that over | | | | Both Fry and Dolch understood the importance of sight |
| 50,000 words are written in English, but only a few | | | | word recognition when learning to read. Many of the |
| hundred are used regularly in print. Doctors Edward W. | | | | Dolch and Fry words do not follow the phonic rules; |
| Dolch and Edward B. Fry developed practical sight | | | | which further supports memorization of these words. |
| word lists that teachers and parents use when | | | | Knowing sight words streamlines the reading process, |
| teaching children to read. | | | | making high frequency and common phonetically |
| | | | | irregular words understood quickly, leaving less |
| Edward W. Dolch revolutionized the method used to | | | | frequent and more complex words to be phonetically |
| teach reading when he published a landmark study in | | | | decoded. |
| 1948. Through his book, "The Problems in Reading," | | | | During past decades, many schools employed the |
| Dolch developed a theory that children who memorize | | | | whole word approach when teaching emergent |
| or recognize a key group of core words by sight are | | | | readers. Under this method students were taught to |
| able to learn reading more easily with improved | | | | recognize approximately 5,000 to 10,000 words with |
| comprehension. Dolch systematically compiled a list of | | | | little to no focus on phonics or decoding words. The |
| 95 nouns and a list of 220 service words. He picked | | | | whole word approach is no longer prominent in U.S. |
| words, which were frequently used in children's reading | | | | schools. For the most recent 10-20 years educators |
| books published in the 1930s and 1940s. When | | | | have shifted to a balanced approach that employs |
| emergent readers could recognize these words upon | | | | both phonics and sight recognition. The specific list of |
| sight, they became more adept readers in a shorter | | | | words that educators encourage beginner readers to |
| time span. | | | | instantly recognize varies from school to school, but |
| | | | | generally contains a few hundred words, virtually of |
| Then, in the 1990s, Edward B. Fry furthered Dolch’s | | | | which are found on Dolch’s and / or Fry’s lists. |