Ask a second grader to read their and you’ll often hear there. Ask for does and it comes out rhyming with goes. That’s the real work of this list. Most of the 46 words aren’t hard to say, they’re hard to tell apart on the page. The cards below cover all of them, eight to a page, for children of seven or eight who have finished our Dolch first grade flash cards.
In this article
The 46 Words
| # | Word | # | Word | # | Word | # | Word |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | always | 13 | fast | 25 | pull | 37 | use |
| 2 | around | 14 | first | 26 | read | 38 | very |
| 3 | because | 15 | five | 27 | right | 39 | wash |
| 4 | been | 16 | found | 28 | sing | 40 | which |
| 5 | before | 17 | gave | 29 | sit | 41 | why |
| 6 | best | 18 | goes | 30 | sleep | 42 | wish |
| 7 | both | 19 | green | 31 | tell | 43 | work |
| 8 | buy | 20 | its | 32 | their | 44 | would |
| 9 | call | 21 | made | 33 | these | 45 | write |
| 10 | cold | 22 | many | 34 | those | 46 | your |
| 11 | does | 23 | off | 35 | upon | ||
| 12 | don’t | 24 | or | 36 | us |
Words That Get Swapped
Their, these and those all start with th, and children swap them without noticing. Their also has a twin they’ve already met, there from the primer deck. Put the two cards side by side and say one sentence for each: “Their dog is big.” “There is a dog.” Only the first one is about who owns it.
Does looks like it should rhyme with goes. It doesn’t, it says “duz”. Teach the two on different days, then put them together.
Right and write sound the same, and read sounds like two different words depending on the sentence. Say “I read every night” and then “Yesterday I read the whole book” and let your child hear the difference. Buy sounds like by from the first grade deck, only with a u.
Because is the longest card, and the one most often written as it sounds. Cover it with your finger and show it in two bites, be then cause. Words like which, these and wash also lean on phonics, so our phase 3 phonics flashcards are worth a look if sh, ch and th still wobble.
Its and your have look-alikes with an apostrophe (it’s, you’re). Leave those until one turns up in a book.
Download the Second Grade Flash Cards
The PDF is eight pages: a cover, then all 46 words in large type with cut lines, and a page listing the words. A few of the cards:
Print on cardstock. If the deck will get used all year, laminate it before you cut.
Using the Cards
Flip through the deck at a steady pace. A word your child reads straight away goes in one pile. A word they had to think about goes in the other. Don’t say “no” to a miss. Say the word, have your child say it back, and carry on.
Next day, start with the thinking pile. Ten minutes is plenty, and it’s better to stop while they still want to go on. Finish with a card you know they’ll get.
A shaky new word does better slipped between two easy ones, like read, because, write.
Three Games
Race Your Own Time
Shuffle all 46 cards and time one full read-through. Write the time on the box. Do it twice a week and watch the number drop.
Silly Sentences
Draw three cards and write one sentence that uses all three. Something like “I would always wash a green fish.” It doesn’t have to make sense, it has to be spelled right.
Three Baskets
Sort the cards into action words (sing, pull, wash), describing words (cold, fast, green) and small words that sit in the middle of a sentence (or, upon, because).
Nine-Week Plan, Five Words a Week
| Week | New Words | Focus |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | been, does, goes, made, gave | Tricky verb forms in past-tense talk |
| 2 | read, write, sing, tell, call | Communication verbs + mini interviews |
| 3 | sit, sleep, wash, work, pull | Daily-routine verbs + pantomime |
| 4 | always, before, first, fast, very | Time + intensity words in sentences |
| 5 | because, why, which, would, don’t | Reasoning words + “why/because” question game |
| 6 | their, these, those, its, your | Ownership words with household objects |
| 7 | both, many, five, or, us | Quantity words + counting games |
| 8 | around, off, upon, use, found | Position + discovery words, treasure hunt |
| 9 | best, buy, cold, green, right, wish | Final 6 + timed review of all 46 |
Once a week, mix in a handful of first grade cards. If your child needs more review than that, our first-grade worksheets cover the basics.
Questions
How many Dolch second grade sight words are there?
There are 46. It’s the fourth of the five Dolch levels.
Why is don’t on a sight word list?
It’s the only contraction in all 220 Dolch words. Use it to show what the apostrophe does: do not, with the o squeezed out.
My child reads every card but still spells their wrong. Is that normal?
Very. Reading a word and spelling it are separate skills. Once a week, hide the card, say the word inside a sentence, and let your child write it, then check it against the card.
What age is this deck for?
Usually seven and eight, which is second grade, but go by what your child can read. If more than a few cards from the first grade deck make them stop, go back there first.
When most of these read themselves, one list is left: the Dolch third grade flash cards. All five decks are collected in the Dolch sight words flash cards guide.
