What are Dolch Words?

Dolch "Basic Sight Words" are the 220 most frequently found words in children's books, excluding nouns. Because many of the words do not follow decoding rules, they cannot be sounded out. Thus, they are learned by sight. Dolch sight words comprise 52-75 percent of all words found in children's books. Edward William Dolch created the list in 1936, calling them "tool words." Although a handful of the words (e.g. shall, wash) are not considered "high-frequency" today, the majority have stood the test of time.