Dolch list · 41 words · usually 3rd grade

Dolch 3rd grade sight words

The third grade Dolch list has 41 words, from about to warm, and it completes the 220 Dolch service words. Not every school still sends this level home, but it is a useful check for a third grader who reads fluently yet stumbles on a handful of common words.

These words are longer and a few are spelled in ways your child cannot work out with early phonics alone. The good news is that by now most children have a lot of reading behind them, so the list often moves faster than the earlier ones.

All 41 3rd grade sight words, A to Z

  • about
  • better
  • bring
  • carry
  • clean
  • cut
  • done
  • draw
  • drink
  • eight
  • fall
  • far
  • full
  • got
  • grow
  • hold
  • hot
  • hurt
  • if
  • keep
  • kind
  • laugh
  • light
  • long
  • much
  • myself
  • never
  • only
  • own
  • pick
  • seven
  • shall
  • show
  • six
  • small
  • start
  • ten
  • today
  • together
  • try
  • warm

Printable list and flash cards (PDF) — page 1 is all 41 words as a checklist with three tick boxes each; the next pages are flash cards to cut out. Free to print, no sign-up.

About this list

Several third grade words are compounds or have endings a child can break apart: "myself" is my plus self, "together" can be read as to-get-her, "better" is bet plus -ter. Showing your child how a long word splits into parts they know is a reading skill in its own right, and it helps well beyond this list.

A few words have spellings that carry history rather than sound. "Laugh" ends in gh that says f. "Light" has a silent gh. "Eight" has the same eigh pattern as "weigh". "Done" and "own" do not rhyme with "bone" and "down" the way a child might expect. These are the words to practice most.

The list also has four number words, six, seven, eight and ten, which children usually read already but may not spell yet, and a cluster of action words (bring, carry, cut, draw, drink, fall, grow, hold, keep, pick, show, start, try) that work well in games.

If your child reads all five service levels without hesitation, the Dolch nouns are a good final list, and after that the best practice is simply reading real books every day.

How to practice at home

  • Split the word: write myself, together and today on cards, and ask your child to cut each one into the smaller words or parts they can see.
  • Charades: take turns drawing an action card (carry, drink, laugh, pick) and acting it out without speaking while the other person guesses and reads it.
  • Opposites: pair third grade words with their opposites from earlier lists, like hot and cold, small and big, never and always, and talk about what each means.
  • Write a mini story: ask your child to write three sentences using at least four list words, then read it to you.
  • Book check: while your child reads a chapter aloud, make a quiet tally of any list word that made them pause, and add only those to next week’s cards.

Words that trip kids up

  • "Laugh" and "light" both use gh, but it sounds like f in one and is silent in the other.
  • "Done" rhymes with "fun", not with "bone"; "own" rhymes with "bone", not with "down".
  • "Shall" is rare in everyday speech now, so read it in a phrase like "Shall we go?" so it makes sense.
  • "Got" and "get", "hold" and "hot" look close at a glance; check the middle letters.

More sight word lists