Fry Sight Words

The Fry Sight Words list is a more modern collection of words than the Dolch list and is widely used in teaching reading. Developed by Dr. Edward Fry in 1957 (and updated in 1980), the Fry list is based on the most common words to appear in reading materials used in Grades 3-9. The Fry Sight Words list is more comprehensive than the Dolch list and contains 1,000 words, which are ranked in order of frequency. These words are typically divided into groups of 100, with each group intended to represent a grade level, starting from the third grade.

Understanding the Fry Sight Words

The Fry list includes words that are critical for students to master so they can understand and access most English-language texts. The words on the list include:

• All parts of speech.
• Many words from the Dolch list.
• Words that appear frequently in commonly read English text.
• Words that are foundational for reading fluently and with comprehension.

Importance of the Fry Sight Words

The Fry Sight Words list is an important tool in reading education for several reasons:

• Frequency: The words on the list appear frequently in English, which means learning them gives students a solid base for reading and understanding the material.
• Building Blocks for Reading: Mastery of these words is seen as a key step in becoming a proficient reader.
• Comprehensive: The list is extensive and addresses a wide range of words necessary for academic success.
• Versatility: It’s used for teaching reading at all elementary and middle school grade levels.

Using the Fry Sight Words in Education

In educational settings, the Fry words can be taught in various ways:

• Repetition and Practice: Regular practice with flashcards and word drills can help students memorize the words.
• Reading in Context: Students can read books and passages that contain a high concentration of Fry words to see them in context.
• Writing Exercises: Writing sentences and stories using Fry words can reinforce their understanding.
• Games and Activities: Many teachers use games to make learning Fry words fun and engaging.

Challenges and Considerations

While the Fry list is a valuable resource, educators also recognize that:

• Memorization vs. Understanding: It’s important for students not only to recognize Fry words by sight but also to understand their meaning and use.
• Beyond Single Words: Proficient reading involves not just recognizing words but also understanding phrases, idioms, and the larger context of the text.
• Diverse Learning Needs: Different students may require different approaches to learning these words, depending on their learning styles and needs.

Fry Sight Word List

1-100 Fry Sight Words: First Grade

These 100 words are a part of Fry’s first list and are considered some of the most common words in the English language. They are fundamental to reading and are taught for recognition without needing to be phonetically sounded out.

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
call	who	oil	its	now
find	long	down	day	did
get	come	made	may	part

101-200 Fry Sight Words: Second Grade

These words are part of the second 100-word set in Fry’s list. Mastery of these sight words helps children strengthen their reading fluency and comprehension.

over	new	sound	take	only
little	work	know	place	years
live	me	back	give	most
very	after	thing	our	just
name	good	sentence	man	think
say	great	where	help	through
much	before	line	right	too
mean	old	any	same	tell
boy	follow	came	want	show
also	around	form	three	small
set	put	end	does	another
well	large	must	big	even
such	because	turn	here	why
ask	went	men	read	need
land	different	home	us	move
try	kind	hand	picture	again
change	off	play	spell	air
away	animal	house	point	page
letter	mother	answer	found	study
still	learn	should	America	world

201-300 Fry Sight Words: Third Grade

These words build upon the first and second 100 Fry sight words, progressively increasing the complexity and breadth of a child’s vocabulary. They are designed to enhance a student’s ability to read and understand texts with greater proficiency.

high	every	near	add	food
between	own	below	country	plant
last	school	father	keep	tree
never	start	city	earth	eye
light	thought	head	under	story
saw	left	don’t	few	while
along	might	close	something	seem
next	hard	open	begin	life
sea	began	boy	stop	group
soon	let	night	following	always
music	those	both	paper	often
children	side	once	together	run
car	white	enough	got	important
until	mile	night	example	hear
walk	sea	began	grow	took
pattern	river	four	carry	state
once	book	hear	without	second
stop	take	once	time	late
miss	idea	enough	eat	run
watch	face	far	Indian	city

301-400 Fry Sight Words: Third to Fourth Grade

These words continue the progression, helping students to expand their vocabulary further and enabling them to read with increased confidence and comprehension.

water	happen	inches	six	start
ten	bring	sing	sit	listen
seven	several	travel	wall	shall
caught	full	no	finally	cut
might	close	drive	hold	buy
night	nor	behind	round	clear
real	life	give	hot	lot
north	open	seem	simple	together
young	example	paper	group	always
music	those	both	often	children
mark	book	letter	until	mile
river	car	feet	care	second
carry	took	science	eat	room
friend	began	idea	fish	mountain
stop	once	base	hear	horse
cut	sure	watch	color	face
wood	main	enough	plain	girl
usual	young	ready	above	ever
red	list	though	feel	talk
bird	soon	body	dog	family

401-500 Fry Sight Words: Fourth to Fifth Grade

These words add to the growing repertoire of sight words that students are encouraged to recognize instantly, thereby aiding in the development of literacy skills and comprehension. Mastery of these words is crucial for reading proficiency at higher elementary grade levels.

sea	draw	left	late	run
don’t	while	press	close	night
real	life	few	north	open
seem	to	stop	open	together
next	hard	or	ten	simple
began	got	walk	fly	several
grow	took	had	himself	toward
study	still	around	unit	war
learn	off	let	well	lay
should	take	big	place	against
such	why	too	same	turn
turn	here	mean	spell	cause
ask	went	just	say	much
went	men	need	set	before
read	read	kind	hand	line
need	name	home	port	right
land	us	even	large	mean
different	move	page	spell	old
home	try	air	country	any
us	change	picture	animals	same

501-600 Fry Sight Words: Upper Elementary (Fifth Grade onwards)

These sight words are designed to be recognized quickly to aid in reading comprehension and speed. As students progress through these lists, they become better equipped to tackle more challenging reading material.

answer	differ	turn	are	carry
eat	if	long	about	light
always	these	make	thing	their
because	never	off	give	sentence
been	paper	or	sound	were
best	picture	people	water	work
between	play	put	where	would
both	point	same	who	write
boy	read	tell	will	your
city	right	them	with	place
does	sentence	these	years	most
down	set	they	young	another
earth	three	this	great	kind
enough	to	through	large	line
even	together	very	must	own
every	try	was	old	right
far	which	we	big	same
find	why	when	high	tell
food	will	you	such	why
four	world	your	change	away

601-700 Fry Sight Words: Upper Elementary to Middle School

Please note that as we progress through the higher sets of Fry sight words, the words can become more abstract, complex, and less frequently used in everyday language, reflecting a higher reading level. These words are important for students as they begin to read more advanced texts and improve their comprehension skills.

again	house	mother	world	near
animals	point	build	self	father
answer	read	earth	anything	head
baby	say	new	found	under
back	school	work	good	story
ball	sea	part	Indian	saw
bear	second	hear	must	left
bed	see	place	start	don’t
bell	should	take	might	few
bird	show	why	live	while
body	small	thing	story	along
book	start	think	men	might
boy	state	us	read	close
brothers	still	water	need	something
began	stop	went	land	seemed
carry	story	white	home	next
city	take	without	kind	hard
close	teacher	began	began	open
country	than	children	got	example
course	that	side	walk	begin

701-800 Fry Sight Words: Late Elementary to Middle School

These words are often included in reading programs and are used in various contexts. Mastery of these words is essential for students to read smoothly and comprehend more complex texts.

above	black	ever	kind	shall
across	body	fall	laugh	show
against	boy	far	light	six
ago	children	farm	long	size
air	city	father	men	special
almost	close	feet	mind	start
along	cut	finally	miss	state
also	dog	full	mountains	stay
always	done	gave	never	stood
animals	door	goes	night	stop
another	enough	green	once	story
answer	eyes	grow	open	street
any	face	half	order	sun
around	fact	hand	paper	sure
ask	feet	hard	party	surface
ate	found	head	passed	table
base	four	hear	perhaps	take
became	friends	heard	picture	teacher
become	girl	high	piece	tell
behind	got	himself	plant	than

801-900 Fry Sight Words: Late Elementary to Middle School

These words further enhance a student’s ability to read and understand more complex material, and their mastery is crucial for academic success. Students are encouraged to recognize these words by sight to improve reading speed and comprehension.

add	gold	miss	town	I’ll
between	gone	mountains	turned	body
boat	happened	move	unit	music
country	heard	order	until	color
didn’t	listen	red	use	stand
door	measure	room	usual	sun
enough	morning	simple	waves	questions
fish	noise	snow	reached	area
group	numeral	suddenly	wait	mark
horse	plan	travel	walked	dog
however	product	wood	west	king
let’s	pulled	easy	ground	space
mark	question	heard	piece	covered
measure	ran	quickly	several	food
numeral	ship	reached	table	himself
opened	short	sing	top	step
perhaps	since	sleep	whole	morning
piece	six	speak	wind	passed
quite	slowly	spring	ship	vowel
ran	suddenly	stone	true	took

901-1000 Fry Sight Words: Middle School

Mastering these words can help students read more complex texts with increased understanding and fluency, which is a critical step in their academic development.

above	ago	stood	ever	red
across	already	enough	green	list
address	although	oh	oh	though
answered	am	remember	quickly	yes
anything	birds	room	sing	decided
arms	blue	since	sit	contain
arrived	boat	someone	sleep	course
base	body	something	speak	east
bill	building	song	stone	else
bottom	built	soon	stood	gold
branch	carefully	sound	stopped	green
capital	center	upon	sure	I’ll
chance	check	us	taken	king
class	circle	war	teacher	laid
clothes	clear	warm	third	modern
con	color	wasnt	inches	nature
corner	common	west	reach	pounds
cover	cry	whether	short	size
cows	cut	wheel	shown	smiled
cross	dark	whether	sky	street

Final Thoughts

The Fry Sight Words list remains a staple in reading education because of its focus on the most common words used in English. Mastery of these words can dramatically improve a student’s reading skills and overall comprehension. The list is not just a tool for primary education; it extends into higher grade levels, ensuring that students continue to build their reading ability as they encounter more complex texts.