Sight words
Second grade sight words
The Dolch second-grade list adds 46 high-frequency words. Several are genuinely irregular (because, been, would, their) — exactly the kind that benefit from heart-word teaching rather than flashcard memorization.
Word lists
Dolch second grade · 46 words
Don't memorize them — map them.
Most words on this list are decodable with regular phonics (can, go, red, up, see) — they should be sounded out, not memorized by shape. Only the genuinely irregular ones (the, said, you, was) need special handling, and the Science-of-Reading way to teach those is as heart words: decode the regular letters, flag the irregular part to "know by heart," and let repeated reading bond the word through orthographic mapping.
Full method on the sight words hub, and the science behind it in the Science of Reading guide.
More sight word lists
Frequently asked
Second grade sight words: questions.
What sight words should a 2nd grader know?
By the end of second grade, students typically know the full 220 Dolch service words — the second-grade list (46 words: always, because, been, would, their, write…) plus everything before it. The aim is automatic recognition: regular words decoded, irregular words mapped as heart words.
Why are some second-grade sight words hard to sound out?
Words like because, been, would, and their have irregular parts that don't follow expected phonics. That's exactly why heart-word teaching helps: decode the regular letters, flag only the irregular part to know 'by heart,' and let repeated reading bond the whole word through orthographic mapping.
Turn the list into real reading.
Storytime AI tags heart words in every decodable book, models the irregular part, and scores them as students read — the Science-of-Reading way. Free classroom, no credit card.