High Frequency words are words that appear most in English. They are also called Sight Words. By the time students reach fourth grade, they should be very familiar with these words. Edward William Dolch created a list, known as the Dolch Word List. In 1996, Dr. Edward B. Fry expanded on the Dolch lists and published his own lists, Fry's Instant 300 Sight Words. The idea is that students should read and understand high frequency words by "sight" because many do not adhere well to the principles taught in phonics lessons so they must be memorized.

Word Sorts provide students with opportunities to investigate and understand the patterns in words. Knowledge of these patterns means that students don't have to learn to spell one word at a time. Each sort has a new pattern of sounds or spelling. Students learn the pattern and then apply it to new words. Students will do activities with these words all week and will not have a traditional "spelling test" every Friday morning. We are working to create lifelong spellers.