Dolch Pre-Primer Cloze Worksheets for Young Readers

These free printables will help emerging readers learn

Cute schoolgirl smiling & balancing stack of books on the head at library
Klaus Vedfelt / Getty Images

Dolch sight words represent about half of all words seen in print. The 220 words on the Dolch sight word list are critical for young students who need to know the terms to understand the meaning of texts they might read as well as common verbs, articles, and conjunctions that make up the English language. The free printables feature pre-primer-level Dolch sight words that will help emerging readers learn the basic vocabulary they need to be successful.

Each worksheet builds on the previous printables so that children must master each list before they move on to the next. These printables are designed to support instruction, not supplant it. Creating sentences together with reading pre-primer-level books and providing writing practice will help students learn these important words.

01
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Pre-Primer Cloze Worksheet No. 1

The sentences in this and the following printables are Cloze activities: Students are given a choice of three possible words that would make a correct sentence. They need to choose the correct word and circle it. For example, the first sentence on this worksheet states: "We (jump, said, for) on the bed." The worksheet even includes a picture of a bed so that the student can associate the word "bed" with the picture. If the student is having difficulty choosing the correct word, point to the picture of the bed and ask them: "What would you do on a bed for fun?"

02
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Pre-Primer Cloze Worksheet No. 2

For this worksheet, students will read sentences such as: "I make a (for, it, big) circle." and "Come with me (the, is, to) school." The first sentence ends with a picture of a circle, with the word "circle" underneath the image. The second sentence ends with a picture of a school, with the word "school" underneath. Point to the picture as the students read the sentences. The students will then circle the correct word from the three options within the parentheses. For the first sentence, they would select "big" and for the second, they should choose "to."

03
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Pre-Primer Cloze Worksheet No. 3

This pre-primer-level printable gives students more opportunities to read sentences and select the correct words — but there's a new twist for students to ponder. Some of the sentences have the picture/keyword in the middle rather than at the end, such as: "The hat is (can, for, two) Bill." In this case, a picture of a hat is displayed near the beginning of the sentence, with the word "hat" underneath the image. If students are having difficulty, give them a hint — also called a prompt — to help them, such as: "Who is the hat for?" Once they say, "The hat is for Bill," point to the word "for" as the correct choice.

04
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Pre-Primer Cloze Worksheet No. 4

To help students advance, this worksheet throws in yet another concept to challenge them. One of the sentences contains two images: "One boy has a (my, red, go) hat." The sentence does, indeed, show an image of a hat, with the word "hat" underneath. This should help the students review the word, hat, that they first saw in worksheet No. 1. But, the keyword in this sentence is "boy," and the sentence also displays a picture of a boy with the word underneath. Having students associate words with pictures helps them learn and reinforce key vocabulary terms.

05
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Pre-Primer Cloze Worksheet No. 5

In this worksheet, students learn that keywords can be used in different contexts — and will require different words around them depending on the meaning of the sentence. For example, the printable contains the sentences: "We run (away, play, can) from the dog." and "(In, Where, Said) is the yellow dog?" Both sentences end with the same image of a dog with the word "dog" underneath each image. But, the students will need to select completely different words to make the sentences correct: "away" in the first sentence, and "Where" in the second. 

The second sentence also gives you an opportunity to introduce the idea of capital — or uppercase — letters, as well as words that might start a question sentence.

06
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Pre-primer Cloze Worksheet No. 6

This printable helps students review words from previous worksheets, such as "boy," "hat," and "school." The worksheet also varies the location of the keyword throughout the worksheet in sentences such as "(It, The, Said) fish is yellow." The sentence displays an image of a fish, with the word "fish" underneath, right after the three words from which students must choose. It is far more difficult for young learners to identify the correct word at the beginning of a sentence ​because they must try out each possible answer, read the sentence through, and then go back and choose the correct beginning word.

07
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Pre-Primer Cloze Worksheet No. 7

In this printable, students have to grapple with slightly more complicated predicates that include more than one noun, such as: "We go to (blue, little, the) store after school." This sentence displays two images — that of a store and a school — each with the correct word underneath. The students must decide that the definite article, "the," refers to both the store and the school. If they are struggling with the concept, explain that the word "the" refers to both the store and the school.

08
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Pre-Primer Cloze Worksheet No. 8

This printable omits the image for the keyword in one case, in the sentence: "(And, Is, You) it the blue one?" This can be difficult for students who don't have an image to help them chose the right term. Children at the pre-primer level are in the preoperational stage of development where they begin to think symbolically and learn to use words and pictures to represent objects. Since they aren't given an image of a "blue" item for this sentence, show them a blue object, such as a blue block or crayon, and say the sentence with the correct word choice, "Is it the blue one?" Yes, you will be giving them the answer, but you will also help them associate words and sentences with real, physical objects.

09
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Pre-primer Cloze Worksheet No. 9

In this PDF, students review terms and images they've seen in previous worksheets. It does, however, contain a couple of challenging sentences, such as: "We (can, go, to) to the store." This sentence may be confusing to young students because it contains the auxiliary — or helping — verb "can," which cannot stand alone. The student may choose "can" as the answer. Since students at this age think concretely, show them why the word "can" won't work in this sentence. Stand up, walk to the door and ask: "What am I doing." If the students are unsure, say something like: "I am going outside." If needed, prompt the students further with additional clues, until they chose the correct word, "go."

10
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Pre-Primer Cloze Worksheet No. 10

As you wrap up your series of lessons on Dolch sight words, use this printable to help students review terms they have learned. This printable includes sentences with keywords (and accompanying images) that students have, hopefully, learned by this point such as "hat," "school," "boy," and "fish." If students are still struggling to choose the correct words, remember that you can use either pictures or real objects to help them. Show students a real hat, as they answer the sentences containing the word hat, or act out a cat jumping over a chair to help them pick the correct term, "jump," for the sentence: "Did the cat (for, jump, not) over the chair?" Anything you can do to connect the sentences and words to real objects will help students learn these important Dolch sight words.

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Your Citation
Webster, Jerry. "Dolch Pre-Primer Cloze Worksheets for Young Readers." ThoughtCo, Apr. 5, 2023, thoughtco.com/dolch-pre-primer-cloze-worksheets-3110782. Webster, Jerry. (2023, April 5). Dolch Pre-Primer Cloze Worksheets for Young Readers. Retrieved from https://www.thoughtco.com/dolch-pre-primer-cloze-worksheets-3110782 Webster, Jerry. "Dolch Pre-Primer Cloze Worksheets for Young Readers." ThoughtCo. https://www.thoughtco.com/dolch-pre-primer-cloze-worksheets-3110782 (accessed March 28, 2024).