What are high-frequency words?

High-frequency words are those that appear frequently in written texts and children are encouraged to recognize them by sight. This is crucial for early reading development because these words often serve as building blocks for fluent reading. When students can quickly recognize high-frequency words, they can focus more on comprehension and less on decoding individual words. These words typically include common, functional words such as "the," "and," and "is," which are important for understanding sentences and overall text structure.

The approach to teaching these words often involves sight recognition strategies, as many high-frequency words do not follow standard phonetic rules and may not be easily decodable. Therefore, instilling quick recognition in students allows them to read more smoothly and with greater confidence.