About this deck

Edward Fry's "Instant Words" list ranks the most frequent words in English reading material. The first 100 words, from "the" to "part", make up a large share of the words in a typical children's book.

The cards follow the list order, so you can study them in groups of ten or twenty the way many classrooms do. The front shows the word; the back shows a short sentence that uses it.

The first 100 are often taught across kindergarten and first grade. Print the deck, or study it here and let spaced review decide which words come back.

Study tips

• Teach the list in groups of ten. Finish one group before starting the next.
• Read the example sentence aloud together; many of these words are easier to recognize inside a phrase.
• Check off words when your child spots them in a real book. That transfer is the goal.
• Pair the cards with simple dictation: say a word and have your child write it.