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Sight Word “the” Worksheets

3 free PDFsUS Letter or A4Answer key includedNo login

Three free worksheets for the sight word “the”: read, build, trace and write it, read it in short sentences, then find it in a story and color it.

Download the sight word “the” worksheets

Print at 100% (actual size) for the cleanest tracing lines.

About these sight word “the” worksheets

“the” has three letters but only two sounds: th, then a quick “uh” (or “ee” before a vowel, as in the egg). The e does not say its short sound, so “the” is learned by sight. It is spelled t-h-e: three letters, with two tall letters (t, h) and one short letter (e). It is word 3 of 50 on our kindergarten sight words list, one of the very first sight words children learn.

There are three worksheets for “the”. The first one has six short steps: read it in big print, build it from scrambled letters, trace it, write it, circle it among look-alike words, and write it to finish the sentence “I see the dog.” The sentences sheet has three short sentences to read, trace and write: “The cat sat.”, “The hen ran.” and “I fed the dog.” The find and color sheet has a five-line story to read while circling every “the”, and a grid of word boxes to color.

Every sentence uses only “the”, sight words that come before it on the list and short sound-it-out words, so children can read them on their own. Each page is black and white with simple pictures, prints on US Letter or A4, and the find-it pages have an answer key on page 2.

Standards

  • CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RF.K.3.CRead common high-frequency words by sight (e.g., the, of, to, you, she, my, is, are, do, does).
  • CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RF.K.4Read emergent-reader texts with purpose and understanding.
  • CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RF.K.1.AFollow words from left to right, top to bottom, and page by page.
  • CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RF.K.1.BRecognize that spoken words are represented in written language by specific sequences of letters.
  • CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RF.K.1.CUnderstand that words are separated by spaces in print.
  • CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.L.K.1.APrint many upper- and lowercase letters.
  • CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.L.K.2.DSpell simple words phonetically, drawing on knowledge of sound-letter relationships.

How to use them

  1. Show “the” on a card, say it, spell it out loud (t-h-e) and use it in a sentence, such as “The cat sat.”
  2. Do the “the” worksheet first, then the sentences sheet, then find and color. One sheet a day is plenty.
  3. Read “the” together with the next word as one chunk: the cat, the dog, the sun. Then put a sticky note on every the on one page of a favorite book and count them.
  4. Keep a review pile of the words learned before “the” (“I” and “a”) and read the whole pile together for a minute each day.

Teaching tips

  • t and h are tall letters and e is short. Children often write teh or hte, so say t-h-e out loud while they write.
  • Look-alikes to compare: then, them, she, he and ten. If your child circles one of these on the find-it rows, read both words out loud and point to the letter that is different.
  • On the sentences sheet, have your child read the printed sentence first, with “the” in bold, and point to each word. Then trace, then write the sentence alone with a finger space between words.
  • Next on the list is “to”. Move on when your child reads “the” quickly in the story on the find and color sheet, without sounding it out.

Questions teachers and parents ask

How do you teach the sight word “the”?

Read “the” together with the next word as one chunk: the cat, the dog, the sun. Then put a sticky note on every the on one page of a favorite book and count them. Then work through the three sheets: trace and write “the”, read it in short sentences, and find it in a story. Short daily practice works better than one long session.

Can children sound out “the”?

Only partly. In “the”, the e does not say its short sound. The other letters follow their usual sounds, so point out the tricky part and practice the whole word until it is quick.

What words look like “the”?

Then, them, she, he and ten are easy to mix up with “the”. The find-it rows on these worksheets mix them in on purpose, so children look at every letter, not just the first one.

What are some sentences with “the”?

Try “The cat sat.”, “The hen ran.”, “I fed the dog.” and “The cat and the dog nap.” They use only sight words and short words children can sound out.

Is there an answer key?

Yes. The “the” worksheet and the find and color sheet each have an answer key on page 2, with the circled words and the counts. The sentences sheet needs no key: each sentence is printed above its trace row.