Over the years researchers have carefully tabulated the highest-utility words. Spelling instruction, with the goal of helping students become better spellers in their daily writing, must focus exclusively on these high-utility words.

The following list of words was compiled initially from the American Heritage Word Frequency Study (Carroll, Davies, Richman). These words were cross-checked with other respected studies (Gates, Horn, Risland, Greene and Loomer, Harris and Jacobson).

Very little difference is noted among these sources. In 1985 Milton Jacobson analyzed the compositions of over 22,000 students in Grades 2-12 to determine the validity of these and other word-frequency studies. The results of this intensive analysis indicated that students continue to use the same basic core of high-frequency words in their writing and that the minor differences in frequency placement of words on the various lists were insignificant.

1 the 2 of 3 and 4 a 5 to 6 in 7 is 8 you 9 that 10 it	101 get 102 through 103 back 104 much 105 go 106 good 107 new 108 write 109 our 110 me	201 feet 202 land 203 side 204 without 205 boy 206 once 207 animal 208 life 209 enough 210 took	301 living 302 black 303 eat 304 short 305 United States 306 run 307 book 308 gave 309 order 310 open	401 round 402 dark 403 past 404 ball 405 girl 406 road 407 blue 408 instead 409 either 410 held
11 he 12 for 13 was 14 on 15 are 16 as 17 with 18 his 19 they	111 man 112 too 113 any 114 day 115 same 116 right 117 look 118 think 119 also	211 four 212 head 213 above 214 kind 215 began 216 almost 217 live 218 page 219 got	311 ground 312 cold 313 really 314 table 315 remember 316 tree 317 course 318 front 319 American	411 already 412 warm 413 gone 414 finally 415 summer 416 understand 417 moon 418 animals 419 mind
20 at 21 be 22 this 23 from 24 I 25 have 26 or 27 by 28 one 29 had	120 around 121 another 122 came 123 come 124 work 125 three 126 must 127 because 128 does 129 part	220 earth 221 need 222 far 223 hand 224 high 225 year 226 mother 227 light 228 country 229 father	320 space 321inside 322 ago 323 sad 324 early 325 I'll 326 learned 327 brought 328 close 329 nothing	420 outside 421 power 422 problem 423 longer 424 winter 425 deep 426 heavy 427 carefully 428 follow 429 beautiful
30 not 31 but 32 what 33 all 34 were 35 when 36 we 37 there 38 can 39 an	130 even 131 place 132 well 133 such 134 here 135 take 136 why 137 help 138 put 139 different	230 let 231 night 232 picture 233 being 234 study 235 second 236 soon 237 story 238 since 239 white	330 though 331 idea 332 before 333 lived 334 became 335 add 336 become 337 grow 338 draw 339 yet	430 everyone 431 leave 432 everything 433 game 434 system 435 bring 436 watch 437 shall 438 dry 439 within
40 your 41 which 42 their 43 said 44 if 45 do 46 will 47 each 48 about 49 how	140 away 141 again 142 off 143 went 144 old 145 number 146 great 147 tell 148 men 149 say	240 ever 241 paper 242 hard 243 near 244 sentence 245 better 246 best 247 across 248 during 249 today	340 less 341 wind 342 behind 343 cannot 344 letter 345 among 346 able 347 dog 348 shown 349 mean	440 floor 441 ice 442 ship 443 themselves 444 begin 445 fact 446 third 447 quite 448 carry 449 distance
50 up 51 out 52 them 53 then 54 she 55 many 56 some 57 so 58 these 59 would	159 small 151 every 152 found 153 still 154 between 155 name 156 should 157 home 158 big 159 give	250 however 251 sure 252 knew 253 it's 254 try 255 told 256 young 257 sun 258 thing 259 whole	350 English 351 rest 352 perhaps 353 certain 354 six 355 feel 356 fire 357 ready 358 green 359 yes	450 although 451 sat 452 possible 453 heart 454 real 455 simple 456 snow 457 rain 458 suddenly 459 easy
60 other 61 into 62 has 63 more 64 her 65 two 66 like 67 him 68 see 69 time	160 air 161 line 162 set 163 own 164 under 165 read 166 last 167 never 168 us 169 left	260 hear 261 example 262 heard 263 several 264 change 265 answer 266 room 267 sea 268 against 269 top	360 built 361 special 362 ran 363 full 364 town 365 complete 366 oh 367 person 368 hot 369 anything	460 leaves 461 lay 462 size 463 wild 464 weather 465 miss 466 pattern 467 sky 468 walked 469 main
70 could 71 no 72 make 73 than 74 first 75 been 76 its 77 who 78 now 79 people	170 end 171 along 172 while 173 might 174 next 175 sound 176 below 177 saw 178 something 179 thought	270 turned 271 learn 272 point 273 city 274 play 275 toward 276 five 277 himself 278 usually 279 money	370 hold 371 state 372 list 373 stood 374 hundred 375 ten 376 fast 377 felt 378 kept 379 notice	470 someone 471 center 472 field 473 stay 474 itself 475 boat 476 question 477 wide 478 least 479 tiny
80 my 81 made 82 over 83 did 84 down 85 only 86 way 87 find 88 use 89 may	180 both 181 few 182 those 183 always 184 show 185 large 186 often 187 together 188 asked 189 house	280 seen 281 didn't 282 car 283 morning 284 I'm 285 body 286 upon 287 family 288 later 289 turn	380 can't 381 strong 382 voice 383 probably 384 area 385 horse 386 matter 387 stand 388 box 389 start	480 hour 481 happened 482 foot 483 care 494 low 485 else 486 gold 487 build 488 glass 489 rock
90 water 91 long 92 little 93 very 94 after 95 words 96 called 97 just 98 where 99 most 100 know	190 don't 191 world 192 going 193 want 194 school 195 important 196 until 197 form 198 food 199 keep 200 children	290 move 291 face 292 door 293 cut 294 done 295 group 296 true 297 half 298 red 299 fish 300 plants	390 that's 391 class 392 piece 393 surface 394 river 395 common 396 stop 397 am 398 talk 399 whether 400 fine	490 tall 491 alone 492 bottom 493 check 494 reading 495 fall 496 poor 497 map 498 friend 499 language 500 job