Words with Heart: How to Effectively Teach Heart Words in Your Classroom

When it comes to teaching children how to read, one of the trickiest parts can be helping them learn sight words—the words that pop up again and again in texts and contain an irregular part. Traditionally, students were expected to memorize them through repetition. But with what we now know about the Science of Reading, there’s a better way: teaching these words as heart words.

Heart words are high-frequency words that often contain parts that students can decode (sound out), along with parts they must “learn by heart.” Instead of asking students to memorize whole words as symbols, we teach them to use their phonics knowledge while recognizing that some tricky parts don’t yet follow the rules they know.

So, how can we effectively teach heart words in a way that sticks and builds strong readers? Let’s break it down.

Temporary vs. True Heart Words

First, it's important to understand that heart words can be sorted into two categories: temporary and true heart words.

Temporary heart words are words that contain regular phonics patterns that your students haven’t learned yet. Once the pattern is learned, the word is no longer a heart word and is completely decodable.

True heart words, on the other hand, have a true irregular pattern that just has to be remembered. In the word <from>, students have to remember that the <o> is a heart part and that it can’t be sounded out.

 
Since everyone uses different scope & sequences of phonics skills, what’s considered a heart word by one teacher may not be a heart word at all by another (if the phonics pattern has already been taught). 

**Due to this, we don’t have a set order for teaching heart words. Instead, we’ve created a list of 200 sight words and categorized them by temporary or true heart words. You can decide, based off the curriculum you follow, if the word is a heart word for your students! Also, you will notice that we haven’t put hearts on any of our resources, including the teaching slides, booklets, and flashcards. This was done purposely so that you can have your students code the word appropriately.**

The Heart Word Routine

We like to use interactive Elkonin boxes pulled up on the whiteboard when teaching a new heart word. This way, your entire class can get involved!

Let's use the example word <said>.

Step 1: Pull up the first slide of the heart word on your whiteboard. Say the heart word and have students repeat it after you. Then put it in a sentence.

Teacher → "Say <said>"
Students → "said"
Teacher → "My mom said to go to bed."

Step 2: Have students segment the sounds in the word (click through the slides as students say the sounds so the counters move up)

Teacher → "What are the sounds in the word said?”
Students → "/s/ /e/ /d/"

Step 3: Ask students what the first sound is in the word. Then show them the letter making the sound. Ask if the letter matches the sound.

Teacher → "What's the first sound in <said>?
Students → "/s/"
Teacher → (click to next slide) "The letter <s> is making the /s/ sound. Does that match?"
Students → "Yes!"

Step 4: Ask students what the next sound is in the word. Then show them the letter(s) making the sound. Ask if the letter(s) match the sound.

Teacher → "What's the next sound in <said>?
Students → "/ĕ/"
Teacher → (click to next slide) "The letters <ai> are making the /ĕ/ sound. Does that match?"
Students → "No"

Step 5: Mark the heart part of the word and explain.

Teacher → "Since the letters <ai> don’t match the /ĕ/ sound, this is the heart part of the word. We can’t sound it out and have to know it by heart. I’m going to draw a heart under the <ai> to help us remember.”

Step 6: Ask students what the last sound is in the word. Then show them the letter making the sound. Ask if the letter matches the sound.

Teacher → "What's the last sound in <said>?
Students → "/d/"
Teacher → (click to next slide) "The letter <d> is making the /d/ sound. Does that match?"
Students → "Yes!"

Step 7: Click to the next slide with the heart word flashcard. Pass out student flashcards, have them mark the heart part, and add it to their flashcard ring.

Teacher → "I’m going to pass out your flashcard for the heart word, said. Underline the <ai> like I did and draw a heart under it. Then, add it to your ring of flashcards.”

Teacher Tip: You know the parents who offer to help you, but on the spot you can't think of anything for them to assist you with? Prepping flashcards is a great parent job! 

Practice, Practice, Practice

Once you've explicitly taught each heart word, students need multiple opportunities to practice. A few ways that we like to have students practice include:

Heart Word Booklets

These booklets focus on one heart word at a time, allowing students to practice, reading, spelling and writing the heart word. Use these for centers, independent work, small group practice, or send home with your students!

Heart Word Mapping Mat

This mat allows students to practice mapping their heart words, one at a time, on a reusable mat. Perfect for using at a center with a ring of heart words and counters.

Heart Word Mapping Practice Page

This version allows students to practice mapping 5 of their heart words on paper. They will especially love the activity if you give them Bingo daubers or stickers to use for marking the sounds in each word! Want a free copy of this activity? Click the image below to grab yours!

"Words with Heart" Resource

Want our entire heart words curriculum, including teacher guide, heart word slides, flashcards, and booklets for 200 heart words? Our "Words with Heart" resource is available! Click the image below to learn more.

We understand that purchasing resources one by one adds up fast—and as teachers, we know every dollar matters. That’s why our K-2 membership, Launching Literacy, is a smarter and more cost effective option. Our membership gives you everything you need for small group instruction—all in one place—so you can save time, money, and stress.

No more weekends wasted hunting for Science of Reading–aligned heart word resources, phonics lessons, and decodable texts. With Launching Literacy, you simply log in, choose the skill you want to teach, and instantly download detailed, ready-to-use lesson plans and activities.

In just a few clicks, your small group lessons are prepped and ready to teach—so you can spend less time planning and more time making an impact in your classroom. It’s planning made simple, effective, and affordable.

We hope that you found this blog post helpful! Whether you choose to join the membership or not, we are always here to help you in any way we can. Send us an email at: [email protected] with any questions you have!