What are heart words?

 

If you've come across the term, Heart Words, and ever wondered, What the heck are heart words? Well, this post is for you! 

Heart words is a relatively-new term. I only learned this term in the last couple of years. 

Heart words refers to high-frequency words that are irregularly spelled. 

We need to teach our students high-frequency words because these are words that that will see all time time. They're frequently-used!

High-frequency words can be split into two categories: flash words and heart words.

In this post, I'll break down heart words only. (Click HERE to read about flash words). 

So... what are heart words?

Heart words are words that can mostly be decoded, but there is a part that is irregularly spelled, therefore students need to learn this part 'by heart'. 

Let's look at the heart word: his. The h and the i are are making the /h/ and /i/ sounds. So these parts are regularly spelled (they make the sounds we would expect).

However, the s is making a /z/ sound. This is irregular. This is the part that students need to learn 'by heart'. 

When I use this language with my students, they are very good at remembering it. You could walk into my class and say "What is the tricky part in the word his?" And they will be able to articulate that the s is making a /z/ sound.
If you haven't tried using this language, I encourage you to give it a go. I have been blown away by how receptive the students are to it. 

YouTube

Are you more of a visual learner? I have a YouTube video which breaks down the terms: heart words, flash words and high-frequency words for you. You can check that out HERE.

You might be interested in this resource!

Did you know I have a resource that does all the work for you? It features 80 of the most commonly-used words that we use in Prep. There is a combination of heart words and flash words.  

You work through the slides with your students to read, tap, map and write the high-frequency word. Best news, it's all done for you. So if you're feeling unsure about this process, you don't need to worry!

Check out this resource on my TPT store here.

Let me know, do you use the term 'heart words' in your class?