Introduction
What Are Heart Words — Reading is such an essential part of our lives, but learning to read is even more important. When a child learns to read, the possibilities are endless. However, reading can be challenging to master. As someone who struggled with learning to read, I didn’t know how to read until I was in 2nd grade, and I didn’t start loving reading until middle school. Now, as a teacher, I see many students struggling to read, especially irregular words like “was” or “said.”
They are words that kids need to know “by heart,” or in other words, memorize. The purpose of “heart words” is to teach the word parts to students so they can read them fluently.
What Are Heart Words?
Heart words are not fully decodable, and they contain irregular spellings, for example, the word was /wəz/ or the word from /frəm/. Both of thoes words make the “uh” sound, which is a schwa. This is important to learn to help students learn the tricky part “by heart.” This isn’t something that students will be able to decode.
Heart Words vs. High-Frequency Words
What are high-frequency words vs heart words? High-frequency words appear often in print. Some are decodable, for example, words like “like” or “can.” The irregular words that we cannot decode easily are words like “said,” “from,” and “was.” All of these words are high-frequency; only some of them are heart words. Heart Words are a subset of high-frequency words that are not fully decodable.
I’ve included a table to visually compare Heart Words vs. High-Frequency Words.
| Feature | High-Frequency Words | Heart Words |
| Frequency | Appear often in text | Appear often in text |
| Decodability | Some are decodable, some not | Usually not fully decodable |
| Teaching method | Phonics + memorization | Focus on memorizing the irregular part |
| Goal | Fluency and comprehension | Recognize tricky parts “by heart” |
Section 3: Why Are Heart Words Important?
- Crucial for reading fluency and confidence.
- Make up a large portion of early texts.
- Learning them unlocks access to more meaningful reading experiences.
Section 4: The Science Behind Heart Words
- Tied to orthographic mapping (how brains connect sounds to letters).
- Supported by the Science of Reading approach.
- Helps build a sight word bank over time.
Section 5: How to Teach Heart Words
- Break down the word into decodable and non-decodable parts.
- Highlight the “tricky” part with a heart or color.
- Use multi-sensory strategies: air writing, tapping, building the word with magnets.
- Use frequent repetition and exposure in meaningful contexts.
Section 6: Common Mistakes to Avoid
- Rote memorization of whole words without connecting to phonics.
- Teaching all high-frequency words as heart words.
- Giving too many words at once without adequate practice.
Section 7: Tools and Resources
- Suggested lists: Dolch, Fry, or school-approved high-frequency word lists.
- Heart word flashcards, pocket charts, heart-word journals.
- Printable word mats, games, digital tools, and apps.
Conclusion
- Reinforce the value of heart words in a structured literacy approach.
- Encourage consistency, patience, and celebrating small wins.
- Invite teachers or parents to comment with strategies or questions.
Optional Add-ons
- 🎁 Free printable: Top 20 Kindergarten Heart Words with Visual Cues
- 🎥 Optional video tutorial for teaching heart words.
📥 Downloadable parent handout: “What Are Heart Words and Why Do They Matter?”
