Teaching Heart Words: A Step-by-Step Guide
After years of supporting teachers with heart words instruction, I’ve refined these steps to make them classroom-friendly and effective. Here’s what works in real classrooms:
Start With the Whole Word
Begin by saying the word clearly and having students repeat it. Make it fun! I love watching students’ eyes light up when we turn this into a game. Just last week, one of my struggling readers started dancing in his chair when he figured out why we put a heart over the ‘a’ in “what” – those moments make everything worth it!
Break It Down
Guide students in segmenting the word into individual sounds. For “has,” we break it into /h/ /ă/ /z/. I often use sound boxes or hand motions to make this concrete – whatever works for your kids! One teacher I work with uses different colored markers for regular and irregular sounds, and her students are thriving with this visual support.
Analyze Each Sound-Spelling Connection
This is where understanding what are heart words really comes into play. Take “has” as an example:
- First sound: /h/ → spelled with ‘h’ (regular!)
- Middle sound: /ă/ → spelled with ‘a’ (regular!)
- Final sound: /z/ → spelled with ‘s’ (irregular – time for that heart!)
Make It Stick
Have students read the word, spell it, and say it again. This multiple-exposure approach works wonders. I love having students “be the teacher” and explain why we put hearts on certain parts. The confidence boost when they can explain it to others is incredible!
Tips from the Intervention Table
After countless hours working with struggling readers, here’s what I’ve found makes heart words instruction really stick:
- Start with high-frequency words that have just one irregular part
- Use consistent heart markings to highlight irregular patterns
- Revisit words regularly – I like to do quick reviews during transition times
- Celebrate when students spot heart word patterns in their reading
- Create a heart word wall that grows with your students’ learning
- Incorporate movement and multisensory activities in your practice
- Keep a running list of mastered heart words to show progress
One of my favorite success stories comes from a third-grade teacher who started using heart words with her struggling readers. Within weeks, she noticed her students becoming more confident in approaching unfamiliar words because they understood that even “tricky” words follow patterns – they just needed to find them!
The Science Behind the Success
Recent research (Colenbrander et al., 2022) confirms what I’ve seen at my intervention table: students learn best when they understand the why behind irregular spellings. When we teach heart words this way, we’re building on students’ phonics knowledge while acknowledging that some parts need special attention.
Moving Forward with Heart Words
Remember, the goal isn’t to keep marking hearts forever. As students learn more advanced patterns, many heart words naturally become regular words they can decode with confidence. For example, once students are taught that the letter ‘s’ can also make the /z/ sound, ‘has’ is no longer a heart word – it’s now decodable! I’ve watched this progression happen countless times, and it never gets old!
You’re doing important work in your classroom, and understanding what heart words are is just one more tool in your teaching toolkit. Keep celebrating those small wins, and remember – you’re not just teaching words, you’re helping students unlock the mysteries of our language.
Your Next Steps
Start small! Pick one or two high-frequency words that your students are struggling with and try this approach. Notice which parts are regular and which parts need hearts. Watch how your students respond to understanding why these words are tricky rather than just being told “this is a sight word.”
