How to Teach Heart Words
Teach high-frequency words so your kids can actually remember them, based on reading research!
I can honestly say this one stumped me for years! Years of researching and searching for a better way. Every year it seemed like there were some kids who were able to memorize these words and some kids who, no matter how hard they tried, no matter how many times they read them, they just didn’t stick!
Remember all the word wall routines of the early 2000s? I did all the things. You probably did, too! We read the words (over and over) we chanted the words, we wrote the words. And the next day… it was like it was a brand new word. Frustrating to say the least… but the great news is, there’s a better way to teach high-frequency words!
Why do our students need to know high frequency words?
High frequency words are the most common words in printed text. 100 high frequency words make up 50% of all printed text! So, learning these words automatically, without sounding them out, is essential for helping students become fluent, confident readers.
The Old Way: Memorization as a Whole Word
Now we know why students had such a tough time memorizing the whole word! I tried to get students to memorize high-frequency words (or “sight words” as many people refer to them) as one whole unit because they could not be phonetically decoded. While this worked for a few students, so many more students struggled to store these irregular words in their long term memory. Now we know, through reading research, this is because our brains don’t “read” words as one whole unit.
“Whole word reading is a myth,” says neuroscientist Stanislaus Dehaene.
So, if students don’t memorize the whole word, how DO they learn to read irregular words?
The New Way to Teach Irregular “Heart Words”
Reading researchers to the rescue! Reading researchers (Ehri, Kilpatrick, Deheane) have revealed a better way for our students to learn irregular high frequency words, a way that actually works!
Why does this method of instruction work?
We’ve learned from research that our brain does not read words as a whole unit, but it attends to each individual letter in a word. The brain attaches each letter to a sound. Students decode words by blending the sounds together to make a word, and then connect the word to its meaning.
After students decode a word several times (anywhere from 4-40 times, depending on the reader) it moves to the reader’s long term memory and thus, becomes a sight word. This process of storing words long term memory for retrieval is called orthographic mapping. Read more about how to help students store words in their long term memory through orthographic mapping in THIS POST.
Heart Words vs. Sight Words
Sight Words
The term “Sight Words” is often used interchangeably with high-frequency words because students need to learn to read them automatically, by sight.
But the true definition of a “sight word” is any word that a reader has decoded and stored in their long term memory. The process of storing a word into long term memory for automatic retrieval is called orthographic mapping. You can learn more about the process of orthographic mapping HERE.
High Frequency Words
High frequency words are the most common words in printed text. There are two kinds of high frequency words: regular and irregular.
Regular words can be decoded using phonics rules.
For example: in, at, on, it, an
Irregular Words can’t be decoded because they don’t follow the phonics rules.
For example: said, could, their
Heart words are high frequency words with irregular spellings
How should we teach irregular words that can’t be decoded phonetically?
This is where Heart Word teaching comes in! Many high frequency words have irregular sounds in them that can’t be decoded through phonics, so students have to learn those parts by heart.
But most irregular words only have one or two sounds that are irregular, not the whole word.
So students can use the sound/letter knowledge they already have to decode the phonetic parts and they only have to memorize one or two sounds in a word.
For example, in the word could.
C makes a regular sound. C says /k/
oul has an irregular spelling. It says /oo/ as in book. Students have to learn this part by heart.
D makes a regular sound. D says /d/.
Instead of memorizing the entire word, students only need to memorize “oul” says /oo/.
How to Teach Heart Words Step-by-Step
Click HERE to Download 12 *free* Heart Word Slides & Practice Worksheets
1. Introduce the word & tell what it means
Say the word.
Teacher: Repeat after me. could. S: could.
Tell what the word means & use it in a sentence.
T: Could means that something is possible to do. Let’s use it in a sentence:
We could read a book or we could write a book. We could not slide down a rainbow and land in a leprechaun’s pot of gold.
Turn and talk: Tell your partner, one thing you could do and one thing you could not do.
2. Orally segment the word into phonemes.
T: How many sounds are in the word could? Let’s segment the sounds.
*Pound your fist for the whole word, count sounds on your fingers.*
T: Repeat after me: could S: could
T: Fingers up. /c/ /oo/ /d/ could. Once again. /c/ /oo/ /d/ could.
3 sounds are in the word could.
3. Map the sounds.
Connect the letters to each sound. Decide if the sound is a “green light” sound or a “funky monkey heart word” sound. Click here to learn more about the funky monkey heart words.
*When mapping words, it is important to say each sound without the spelling first.
Have students identify the sound and connect the regular phonics spelling,
then reveal the spelling in the sound box.
Example: The first sound in could is /c/. What letters say /c/? C or k says c.
Then reveal the spelling: c.
T: What is the first sound in could? Students: /k/.
*Reveal the spelling in the first sound*
What letters say /k/? C or k says /k/. In this word c says /k/.
Is /k/ spelled the way it sounds? Yes, It follows the rule.
/k/ is a green light sound. Let’s put a green light under it.
T: What is the second sound? /oo/ (as in book).
Where can we find the /oo/ sound on our sound wall?
Point to the /oo/ (as in book) sound card. What letters say /oo/? oo says /oo/.
Is the /oo/ sound spelled the way it sounds? No, it doesn’t follow the rule.
/oo/ is spelled with an o-u-l. /oo/ is a funky monkey sound. Let’s put a heart under it.
What is the last sound? /d/. What letters say /d/? D says /d/.
Is /d/ spelled the way it sounds? Yes, It follows the rule.
/d/ is a green light sound. Let’s put a green light under it.
4. Practice reading the heart word with previously taught heart words.
Now that your students know the new heart word, they need plenty of practice reading AND spelling it.
Be sure to focus on reading each sound and connecting the sound to the letters that represent it.
Provide extra support reading the word, by putting cues under each sound in the word.
5. Practice Segmenting & Spelling the word.
*Use sound boxes to spell each word.
Say each sound before each writing the letters that represent it. Practice in different ways to keep it engaging. You can practice with: white boards, air writing, rug writing, arm writing, leg writing, write with markers
T: Let’s air write. Fingers up.
First sound /c/. C spells /c/. (Model how to write each letter with the class.)
Second sound /oo/ (as in book). o-u-l spells /oo/
Last sound /d/. D spells /d/.
C-o-u-l-d spells could.
6. Practice reading the words in a sentence.
Read the word in the context of a sentence.
Are you ready to get started teaching Heart Words with the Funky Monkey?
Click HERE to get 12 *FREE* Slides and Practice Worksheets for 12 *FREE* heart words!
