Heart Words, set 1
is · for · that · he · was · his · are, plus in · it · on
Learn
Lots of words, you can sound out. Heart words have a tricky part that doesn't sound the way you expect. You learn the tricky part by heart.
Sound these out
Every letter makes the sound you know. Tap a word to hear it.
Heart words
The red letters with a are the tricky part. Tap a word to hear why.
Practice
1. Find the heart part
Tap the tricky letters, then tap Check. No tricky letters? Tap No tricky part.
2. Listen and tap
Tap Hear the word. Then tap the word you hear.
3. Finish the sentence
Read the sentence. Which word fits?
4. Flash cards
Read the word out loud. Then tap Check to hear it.
In the real world
Heart words are some of the words we use most. Look for them everywhere!
- Book huntPick a page in a favorite book. How many times can you find is or was?
- Write a note“That is for you!” has three heart words in it. Draw the hearts!
- SignsOn a walk or at the store, look for in, on, is and for on signs.
- Talking“Where are my shoes?” “That is his cup.” We say heart words all day long.
- Write it bigWrite a heart word in sand, salt or shaving cream. Draw a heart over the tricky part.
- At the tableTake turns: one person says a heart word, the other spells it out loud.
For grown-ups
What this is
Heart words are high-frequency words that aren't fully decodable yet. Kids sound out the parts that follow the patterns they know and learn the irregular part “by heart.” In class, a heart goes over the tricky letters.
The tricky parts in this set
- is, his: the s says /z/.
- was: the a says /ŭ/ and the s says /z/.
- he: the e says its name, /ē/.
- for: or says /or/.
- that: th is a digraph that hasn't been taught yet.
- are: the whole word is the heart part (a-r-e says /ar/).
- in, it, on: no heart part. These are fully decodable and just get practiced a lot.
Some heart parts are only tricky for now. Once th, or and long vowels are taught, that, for and he become regular. The a in was stays tricky.
How to help
- Say, tap, spell, write. Say the word, tap a finger for each sound, spell it out loud, then write it while saying the letter names.
- Draw a little heart over the tricky part when your child writes the word.
- A few minutes often beats one long session. Mix in words your child already knows so it feels like a win.
- If your child guesses from the first letter (his for he), point to each letter and read it together slowly.