First Grade English: Heart Words (Irregularly Spelled Words)
When you learn to read, phonics gives you reliable keys that unlock thousands of words by sounding out every letter. However, some words in the English language carry unusual, surprising, or historical spelling parts that do not follow normal phonics rules. Instead of trying to sound out these tricky parts, reading scientists teach us to learn them as Heart Words. A Heart Word is a word that has one or two tricky letters that you must memorize by heart!
What Is a Heart Word?
Most people used to think that irregular sight words had to be memorized as random shapes. Modern reading science has proven something much better: almost every irregular word has parts that are completely regular and follow normal phonics rules! Only one or two letters are tricky. We put a little heart over the tricky letters to remember them, while sounding out all the regular letters normally.
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| ANATOMY OF A HEART WORD |
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| Target Word: "SAID" |
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| [ s ] [ ai ] [ d ] |
| Regular Sound TRICKY PART Regular Sound |
| /s/ Does not say /ay/ /d/ |
| (Normal!) Says short /e/! (Normal!) |
| <3 |
| "Learn by Heart" |
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| Result: You decode the /s/ and /d/ normally, and you |
| remember the "ai" with your heart! |
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Why Do Heart Words Exist?
Hundreds of years ago, the English spoken in villages sounded very different from the English we speak today. People used to pronounce the letters in "said" to sound like "say-ed." Over centuries, our speaking habits became faster and smoother, but the spelling stayed frozen in our books. Learning the heart parts connects us to the history of our language.
Common First-Grade Heart Words
Let us examine the most famous first-grade Heart Words, shining a spotlight on the exact letters that need your heart.
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| HEART WORD SPOTLIGHT TABLE |
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| Word | Regular Sound Parts | Tricky Heart Part (<3) |
| -------+-------------------------+-------------------------|
| said | s = /s/, d = /d/ | ai says short /e/ |
| from | f = /f/, r = /r/, m = /m/| o says short /u/ |
| was | w = /w/, s = /z/ | a says short /o/ or /u/ |
| they | th = /th/ | ey says long /ay/ |
| you | y = /y/ | ou says long /oo/ |
| are | r = /r/ | a and e are silent! |
| have | h = /h/, v = /v/ | a is short, not long |
| come | c = /k/, m = /m/ | o says short /u/ |
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The Word "WAS"
Look at "was." When you hear the word, it sounds like "w-u-z." The letter w makes its normal sound /w/, and the letter s makes its common buzzing sound /z/. The tricky heart part is the letter a, which says /u/ or /o/ instead of its normal short /a/! You remember: "In the word was, the letter a wears the heart."
The Word "THEY"
Look at "they." The beginning digraph th makes its normal voiced sound /th/. But look at the end: the letters e-y make the long a sound (/ay/)! You give your heart to the letters "ey."
The Word "COME" and "SOME"
Both "come" and "some" look like they should be silent-e words with a long o sound ("cohm" and "sohm"). But in both words, the vowel o says short u (/u/)! You remember the "o" by heart.
The Heart Word Practice Routine
To lock a Heart Word into your permanent reading memory, use this four-step multisensory routine:
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| FOUR-STEP HEART ROUTINE |
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| Step 1: Say the word aloud: "Said." |
| Step 2: Tap the sounds: /s/ ... /e/ ... /d/ (3 sounds). |
| Step 3: Name the letters: "S - A - I - D." |
| Step 4: Draw a tiny heart over the tricky letters: "ai". |
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Orthographic Mapping
When you analyze a word by matching its sounds to its letters and identifying the unusual heart parts, your brain performs what scientists call "orthographic mapping." Once a word is mapped, you will recognize it for the rest of your life!
Practice Exercises
Exercise 1: Inspect the following Heart Words and identify which letter or letters represent the tricky heart part that does not follow standard phonics rules: what, give, does, two.
Exercise 2: Write two sentences. In the first sentence, use the Heart Word "said." In the second sentence, use the Heart Word "they." Circle the Heart Words in your writing.
Exercise Solutions
Solution to Exercise 1: In "what", the tricky heart letter is "a", which makes the /u/ sound (/w-u-t/). In "give", the tricky part is that the silent e does not make the "i" long; the "i" stays short. In "does", the tricky heart letters are "oe", which make the short /u/ sound (/d-u-z/). In "two", the tricky heart letters are "w-o", which sound like /oo/ with a silent w.
Solution to Exercise 2: A student could write: Maya said that her new puppy was very playful. In this sentence, "said" is the Heart Word. Then: They went to the playground after lunch. In this sentence, "They" is the Heart Word.