Heart Words Resource List Freebie - Sound by Sound Heart Words

This Heart Words Resource List freebie includes a collection of sound by sound heart words with clearly marked heart parts to support explicit high frequency word instruction. The resource is designed to align with Science of Reading practices by helping students focus on both decodable and irregular parts within words.

👉Access FREE High Frequency Words sound-by-sound digital slides HERE
👉Access FREE High Frequency Words sound-by-sound flashcards HERE

Heart words are high frequency words that contain one or more unexpected spelling patterns students must learn “by heart.” Instead of memorizing the entire word visually, students are taught to analyze the decodable sounds first and then identify the irregular or tricky part that must be remembered.

The marked heart symbol underneath each irregular sound helps students visually recognize which part of the word does not fully match expected phonics patterns. This approach supports orthographic mapping and strengthens long term word storage.

The sound by sound layout encourages students to slow down and process each phoneme before blending the full word together. This routine supports automaticity, decoding, and stronger phonics connections during high frequency word instruction.

Words included in the resource list include examples such as:
• like
• said
• into
• there
• little
• once
• could
• would
• should
• their
• where
• mother
• pretty
• today
• again
• whose
…and more.

What’s Included:
• Heart words resource list
• Sound by sound word visuals
• Marked heart parts for irregular sounds
• High frequency word support
• Science of Reading aligned routines
• Print and use phonics resource

Ideas for use:
• Whole group phonics lessons
• Small group intervention
• High frequency word review
• Literacy centers
• Word wall support
• Daily phonics warm ups

Skills covered include:
• Heart words
• High frequency words
• Orthographic mapping
• Sound by sound blending
• Decoding automaticity
• Irregular spelling patterns
• Science of Reading phonics routines

This freebie supports students by helping them analyze words instead of relying on memorization alone. The marked heart parts visually highlight tricky sounds while reinforcing stronger phonics based reading habits.