FREE UPDATE on 2-23-23

170+ more words/short stories have been added to this resource! Please download the file again to access the free update

Heart words is a strategy for teaching high frequency words (sight words) that aligns with the Science of Reading. These decodable short stories each focus on one heart word so your students can practice reading high frequency words in context.

Finally, a resource that allows your students to practice one targeted high frequency word (heart word) in the context of reading!

Every page (273 pages/words included) utilizes the same consistent, research-based practice so that your students can focus on the word at hand, and not new directions/activities.

What do students do on each page?

• Say the target high frequency word/heart word
• Tap the number of sounds in the word
• Write the number of sounds in the word
• Map the number of sounds in the word and add a heart where necessary
  • please note that hearts are not added for you - they're meant to be added by students during instruction.

• Find the targeted high frequency word/heart word in the story and circle it. Heart it if desired.
• Read the short story three times - coloring a numbered heart each time they read.

How short are the short stories?

• The stories range from 2-5 sentences in length. They are short and decodable to provide a quick - yet meaningful - win for your students.

How decodable are the short stories?

• These short stories include only
  • 1 - the targeted word;
  • 2 - VC and CVC words, and
  • 3 - pre-reading high frequency words as necessary 
    • The 10 pre-reading high frequency words are as follows: a, and, for, I, is, of, the, to, was, you 

What grade is it for?

• While these are ideal for Kindergarten and first grade, they can be used with any student(s) who can decode VC and CVC words and need(s) to learn high frequency words.

What words are included?

• I’ve combined multiple lists of high frequency words and found 273 of most common irregular/temporary heart words. The words are as follows:

1. a
2. about
3. after
4. again
5. all
6. also
7. always
8. am
9. an
10. and
11. another
12. any
13. are
14. around
15. as
16. ask
17. at
18. ate
19. away
20. back
21. ball
22. be
23. because
24. been
25. before
26. best
27. better
28. big
29. black
30. blue
31. boo
32. both
33. boy
34. bring
35. brown
36. but
37. buy
38. by
39. call
40. called
41. came
42. can
43. carry
44. clean
45. clue
46. cold
47. come
48. could
49. cut
50. did
51. do
52. does
53. don’t
54. done
55. down
56. draw
57. drink
58. each
59. eat
60. eight
61. end
62. every
63. fall
64. far
65. fast
66. find
67. first
68. five
69. fly
70. follow
71. for
72. found
73. four
74. from
75. full
76. funny
77. gave
78. get
79. give
80. glue
81. go
82. goes
83. going
84. good
85. got
86. gray
87. great
88. green
89. grow
90. guy
91. had
92. has
93. have
94. he
95. help
96. her
97. here
98. him
99. his

100. hold

101. hot

102. how

103. hurt

104. I

105. if

106. in

107. into

108. is

109. it

110. its

111. jump

112. just

113. keep

114. kind

115. knew

116. know

117. large

118. laugh

119. let

120. light

121. like

122. line

123. little

124. live

125. long

126. look

127. made

128. make

129. man

130. many

131. may

132. me

133. means

134. men

135. mind

136. moo

137. more

138. most

139. much

140. must

141. my

142. myself

143. name

144. need

145. never

146. new

147. nine

148. no

149. not

150. now

151. number

152. of

153. off

154. old

155. on

156. once

157. one

158. only

159. open

160. or

161. orange

162. our

163. out

164. over

165. own

166. part

167. people

168. pick

169. pink

170. place

171. play

172. please

173. pretty

174. pull

175. purple

176. push

177. put

178. ran

179. read

180. red

181. ride

182. right

183. round

184. run

185. said

186. same

187. saw

188. say

189. see

190. sentence

191. set

192. seven

193. shall

194. she

195. should

196. show

197. sit

198. six

199. sleep

200. small

201. so

202. some

203. soon

204. sound

205. start

206. stop

207. take

208. talk

209. tell

210. ten

211. thank

212. that

213. the

214. their

215. them

216. then

217. there

218. these

219. they

220. thing

221. think

222. this

223. those

224. these

225. through

226. time

227. to

228. today

229. together

230. too

231. true

232. try

233. turn

234. two

235. under

236. up

237. upon

238. us

239. use

240. very

241. walk

242. want

243. warm

244. was

245. wash

246. watch

247. water

238. we

249. well

250. went

251. were

252. what

253. when

254. where

255. which

256. white

257. who

258. why

259. will

260. wish

261. with

262. word

263. words

264. work

265. world

266. would

267. write

268. years

269. yellow

270. yes

271. you

272. your

273. yours

About “Temporary” Heart Words

• Many high frequency words are phonetic, while some are truly irregular. 
• Phonetic high frequency words can be known as a temporary heart word if students have not learned the skill. (For example, he and me are phonetic, but would be temporary heart words if students have not learned long vowel sounds/open syllables.)
• This resource does include temporary heart words/flash words.

File Organization - Just for You!

I know this resource includes A LOT of high frequency words. For your convenience, you'll find the download organized the following 3 ways. Click on the file that is most convenient for you.

1. Old & New PDF

• Did you own this before the huge update and you only want to download your print the new additions? You'll be looking for the PDF's that start with 1A and 1B. 1B - 175 New Heart Words Short Stories.pdf is the one you'll want to download and print!

2. Organized by Phonics Skill & Irregularity

• You'll want this PDF: 2 Heart Words Short Stories By Skill.pdf. This includes a clickable table of contents.

3. Organized Alphabetically

• You'll want this PDF: 3 Heart Words Short Stories Alphabetical.pdf This includes a clickable table of contents