❤️Some words will not sound out, and young readers need a plan for them. These worksheets teach 60 heart words in 10 small sets, with a steady routine and color by code pictures that keep practice playful.
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These Kindergarten Heart Words Worksheets give PreK and kindergarten teachers a 10-week way to teach 60 high-frequency words that do not follow simple sounding-out rules. The Science of Reading approach uses a short routine — Read it, Heart it, Trace it, Write it — so children learn the tricky part of each word by heart as they read, trace and write it.
The 60 words come in 10 sets of 6, one set per week. Early sets cover the, a, I, is, to and of; later sets add words such as said, was, they, what, love, does, could and many. The word list marks each tricky part with a heart symbol, and each practice page has children read the word, color its tricky part, trace it, write it, and finish three lines of handwriting practice.
Color by code mystery pictures turn review into a puzzle. The 20 worksheets come in two levels: Level 1 uses 6 heart words and Level 2 uses 12 heart words with review. Pictures include a cat, owl, fish, rocket, turtle, house, ice cream cone, butterfly, ladybug and car. Sixty matching word cards, 12 to a page, carry the same highlighted tricky parts for literacy centers, small groups and word walls.
The teacher guide keeps the 10 weeks simple. It explains what heart words are, lays out the 5-step teaching routine and the two-level differentiation guide, and adds ways to use the pages, printing tips and a contents page. Children color a heart on the I Can Read It! tracker for every word they learn and earn a Heart Word Star certificate at the end. Answer keys are full-color, one key for both levels, and the rest of the PDF prints in black and white.
📖 Teaching guide · 13 min readTeaching Kindergarten Heart Words: A 10-Week Checklist Plan with Color by Code PracticeRead the guide →Featured in: December Reading Activities for K-2: Christmas Stories, Heart Words and Activity Books
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The routine stays the same every day, so children know what to do and teachers can teach a new set in minutes. Small sets of six words, two levels of mystery pictures and a visible tracker keep the work within reach for PreK and kindergarten, and the heart-marked tricky parts give children one clear thing to remember about each word.
They are high-frequency words with a tricky part that does not sound out the way children expect. The teacher guide includes a What Are Heart Words? section, and the word list marks each tricky part with a heart symbol.
Sixty words in 10 sets of 6, with one set per week in the 10-week study plan. Each set has its own practice pages, and the color by code pictures and word cards review the words as children go.
The color by code mystery pictures come in two levels: Level 1 uses 6 heart words and Level 2 uses 12 heart words with review. The differentiation guide helps you choose the right level for each child.
Each child colors a heart on the I Can Read It! progress tracker for every word learned, working toward all 60 hearts, and earns a Heart Word Star certificate at the end.
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