Learning Intention

To decode tricky/heart words, which contain one or more irregular letter sequences and sounds.

Learning Experience Overview

Tricky words are words that contain one or more irregular or unusual letter sequences, and make a different sound. e.g. ‘people’, the /ee/sound is made by the letters ‘eo’.

They may also contain sounds that are made up of letter combinations that children have not yet learned. The term refers to how decodable the word is.

We use the term ‘heart words’ interchangeably with ‘tricky words’. They are tricky words that we need to learn by heart. For example, the word ‘what’ has regular, initial, and final sounds, but the medial (middle) /a/ makes an irregular sound.

High-frequency words are different again. Often, students can decode them once they have the necessary phonics skills. For example, the word “with” is a high-frequency word.

Whole

To begin with, we came together to break down the meaning of our Learning Intention. We asked the students to consider what might make a word tricky, and if they could give an example. We discussed the way that a word needs to be broken down, to find the tricky part that needs to be learnt by heart.

Fluency

We read a series of tricky words on flashcards.

Introduction of the Word

We started with direct instruction. The word ‘what’ was introduced, as an example of a heart word. Students repeated the word, and then we focused on the sounds, which were identified and counted. We represented the sounds by tapping them out on the dots on the Tricky Words page, as shown below. Students repeated the word 'what' and then tapped out the 3 sounds in the word.

Building the Word

In this step, we started building the word, identifying the regular sounds in the word. In our example, we identified and wrote down the letters w, h and t, in the Phoneme Frame boxes.

Mark the Heart Part

We discussed the part of the word that is irregular, they wrote down the letter(s) that make the regular sounds and drew a little heart symbol above the irregular section. The goal was simply to bring attention to the piece of the word that students will have to know by heart.

Small

Students practised writing their focus word on the three lines and marked the “heart part.” They then used their heart word in a sentence. Reminders were given to keep marking the heart part to help focus their attention on the piece they’ll need to memorise.

Whole

We came together again, to share our sentences.

To continue the learning at home, from this experience:

As you read together, bring your child’s attention to words that have irregular spellings or unusual sound combinations.
Notice tricky words in the world around you – in signs, or advertising, or product descriptions or in newspapers/magazines.
Think about homophones, where words might sound the same, but be spelt differently and have different meanings.
Point out tricky words in something you might be reading, yourself. See if, together, you can break words down into separate sounds. Identify the part that needs to be learnt by heart.
Encourage your child to write down new words that they may have discovered within stories. Look at them together. Ask if there is something about the word that could be used to help them decode it. Perhaps they recognise the base word, or prefixes or suffixes, or could break it down into syllables or chunks and then blend it.
When you are reading together, notice new ways with words and explicit vocabulary that may be specific to that topic.
Read every day, to expose your children to unusual vocabulary, new ideas, different styles of writing, and diverse perspectives on the world
Most of all, have fun discovering new words together!

Jocelyn and Steph

Year 2 Team

Jocelyn.Evans@education.vic.gov.au

Stephanie.Drzewucki@education.vic.gov.au

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