Use these Year 1 High Frequency words reading mats to help students identify and read high frequency words.
Year 1 High Frequency Words Reading Mats
These Year 1 High Frequency Words Reading Mats are designed to support early readers as they build fluency, confidence, and automatic recognition of essential everyday words. Each mat features a carefully selected set of high‑frequency words that Year 1 students encounter regularly in their reading and writing. This resource features ‘heart words’ high‑frequency words that contain parts students must learn by heart because they don’t follow regular phonics patterns.
What Are Heart Words and How This Resource Works
Each card includes the target heart word presented in four context sentences as well as a word grid for further analysis and decoding practice.
Students are encouraged to:
- Identify the focus heart word in each sentence
- Highlight it to build visual recognition
- Circle the ‘tricky’ part of the word (the element that doesn’t decode regularly)
- Locate and read the word again in the word grid
This multisensory approach gives learners several meaningful encounters with the same word, strengthening both recognition and understanding.
Download and Explore Heart Words Today!
Use the dropdown menu to choose between the easy to print PDF of heart words – or if you would like to edit some of the words to make them easier or harder to suit your students’ levels – download the editable Google Slide version today.
This resource was created by Lindsey Phillips, a teacher and Teach Starter Collaborator.
More High Frequency Word Resources
Looking for more high frequency word resources to use in the classroom? We have you covered…
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High Frequency Word Mats
Use these high frequency word mats for your Prep and Year 1 students to experience a hands-on way of learning high frequency words.
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Roll, Read and Write – High Frequency Word Game Pack
Practise reading high frequency words with this set of Roll to Read and Roll to Write High Frequency Word Game boards.
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Tricky Word Flashcards and Practice Mat
Practise identifying the tricky parts in high-frequency words with this practice work mat and accompanying tricky word cards.
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