What is a Word Family?
One of my favorite ways to help young readers learn to read is to use the patterns found in word families. What exactly is a word family? Word families are words that share the same ending chunk (rime), but have different beginning beginning parts (onsets). For example, words such as cat, bat, sat, fat, that, and mat are all a part of the -at word family.
The How Behind Word Families
There are several reasons reading and writing by word families are helpful.
For example, word families can help those younger readers who struggling with blending words together. Word families also help kids write new words by their shared patterns. Let’s say your child knows how to spell cat. But in his writing, he needs to spell bat and he’s not sure how. You can say, “How do you spell cat?” (Child spells C-A-T). Now you can help him relate it to a word he knows by saying, “Well, since bat and cat are in the same word family, all you have to do is take off the c on the front of the word and put a b there instead.”
Reading new words by word families works very much the same. When your child comes across an unknown word that is a part of a word family, relate it to a word he already knows that has the same pattern. It is absolutely amazing how many words can be read and spelled simply using the most common short and long vowel word families.
Christmas Tree Word Family Sorts
To integrate a little Christmas fun into your word sorts, download this FREE Christmas Tree Word Family Sorting activity. It features 10 short vowel patterns and 10 long vowel patterns.
Print out a Christmas Tree mat with a certain vowel pattern you’d like your child to work on (say, short o). Then print out the corresponding ornaments. Cut the ornaments apart, mix them up and ask your child to read each word and sort them on the correct tree (using the pattern on the star as your guide). You can choose from the patterns created or there is also a blank Christmas Tree and ornament template for you to write your own.
Also included in the pack is this writing template. After your child sorts his ornaments, he can write the pattern in the star and then record all his words on the trees with lines. Merry Christmas!
To download a FREE copy of Christmas Tree Word Family Sorts, click HERE!
Want more winter themed word family activities? Check out the color by vowel winter pack.
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It’s that time of year for many of us and the holidays are swiftly approaching. While my house isn’t quite decorated for the season just yet, I am definitely in planning mode for some fun, holiday learning activities! These free Christmas themed word family games are perfect for practicing short vowel word families. Plus, you get to make a spinner!
*Pair with our Gingerbread Centers & Activities for Pre-K & Kindergarten!
While my favorite December activities often consist of an overload of gingerbread printables and games, I do branch out to some other themed learning fun as well like these Christmas word family games. They are the perfect addition to your literacy centers this time of year!
To prep for the “Word Family Stockings” games, you need the download (at the end of the post) as well as the following supplies:
- pencil
- crayons
- paperclip or binder clip to use as a spinner
There are 15 word families in all – 3 for each short vowel. These games are great to play individually, in small groups, or as a literacy center!
How to Play
To play, decide which short vowel you are working with first. Place the pencil inside the spinner and flick it around to see which word family it lands on.
Find, read, and color a stocking that has a word belonging to the corresponding word family. Spin again!
I like to have my kids only color one stocking per spin. It helps them focus on reading the word and keeps the game going a little longer.
It also gives them that little brain break as they spin the spinner, then get right back to reading and coloring!
Your students will love spinning and coloring this holiday season with these super fun word family spinner games!
Grab Your FREE Copy
Ready to spin and play? You can grab all 5 short vowel pages of “Word Family Stockings” for free, by clicking the large, yellow download button at the end of the post!
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Alex is a Transitional Kindergarten teacher with a passion for making learning fun and engaging. She’s earned a Bachelors degree in Elementary Education, and Masters Degrees in Special Education and Curriculum Design. Alex is a former night owl turned early bird and playful learning enthusiast. Alex lives with her husband and their beloved and high-energy cat, Fitz.
Looking for a fun Christmas activity to practice with your child? You will love these Word Family Christmas Trees from Kindergarten Worksheets and Games!
There are a number of word families to choose from in this activity, so only print out what you would like! Then, once all of the images are cut out, your child can decorate the word family trees! It’s a really fun way to practice reading skills with young learners. This resource also comes with word family worksheets, so students can record their work.
For other word family activities, check out:
- Word Family Bookmarks and Printables
- -Ed Word Family Worksheets
- and more!
Get the Word Family Christmas Trees here!
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Keri
Keri is a former elementary and middle school teacher who’s worked overseas for 4 years. She loves to write and so decided to pursue her writing dream!
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Dave Boyer, Bill Gaither Trio, B. J. Thomas — The Word Family Christmas Album — Amazon.com Music
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Word Family work is a great way to help readers spell and read new words! This Christmas Tree Word Family Sorting activity integrates some Christmas fun.
