Word families are great for boosting the reading skills of young children. Word families are groups of words that share a similar pattern, such as hop, mop, and pop. Teaching children that some words contain recognizable “chunks” and how to search for these word parts, is an important step to developing reading fluency. When a child can read hop and knows the sound for /sh/, they can also read shop. They no longer need to sound out a word letter by letter. Very quickly you’ve also increased the number of words a child can read.
Knowledge of word families helps children build vocabulary. Instead of memorizing spellings and meanings of all words, they learn how to spot patterns, identify root words, and understand their common meanings or sounds. This helps in word recognition leading to the development of their reading fluency.
Studies suggest that children learn to connect what they have already learned to what they are currently learning through by observing word similarities. Understanding the concept of root words and their derivatives can help children deduce the meaning of other words in the word family. Experts also say that children tend to read quicker because of the familiarity of the words in word families. They learn to analyze language and understand common grammar rules.
There is no doubt that one of the best, most rewarding feelings for teachers is seeing your students grow into little readers. There comes a point where everything seems to “click” for them and their reading takes off! This is something to be excited about and celebrate with them.
Instilling a love of reading in students is a gift that will serve them for the rest of their life. I can’t wait to share some of my favorite word family activities and strategies for teaching students to read and to love it too!
English Created Resources prides itself on providing everything a learner needs to improve the level of English. Our website aims to provide all the required materials for English Language Teachers and Learners to help them master and improve their English, help their pupils master all the required skills.
Such materials are provided for free download to be available always for learners around the world. You can find English ESL worksheets for home learning, online practice, distance learning and English classes.
Our Website helps you to give your child a boost using our free, printable worksheets. You will be able to help your child with his grammar skills with our printable worksheets that focus on using and punctuation, Reading & writing. Such Worksheets are a useful learning tool for kids who are trying to write or want to practice their language skills at home.
Through our website, teachers will be able to help their children improve both their written and spoken English. We provide materials related to all the different skills. Our reading Comprehension Worksheets help students to master reading and writing skills. There are also questions to measure pupils’ understanding and help teachers evaluate their pupils easily.
Our Website helps you to give your child a boost using our free, printable worksheets. You will be able to help your child with his grammar skills with our printable worksheets that focus on using and punctuation, Reading & writing. Such Worksheets are a useful learning tool for kids who are trying to write or want to practice their language skills at home.
Samples From the Worksheet
We also provide coloring worksheets for lower levels to help them learn in an interactive and creative way.
Such worksheets are printable to be used either at class or home.
Read Next
October 14, 2022
Word Family Short Vowels
September 25, 2022
Word Family Posters Set Three
September 25, 2022
Word Family Posters Set Two
September 17, 2022
Word Family Posters Set One
June 30, 2022
Word Family Posters
September 25, 2021
Word Family Coloring Activity
July 14, 2021
Word Family Activities Color The Chunk
April 6, 2021
Word Family Coloring Activities
April 4, 2021
Word Family Charts
January 30, 2021
Word Family Worksheets Part One
21 Free Word Family Printables to Help Beginning Readers
Storytime Standouts features 21 free word family printables for kindergarten, grade one and homeschool
Whether supporting my own children as they learned to read, tutoring kindergarten and/or grade one children who are struggling with reading or presenting my Beginning to Read program, I have always been a great fan of teaching Word Families.
Introducing the concept of Word Families helps kindergarten and first grade students understand that elements of words are the same. Three words may have different parts but they may also be very alike. Once a child learns to decode the word “RING,” he can be encouraged to substitute the beginning sound and read, “SING,” “KING,” or “BRING” with word family materials.
The idea of substituting a beginning sound (or an ending sound) can be introduced long before a child is learning to read. Phonemic Awareness activities will encourage preschool and kindergarten children to play with sounds. A young child with good phonemic awareness skills will grasp the idea of decoding Word Families very quickly.
If you are working with a child who is not reading at the expected level, we think that phonemic awareness should be one of the very first things that is assessed.
Step 1 – Make sure you have Adobe Reader. If you don’t have it, please click on the ‘Get Adobe Reader’ button to install it for free.Step 2 – Pin this page, bookmark this page, share this page or “Like” us on Facebook.
Step 3 – Choose from any of our 250 free downloads, including these free word family printables.
10 Printable Word Family Flip Books for Kindergarten and First Grade –
An easy way for children to learn and practice the an, at, ed, ell, ick, ing, op, ot, ug and uck word families
I use these Word Family flip books in my Beginning to Read program. I find they are terrific for encouraging young children to see the relationship between BAT, CAT, FAT, MAT, PAT, RAT and SAT.
For good readers, it is very obvious that bed, fed, led, red and Ted are related. They all end the with “ED.” For a beginning reader, the relationship between these words may not be understood. When children create and use a Word Family flip book, they will notice the relationship between the letters and the words and they quickly learn to substitute the beginning sounds. Before long, they discover that they can read several words quite easily.
Word family flip books are easy to make* and can be tucked into a pocket or a backpack for extra practice at home or on the road.
We really recommend that children make the flip books themselves.
10 Word Family Flip Books
10 printable Word family flipbooks, great learning resources for children in kindergarten and first grade.
Printable PDFs for the an, at, ed, ell, ick, ing, op, ot, ug and uck word families
How to Make a Word Family Flip Book
Instructions for assembling a word family flip book for beginning readers. Great for kindergarten and first grade.
Free Word Family Printables – Words with Pictures for Kindergarten and Grade One
I also use these Word Family printables in my Beginning to Read program. For children who are not quite ready to decode words, the picture clues provide additional support.
Short A Word Family Printables for Beginning Readers
The «All» Word Family
Free — all word family printable for young readers in kindergarten and grade one.
The «An» Word Family
Free -an word family printable for young readers in kindergarten and grade one.
The «Ap» Word Family
Free -ap word family printable for young readers in kindergarten and grade one.
The «At» Word Family
Free -at word family printable for young readers in kindergarten and grade one.
The «Am» Word Family
Free -am word family printable for young readers in kindergarten and grade one.
Short E Word Family Printables for Beginning Readers
The «Ed» Word Family
Free -ed word family printable for young readers in kindergarten and grade one.
The «Ell» Word Family
Free -ell word family printable for young readers in kindergarten and grade one.
The «En» Word Family
Free -en word family printable for young readers in kindergarten and grade one.
The «Et» Word Family
Free -et word family printable for young readers in kindergarten and grade one.
The «Est» Word Family
Free -est word family printable for young readers in kindergarten and grade one.
Short I Word Family Printables for Beginning Readers
The «Ig» Word Family
Free — ig word family printable for young readers in kindergarten and grade one.
The «Ip» Word Family
Free -ip word family printable for young readers in kindergarten and grade one.
The «It» Word Family
Free -it word family printable for young readers in kindergarten and grade one.
The «Ill» Word Family
Free -ill word family printable for young readers in kindergarten and grade one.
Short O Word Family Printables for Beginning Readers
The «Og» Word Family
Free -og word family printable for young readers in kindergarten and grade one.
The «Op» Word Family
Free -op word family printable for young readers in kindergarten and grade one.
The «Ot» Word Family
Free -ot word family printable for young readers in kindergarten and grade one.
The «Ock» Word Family
Free -ock word family printable for young readers in kindergarten and grade one.
Short U Word Family Printables for Beginning Readers
The «Ub» Word Family
Free -ub word family printable for young readers in kindergarten and grade one.
The «Ug» Word Family
Free -ug word family printable for young readers in kindergarten and grade one.
You will find our selection of free writing paper for kids here , our free printable picture dictionaries here and all of our homeschool, preschool and kindergarten printables together with parent/teacher resources here.
We invite you to follow Storytime Standouts’ Word Family Board on Pinterest
What are Word Families?
Beginning readers can benefit greatly from learning and implementing word families. Here is what I share regarding phonograms (the fancy word for word families) in my I Can Teach My Child to Read eBook:
“Another strategy that has proven to be helpful for many children is the teaching of phonograms. We often refer to these as “word families” because the onset (beginning sound of the word) can be changed to produce a family of words that all rhyme. This allows children to begin grouping sets of letters within a word to make it more easily recognizable the next time that she sees the same chunk.”
“Once your child recognizes the word “mop”, she’ll then have an advantage to reading all of the other words that have the same rime (top, pop, stop, cop, hop) because only one letter (the onset) is changing.”
Word families can be taught and incorporated in a variety of different word games and activities, which make learning fun and engaging for kindergarten and preschool learners.
Our Favorites:
Word Family Activity: LEGO Buildings
Word Family Game: Fishing
Word Family Activity: Pull Out Words
Word Family Game: Snowball Toss
Word Family Game
Word Family Activity: Playdough with Alphabet Stamps
More Word Family Activities & Games:
Word Family Game: Word Ladders :: No Time for Flashcards
Word Building with Magnets and Tape :: No Time for Flashcards
Spin and Rhyme :: No Time for Flashcards
Word Family Activity: Houses Worksheet :: No Time for Flashcards
Rhyming Jars :: No Time for Flashcards
Word Family Game: Spin a Word Family :: Playdough to Plato
Word Family Game: Tic Tac Toe :: Kids Activities Blog
Word Family Blackout :: This Reading Mama
Word Family Activity: Learn to Read Strips :: Kids Activities Blog
Word Family Playdough Mats :: 1+1+1=1
Roll & Graph Word Families :: 1+1+1=1
DIY Building Words Center :: Apples & ABC’s
The Cat in the Hat Word Family Game :: The Pleasantest Thing
Word Families Flip Chart :: Kids Activities Blog
Word Family Garden :: Playdough to Plato
Word Family Eggs :: Playdough to Plato
Word Families with Bread Ties :: Still Playing School
Paint Chip Word Families :: Life with Moore Babies
Word Family Slam :: Toddler Approved
Apples and Worms Word Family Activity :: J Daniel 4’s Mom
Keurig Cup Word Families :: Kathy Griffin’s Teaching Strategies
McDonalds Fries Word Family Sorting :: First Grade Schoolbox
Stamp & Spell Literacy Play (with laydough, alphabet stamps, and scrabble letters) :: Childhood 101
Click here for more ideas for preschoolers & kindergarteners:
Is Your Child Kindergarten Ready?
33 Ways To Prepare Your Child For Kindergarten
Homeschooling Preschool
How To Teach A Child To Read
Dr. Seuss Preschool Activities
Fun Sight Word Activities For Kids
5 Pre-writing Activities For Preschoolers
Interested in teaching your child to read? Check out our eBook!
-
Word Family Reading Comprehension Part 2
Word Family Reading Comprehension. According to the Oxford Learner’s Dictionaries, word families are a group of related words that…
Read More »
-
Word Family Reading Comprehension Part 1
Word Family Reading Comprehension. According to the Oxford Learner’s Dictionaries, word families are a group of related words that…
Read More »
-
Word Family Short Vowels
Word Family Short Vowels . According to the Oxford Learner’s Dictionaries, word families are a group…
Read More »
-
Word Family Posters Set Three
Word Family Posters Set Two. According to the Oxford Learner’s Dictionaries, word families are a group of…
Read More »
-
Word Family Posters Set Two
Word Family Posters Set Two. According to the Oxford Learner’s Dictionaries, word families are a group of…
Read More »
-
Word Family Posters Set One
Word Family Posters Set One. According to the Oxford Learner’s Dictionaries, word families are a group of related words…
Read More »
-
Word Family Posters
According to the Oxford Learner’s Dictionaries, word families are a group of related words that are formed from the…
Read More »
-
Word Family Posters
Word families are groups of words that have a common feature, pattern or meaning. They usually share a…
Read More »
-
Color the Chunk Word Family Activities
Color The Chunk Word Family Activities Color The Chunk. Word families are groups of words that follow a similar pattern.…
Read More »
-
Word Family Worksheets
Word families are great for boosting the reading skills of young children. Word families are groups of words that share…
Read More »
If you want to teach your children how to read then word families are a good place to start. I have designed a large set of word family worksheets, flashcards, and even a free workbook for you to download.
The word family materials included can be used as worksheets or as flashcards by laminating them and cutting them out. I have also designed some simple sentences using the CVC words which means after children can read the word families, they can practice reading them in sentences!
Word Families Workbook
DOWNLOAD
I have made a printable workbook that can be used as a structured way to improve your child’s reading. The workbook contains word family CVC sentences that are easy to read. The word family workbook is a great resource to use at home or at your kindergarten!
To make the word family book even more useful in the classroom, I have included the CVC word family sentences as a separate download. The idea is to print out the CVC sentences and practice reading them as a group.
After reading the CVC sentences, children can practice writing them too by copying the sentences in the workbook. Each time you do a new sentence, you can use the book to review the word family sentences! Once children finish the book, they can enjoy reading it to their parents!
CVC Sentences PDF DOWNLOAD HERE!
If the workbook is too difficult, I recommend practicing the word family sheets below. you can use the sheets for practicing reading each of the word families.
-ad, -ag, -am, -an, -ap, -at, -ack word family worksheets PDF
Before using this set of ‘a’ word families, make sure your child can already recognize and sound out the individual letter phonemes. If your child is still having trouble, go back to practicing basic phonics.
I have various flashcard sets available for FREE including colorful Aa-Zz cards, A- Z animal cards, and also simple letter flashcards. You’ll also find various phonics sheets on the site too! Learning how to read can take a while, so be sure not to rush : )
I have organized these CVC words in alphabetical order, so reference the downloadable word family workbook if you want to see exactly where you should start in terms of teaching order. I would avoid teaching ‘-ack’ until all 3 letter words are finished.
| ad | ag | am | an | ap | at | ack |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| bad | bag | am | ban | bap | bat | back |
| dad | rag | bam | can | cap | cat | hack |
| had | tag | dam | fan | gap | fat | lack |
| lad | wag | ham | man | lap | hat | pack |
| mad | jam | nan | map | mat | rack | |
| pad | Sam | pan | nap | pat | sack | |
| rad | Pam | ran | rap | rat | tack | |
| sad | ram | tan | tap | sat | ||
| tad | yam | van | zap | vat |
-ed, -en, -et, -eck, -ell, -est word family worksheets PDF
Here are all the CVC word family worksheets containing ‘e’. Just like the previous word family, try to avoid teaching the 4 letter words until later. You will notice that names like ‘Ben’ are capitalized. I recommend laminating the worksheets so that they can be traced and reused.
| ed | en | et | eck | ell | est |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| bed | Ben | bet | deck | bell | best |
| fed | den | get | neck | dell | jest |
| led | hen | jet | fell | nest | |
| red | Ken | let | hell | pest | |
| Ted | men | met | sell | rest | |
| Pen | net | tell | test | ||
| Ten | pet | well | vest | ||
| yen | vet | yell | west | ||
| wet | zest |
-ig, -ip, -it, -in, – ip, -it word family worksheets PDF
With the ‘i’ word family worksheets, I have not included any 4 letter words. Please let me know if you would like some and I can add to this collection as time goes on. Remember that children don’t have to know all of the words, they just need to learn the skill of decoding.
| ig | in | ip | it |
|---|---|---|---|
| big | in | dip | bit |
| dig | bin | hip | fit |
| fig | kin | kip | hit |
| pig | pin | lip | kit |
| rig | sin | pip | lit |
| wig | tin | rip | pit |
| win | sip | sit | |
| tip | wit | ||
| zip | zit |
-ob, -og, -ot word family worksheets PDF
Here are the ‘o’ CVC words. Feel free to teach only the easier words from the word family. If I was to teach this word family to younger students, I would probably choose Bob, dog, and pot. When discussing the meaning of words, its always easier to use nouns.
| ob | og | ot |
|---|---|---|
| bob | bog | cot |
| cob | cog | dot |
| fob | dog | got |
| hob | fog | hot |
| job | hog | jot |
| lob | jog | lot |
| mob | log | not |
| rob | pot | |
| yob | rot |
-ub, -ug, -un, -ut, -uck, -ump word family worksheets PDF
Finally, we have the ‘u’ word families. Remember with all of these flashcards and materials, you don’t have to do them all in order for your child to read. If a student can read at a reasonable speed, on around 70 percent of the 3 letter CVC word, then you can start using the word family workbook!
| ub | ug | un | ut | uck | ump |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| cub | bug | bun | but | buck | bump |
| dub | dug | fun | cut | duck | dump |
| hub | hug | gun | gut | luck | hump |
| pub | jug | hun | hut | muck | jump |
| rub | mug | nun | put | puck | lump |
| sub | pug | pun | suck | pump | |
| tub | rug | run | tuck | rump | |
| tug | yuck |
Easy reading word family sheets PDF
If it feels like there are too many sheets to print out, I also prepared some more sheets that are designed specifically for reading. These flashcards will work well if you have many students and not enough materials : )
Download all six reading sheets as a zip file here.
If you need any help downloading the flashcards, or would like to see a step by step guide of how to print the flashcards, click here!
Join Our List
Receive updates when we add more flashcards
and teaching materials : )
Thank you for subscribing : )
Ooop’s looks like something went wrong : S please make sure you have filled in all of the fields and clicked the agreement box.
We respect your privacy and take protecting it seriously