Word Families

[MrsR]

I am in need of some help thinking of ideas for activities for reteaching word families for my students. I am a first grade special education teacher and my students are really struggling with their reading, so I decided to go back and work on the word families since most of them are unable to rhyme. Does anyone have any suggestions? This week we are working on -at and next week I plan to do -an. Also, should I be going in any specific order when teaching these?
Thanks!

[irish223]

Hi MrsR,

I'm an at-risk kindergarten teacher. We're working on word families as well. We started with -at, then -an, -it, and next we'll do -ig.

When we start a word family, I use a 'sign' I made that has the -at at the top, then all of the possible -at words listed underneath. It's about 4"x15" long. I print the words on the computer (white paper), then mount that on construction paper. I use a different color for each word family. Also, use large print so it can be seen from around the room. Every day we practice sounding out, then saying the words.

We also have some games/activities you could try. One of them is a match game. You can do it with one or two word families. I have pictures on cards to represent each word, and the words are on separate cards. The students then match the cards to the pictures. This is good for students who don't learn phonetically, as they will (hopefully) learn to recognize the words.

Another activity is to use just the words from 2 or more families, then have the students sort the words into the correct word family. For some students, it's helpful to have one picture, like a cat, to represent each family. If you have time, the students can alphabetize the cards after sorting, then recite the words together.

I also make up little booklets for each word family. Each page has a picture representing one of the words and a space to write the word. The family is posted, and students have to choose the correct word to write. Sometimes I also make booklets with the words, then let the students draw the pictures.

We also have phonics booklets that come with our reading series. The booklets focus on the word family that we're learning. If your kindergarten teacher uses such booklets, perhaps you can borrow or copy them.

Another idea that might help, though I've never done it (just thought of it!) would be to 'sing' the list of word family words, or make up a little song using the words.

Finally, I just want to say that rhyming is a difficult task for children. When I taught 3rd grade, even they struggled to understand rhyming!

Good luck!

[WendyZ]

Here are a few ideas that hopefully you can use. I think that hands-on & kinesthetic activities are usually the best!

1. Sort by WF Using a Pocket Chart--Kids love pretending to be the teacher (using materials that teachers usually use in front of class). You may need to color code the words at first for any kid who's REALLY struggling.

2. Spinner &/or Consonant Dice Games--Print onset letters on a blank spinner. Kids can spin it & combine the onset they spun w/the WF rime they're studying to build a word. OR, for the more advanced...

Print multiple rimes on the spinner. Have 1 student spin while the other rolls a die. Together, they can see how many words they can build.

3. WF Bug Swat--Cut large bugs out of construction paper. Print various words on the bugs or just the rimes. Have kids use a word swatter to hit the words that belong in a WF another student calls out. Or, you can tape a consonant on the opposite side of the swatter & have kids swat a rime that makes a word when combined w/the letter on the swatter.

4. Carnival Toss--Same as #3 except use bean bags that kids toss into hula hoops that are placed on the floor.

5. Realia Sort--For practice of multiple WFs (after kids have studied several), bring in several objects whose names are in the same WF (AT--toy cat, mat, bat, rubber rat, etc.; AN--can, fan, plan, toy man, etc.). Have kids work together to sort them by WF. Kids love trying to figure out the name of each object, & it really gets them using their oral skills to listen for the rhyming. They can also write the words to label the objects.

Have fun & good luck!
WendyZ

[Berrington]

You could also have your students paint all the words they can think of with a particular rime on the chalkboard (if you have one) with water. They love that! Or write the words on your whiteboard and have student erase the ones that rhyme.

What about drawing the words in sand? Or making the words with beans or blocks? Or wiki stix?

Good luck!

[Want2Teach]

The kindergarten plan that I developed (just in case), starts with the basics. I have a game in which I ask the kids to name words that rhyme with a word I say. I do the same with opposites. (I divide the class into two teams, and the winning team gets a trip to the treasure drawer.)

They catch on quickly, and I even saw some of the students I subbed for playing the game on the playground.