The Preschooler

Word Families

In a family, the people who belong to it all have something in common.  They are all related in some way.  The same is true for word families.  These are groups of one-syllable words that have the same ending sounds.  Examples include cat, bat, sat, rat….and bug, tug, rug, dug… Although not all preschoolers may be ready to be introduced to the concept of word families, most children who are able to identify the sounds that letters make will also be able to make word families with the help of an adult.

Begin by reading a rhyming story which includes a lot of one-syllable words.  (Dr. Seuss is famous for stories with these qualities, and The Cat in the Hat is a great choice for this activity because it introduces words in several word families.)  Read the story in its entirety the first time through.  Then go back through the story and make a list of words for each word family introduced.  For example, you can start with the title and point out that “cat” and “hat” sound the same. Show your child that they end with the same letters “a” and “t”.  Next, ask your child to name other words that end with “-at”.  Write “-at” at the top of a piece of construction paper and add any words in the word family below it.  Continue this activity using a separate sheet of paper for each word family in the book.  It is okay if your child does not think of all of the words that could be in the word family.  In fact, it is beneficial to hang what you accomplish on the first day, and then revisit the word families to see if your child can think of any other words which could be included.  You can also add words as they come up in everyday conversation.

Digg Delicious Favorites Blogmarks Magnolia Google Newsvine Reddit Technorati

Written by BRWI Staff on July 24, 2009