| Word Families |
from http://enchantedlearning.com/rhymes/wordfamilies/
Word families are groups of words that have a common feature or pattern - they have some of the same combinations of letters in them and a similar sound. For example, at, cat, hat, and fat are a family of words with the "at" sound and letter combination in common.
The 37 most common word families in English (according to Wylie and Durrell) are: ack, ain, ake, ale, all, ame, an, ank, ap, ash, at, ate, aw ay, eat, ell, est, ice, ick, ide, ight, ill, in, ine, ing, ink, ip, it, ock, oke, op, ore, ot, uck ,ug, ump, unk.
Many of the nursery rhymes contain common word families. You can use these rhymes to teach these letter combinations (and how they are spelled and spoken), having the students sound them out after memorizing the rhyme. You can study one word family a week. Students can use the Little Explorers Picture Dictionary to look for more words that belong to word families.
The following is a list of the most common word families in English (from Wylie and Durrell, 1970, plus a few extra word families) and examples of each.
| ackattack back black crack hack Jack knack lack pack quack rack sack snack stack tack track whack Zack | adad bad brad cad clad dad doodad glad had lad mad pad sad | ailail fail hail jail nail pail rail sail snail tail wail | ainbrain chain complain explain gain grain main obtain pain plain rain slain Spain sprain stain strain train vain | akeawake bake brake cake fake flake Jake lake make quake rake sake shake snake stake take wake | aleale bale dale gale kale male pale sale scale stale tale whale | allall ball call fall gall hall install mall small squall stall tall thrall wall | amcam clam dam dram exam gram ham jam lam ma'am Pam ram Sam scam slam spam swam tam tram wham yam | ameblame came fame flame frame game lame name same shame tame | anan ban bran can clan Dan fan flan Fran Jan Japan man pan pecan plan ran scan span Stan tan than van | ankbank blank crank dank drank flank frank Hank plank prank rank sank shrank spank tank thank yank | apcap clap flap gap lap map nap rap sap scrap slap snap strap tap trap wrap yap zap | arafar bar car czar far gar guitar jar mar par scar spar star tar tsar | ashash bash brash cash clash crash dash flash gash gnash hash lash mash rash sash slash smash splash stash thrash trash | atat bat brat cat chat fat flat gnat hat mat pat rat sat slat spat tat that vat |
| ateabate ate crate date debate fate gate grate hate Kate late mate plate rate relate sate skate state | awcaw claw draw flaw gnaw jaw law paw raw saw slaw straw thaw | ayaway bay bray clay day decay delay display flay gay gray hay jay lay may nay okay pay play pray quay ray relay replay say slay spray stay stray sway they today tray way | eatbeat cheat cleat eat feat greet heat meat neat peat pleat seat treat wheat | eeleel feel heel keel kneel peel reel steel wheel | eepbeep creep deep jeep keep peep seep sheep sleep steep sweep weep | eetbeet feet fleet greet meet sheet sleet street sweet tweet | ellbell cell dell dwell farewell fell hell sell shell smell spell swell tell well yell | enamen Ben children den fen gentlemen glen Gwen hen men open pen then ten when wren yen | entaccent bent cent dent event gent lent rent scent sent spent tent vent went | estbest chest crest jest nest pest quest rest test unrest vest west zest | icedice ice mice nice price rice slice spice splice thrice twice vice | ickbrick chick click flick kick lick nick pick quick Rick sick slick stick thick tick trick wick | idebride decide glide hide pride ride side slide stride tide wide |
| ifefife knife life strife wife | ightbright delight fight flight fright height knight light might night plight right sight slight tight tonight | ilebile file mile Nile pile rile smile stile tile vile while | illbill chill dill drill fill frill gill grill hill ill Jill kill krill mill pill quill shrill sill skill spill still swill thrill thrill till trill will | inbin chin din fin gin grin in kin pin shin skin sin spin thin tin twin win within | inebrine decline define dine fine line mine nine pine shine shrine sine spine swine tine twine vine whine wine | ingbring cling fling king ping ring sing sling spring sting string swing thing wing wring zing | inkblink brink drink fink ink link mink pink rink shrink sink stink think wink | ipblip chip dip drip flip grip hip lip nip quip rip ship sip skip slip snip strip tip trip whip zip | itadmit bit fit flit grit hit it kit knit lit mit pit quit sit skit slit snit spit split twit wit | oatboat coat float gloat goat oat stoat throat | ockblock clock cock crock dock flock frock hock jock knock lock mock o'clock rock shock smock sock stock | ogblog bog catalog clog cog dog fog frog hog jog log slog smog |
| oilboil broil coil foil oil soil spoil toil | okeawoke bloke broke choke joke poke smoke spoke stoke stroke woke yoke | ooboo coo goo igloo moo shoo too woo zoo | oodgood hood stood wood | oodbrood food mood | oofgoof proof roof spoof | oofhoof woof | ookbook brook cook crook hook look nook rook shook took | oombloom boom broom doom gloom groom loom room zoom | oolcool drool fool pool spool stool tool | oonbaloon goon loon moon noon soon spoon swoon | oopcoop droop hoop loop scoop snoop stoop troop | oot (long oo)boot hoot scoot shoot | oot (short oo)foot soot | opbop chop cop crop drop flop hop lop mop plop pop prop sop shop stop top |
| orebore chore core fore gore lore more ore pore score shore sore spore store swore tore wore yore | ornadorn born corn forlorn horn morn scorn shorn thorn torn worn | otapricot blot bot clot cot dot forgot got hot jot knot lot not plot pot rot shot slot spot tot trot | oughtbought brought fought ought sought thought wrought | ouldcould should would | ousedouse grouse house louse mouse spouse | outabout bout clout gout grout out lout pout scout shout snout spout stout tout trout | ow (rhymes with cow)bow cow chow how now plow sow vow wow | ow (rhymes with low)bow blow crow flow glow grow low mow row show slow snow sow stow throw tow | ownbrown crown down drown frown gown nightgown town | uckbuck chuck cluck duck luck muck puck pluck stuck struck truck tuck yuck | ugbug dug hug jug lug mug plug pug rug shrug smug snug thug tug | umpbump clump dump grump hump jump lump plump pump rump slump stump thump trump | unbun fun gun nun pun run shun spun stun sun | unkbunk chunk drunk dunk flunk funk hunk junk lunk plunk punk skunk slunk spunk sunk trunk |
Books to Print About Word Families
 Words that Rhyme with Ad A Printable Mini BookA tiny, printable book about simple words rhyming with 'ad' -- for early readers and writers. The book has 2 pages to print and makes 8 pages for the student to cut out, color, and write in. The words are: dad, glad, lad, mad, pad, sad, and "Can you think of another word that rhymes with ad?" |  Words that Rhyme with Ail A Printable Mini BookA tiny, printable book about simple words rhyming with 'ail' -- for early readers and writers. The book has 2 pages to print and makes 8 pages for the student to cut out, color, and write in. The words are: mail, nail, pail, quail, snail, tail, and "Can you think of another word that rhymes with ail?" |  Words that Rhyme with Ake A Printable Mini BookA tiny, printable book about simple words rhyming with 'ake' -- for early readers and writers. The book has 2 pages to print and makes 8 pages for the student to cut out, color, and write in. The words are: bake, cake, flake, lake, snake, rake, and "Can you think of another word that rhymes with ake?" |  Words that Rhyme with All A Printable Mini BookA tiny, printable book about simple words rhyming with 'all' -- for early readers and writers. The book has 2 pages to print and makes 8 pages for the student to cut out, color, and write in. The words are: ball, call, fall, hall, small, tall, and "Can you think of another word that rhymes with all?" |
 "AN" Words BookA book for early readers with words that have the "an" sound, like can, fan, man, van, and pan. Each page has a sentence to copy. Pages include: Dan ran. Fran has a can. Jan can use a fan. The man has a van. The plan began. A pecan is in the pan. Nan is from Japan. |  Words that Rhyme with Ar A Printable Mini BookA tiny, printable book about simple words rhyming with 'ar' -- for early readers and writers. The book has 2 pages to print and makes 8 pages for the student to cut out, color, and write in. The words are: bar, car, far, jar, scar, star, and "Can you think of another word that rhymes with ar?" |  "AT" Words BookA book for early readers with words that have the "at" sound, like cat, hat, rat, vat, and mat. Each page has a sentence to copy. Pages include: Matt is at bat. Pat has a hat. This is a fat cat. Nat sat on a mat. The bat spat. The rat is in the vat. Drat, a gnat. |  'At' Words Mini Book A Printable Writing BookA tiny, printable book about simple words rhyming with 'at' -- for early readers and writers. The book has 2 pages to print and makes 8 pages for the student to cut out, color, and write in. The words are: cat, cat, hat, fat, rat, sat, and "Can you think of another word that rhymes with at?" |
 "EN" Words BookA book for early readers with words that have the "en" sound, like pen, hen, and when. Each page has a sentence to copy. Pages include: Ben has a pen. There are ten men. Glen saw a hen. The wren is in the fen. Gwen asked, "When?" and Ken said, "Then!" |  Words that Rhyme with Ig A Printable Mini BookA tiny, printable book about simple words rhyming with 'ig' -- for early readers and writers. The book has 2 pages to print and makes 8 pages for the student to cut out, color, and write in. The words are: big, dig, fig, pig, twig, wig, and "Can you think of another word that rhymes with ig?" | NURSERY RHYMES COLORING BOOK A Mother Goose nursery rhyme coloring book you can print out, read, and color. |  Words that Rhyme with Ool A Printable Mini BookA tiny, printable book about simple words rhyming with 'ool' -- for early readers and writers. The book has 2 pages to print and makes 8 pages for the student to cut out, color, and write in. The words are: school, tool, stool, spool, pool, fool, and "Can you think of another word that rhymes with ool?" |
  THERE WAS AN OLD LADY WHO SWALLOWED A FLY A booklet to print and color. |  Rhyming Words A Printable Activity BookA short, printable book about rhyming words -- for early readers. The book has pages for the student to cut out, objects to color, and rhyming words to find and write. |  Words that Rhyme with Ug A Printable Mini BookA tiny, printable book about simple words rhyming with 'ug' -- for early readers and writers. The book has 2 pages to print and makes 8 pages for the student to cut out, color, and write in. The words are: bug, dug, jug, mug, pug, rug, and "Can you think of another word that rhymes with ug?" |
Word Wheels on Word Families
 Word Wheel - AKE Words"AKE" word wheel. This 2-page print-out makes a word wheel; it consists of a base page together with a wheel that spins around. When you spin the wheel, six words that rhyme with "ake" are formed, one at a time: rake, cake, bake, snake, flake, and lake. The student then writes down the words that are formed by the word wheel and six others with the same ending. |  Word Wheel - AN Words"AN" word wheel. This 2-page print-out makes a word wheel; it consists of a base page together with a wheel that spins around. When you spin the wheel, six words that rhyme with "an" are formed, one at a time: pan, fan, man, ran, can, and van. The student then writes down the words that are formed by the word wheel and six others with the same ending. FREE |  Word Wheel - AR Words"AR" word wheel. This 2-page print-out makes a word wheel; it consists of a base page together with a wheel that spins around. When you spin the wheel, six words that rhyme with "ar" are formed, one at a time: bar, scar, star, car, far, and jar. The student then writes down the words that are formed by the word wheel and six others with the same ending. |  Word Wheel - AT Words"AT" word wheel. This 2-page print-out makes a word wheel; it consists of a base page together with a wheel that spins around. When you spin the wheel, six words that rhyme with "at" are formed, one at a time: cat, hat, vat, rat, fat, and bat. The student then writes down the words that are formed by the word wheel and six others with the same ending. |
 Word Wheel - EN Words"EN" word wheel. This 2-page print-out makes a word wheel; it consists of a base page together with a wheel that spins around. When you spin the wheel, six words that rhyme with "en" are formed, one at a time: hen, wren, men, ten, pen, and when. The student then writes down the words that are formed by the word wheel and six others with the same ending. |  Make Words Word Wheel —a—Make a wheel about common words using this 2-page print-out; it consists of a base page together with two wheels that spin around. When you spin the wheels, many common compound words appear. The inner wheel has the letters c, f, g, h, l, p, t, and s. The outer wheel has the letter combinations: ab, ad, am, an, ap, ar, as, and at. The student then writes down the compound words that are formed by the wheel (not every combination is a proper word). Possible answers: cab, gab, lab, tab, cad, fad, gad, lad, had, pad, sad, tad, cam, ham, tam, can, fan, pan, tan, cap, gap, lap, sap, tap, car, far, gar, par, tar, gas, has, cat, fat, hat, pat, sat, tat. |  Make Words Word Wheel —e—Make a wheel about common words using this 2-page print-out; it consists of a base page together with two wheels that spin around. When you spin the wheels, many common compound words appear. The inner wheel has the letters b, g, h, l, m, p, s, and w. The outer wheel has the letter combinations: eb, ed, eg, em, en, er, et, and ew. The student then writes down the compound words that are formed by the wheel (not every combination is a proper word). Possible answers: bed, beg, gem, get, hem, hen, her, hew, led, leg, let, men, met, mew, peg, pen, per, pet, pew, set, sew, web, wed, wen, wet. |  Make Words Word Wheel —i—Make a wheel about common words using this 2-page print-out; it consists of a base page together with two wheels that spin around. When you spin the wheels, many common compound words appear. The inner wheel has the letters b, d, f, h, l, r, s, and w. The outer wheel has the letter combinations: ib, id, ig, im, in, ip, it, and ix. The student then writes down the compound words that are formed by the wheel (not every combination is a proper word). Possible answers: bib, bid, big, bin, bit, did, dig, dim, din, dip, fig, fin, fit, fix, hid, hip, hit, lid, lip, lit, rib, rid, rig, rim, rip, sin, sip, sir, six, wig, win, wit. |
 Make Words Word Wheel —o—Make a wheel about common words using this 2-page print-out; it consists of a base page together with two wheels that spin around. When you spin the wheels, many common compound words appear. The inner wheel has the letters b, c, d, h, p, r, s, and t. The outer wheel has the letter combinations: ob, od, og, on, op, ot, ow, and ox. The student then writes down the compound words that are formed by the wheel (not every combination is a proper word). Possible answers: bob, bog, bot, bow, box, cob, cod, cog, con, cop, coy, cow, hod, hog, hop, hot, how, lob, log, lop, lot, low, lox, mob, mod, mop, mow, nod, not, now, sob, sod, son, sow, ton, top, tot, and tow. |  Make Words Word Wheel —u—Make a wheel about common words using this 2-page print-out; it consists of a base page together with two wheels that spin around. When you spin the wheels, many common compound words appear. The inner wheel has the letters b, c, d, h, p, r, s, and t. The outer wheel has the letter combinations: ub, ud, ug, un, up, ur, us, and ut. The student then writes down the compound words that are formed by the wheel (not every combination is a proper word). Possible answers: bud, bug, bun, bus, but, cub, cud, cup, cus, cut, dub, dud, dug, dun, hub, hug, hut, pub, pug, pun, pup, pus, put, rub, rug, run, rut, sub, sun, sup, tub, tug. |
Activities About Word Families
 Words that Rhyme with ... Worksheets On each printable worksheet, the student writes six words that rhyme with a simple sound. Worksheets including the sounds: ad, ag, ake, all, an, ap, ar, at, ate, ay, ed, ee, ell, en, est, et, ig, ink, ing, ip, og, and op, ot, un. |
Word families used in Nursery Rhymes:
Bees: ay, may, hay.
The Boy in the Barn: ay, hay, away.
Curly Locks: ine, mine, swine.
Five Speckled Frogs: og, frog, log; ool, cool, pool.
Georgie Porgie: ay, play, away.
Hey Diddle Diddle: iddle, diddle, fiddle; oon, spoon, moon.
Hickety, Pickety, My Black Hen: en, hen, gentlemen; ay, day, lay.
Hickory Dickory Dock: ock, dock, clock; ive, five, hive; ine, nine, fine.
Humpty Dumpty: all, wall, fall.
Hush A Bye Baby: all, all, fall.
I'm a Little Teapot: out, out, spout, stout.
Jack and Jill: ill, Jill, hill; own, down, crown.
Jack Be Nimble: ick, quick, stick.
Knick Knack Paddy Whack: ee, three, knee; ive, five, hive; ine, nine, shine; en, ten, hen, eleven, heaven.
Little Bo Peep: eep, peep, sheep.
Little Boy Blue: orn, horn, corn; eep, sheep, asleep.
Little Jack Horner: horner, corner.
Little Mouse: ouse, mouse, house; eal, steal, meal; out, about; un, fun, run; eep, creep, peep.
Little Sally Walker: est, west, best.
Mary, Mary, Quite Contrary: ary, Mary, contrary; ow, row, grow; ells, shells, bells.
Mockingbird: ing, ring, sing; brass, glass.
Monday's Child: ace, grace, face; ing, giving, living; ay, day, gay.
The Northwind Doth Blow: ow, blow, snow; ing, wing, thing.
Old Mother Hubbard: ead, bread, dead; at, cat, hat; ig, wig, jig; oat, coat, goat.
One, Two, Buckle my Shoe: en, ten, hen; twelve, delve.
One, Two, Three, Four, Five: ive, alive, five.
Peter, Peter, Pumpkin-eater: ell, shelll, well.
Rain, Rain: ay, away, day.
Rub-a-Dub-Dub: ub, dub, tub; ee, be, three.
See-Saw Marjorie Daw: aw, Daw, saw, straw.
Sing a Song of Sixpence: ing, king, sing; oney, money, honey.
Star Light, Star Bright : ight, light, bright, night.
Ten Little Monkeys: ed, bed, head.
There was a Crooked Man: ile, mile, stile; ouse, mouse, house.
There was an Old Lady Who Swallowed a Fly: at, cat, that; og, hog, dog; ow, cow, how.
Three Blind Mice: ife, wife, knife.
Three Little Kittens: en, kitten, mitten; ear, dear, fear.
To Market: ig, pig, jig; og, hog, jog.
Tom, Tom, the Piper's Son: eat, eat, beat.
Tommy Tittlemouse: ouse, Tittlemouse, house.
Tweedle-Dum and Tweedle-Dee: attle, battle, rattle.
Vintery, mintery, cutery, corn,: orn, corn, thorn; ock, lock, flock; est, west, nest.
Wee Willie Winkie: own, town, nightgown; ock, lock, o'clock.
What Are Little Girls Made Of? What Are Little Boys Made Of?: ice, spice, nice; ails, snails, tails.
Yankee Doodle: andy, dandy, handy; ing, Gooding, pudding.
Reference: Richard E. Wylie and Donald D. Durrell, 1970. "Teaching Vowels Through Phonograms." Elementary English 47, 787-791.
| A | B | C | D | E | F | G | H | I | J | K | L | M | N | O | P | Q | R | S | T | U | V | W | X | Y | Z |
Over 25,000 Web Pages
Sample Pages for Prospective Subscribers
No comments:
Post a Comment