Teaching children about word families is a simple way to reinforce short and long vowel sounds and teach the rhythm of rhyming words. The word family worksheets below will help reinforce basic language skills and allow students to practice early spelling and reading skills. Note that to download the worksheets below, you'll need Adobe.
Rhyming Clouds
This worksheet is an excellent way to teach the overall concept of word families. Each cloud features a word, but not all are in the same word family. Some examples include:
- Cat
- Cake
- Moat
- Bit
- Coat
How to Use the Worksheet
Instruct students to cut apart the clouds and then glue them to poster board or piece of construction paper, keeping word families together. So, a cloud with "rake" and a cloud with "cake" would be grouped together as they are in the same word family.
Hello "at" Family
This worksheet is an excellent way to teach the word family of short "a." Each word example on the worksheet has the "at" sound in it and must be matched with the picture. Some examples of words students will match to a picture include:
- Cat
- Bat
- Hat
- Rat
How to Use the Worksheet
This worksheet is a simple one that can be used with beginning readers. Instruct the student to draw a line from the word to the picture that matches it. It is also a good idea to have students say the words out loud as they are matching to reinforce the "at" sound.
Leaf it to Long "A"
This worksheet features a tree with leaves that have words on them that have the long "a" sound found in words like:
- Rake
- Bake
- Cake
- Lake
- Take
How to Use the Worksheet
The tree is filled with leaves that end in "ake," but only the first word of "rake" has been completed. Students must use the additional leaves to create as many word leaves as possible in this long "a" sound family. A list of possible word solutions are provided in the answer key.
Living in the "it" Family House
The short "i" word family is represented with the sound "it" on this worksheet which features a house that should be filled with words such as:
- Bit
- Mit
- Wit
- Sit
How to Use the Worksheet
To use the worksheet, instruct the student to cut out the variety of words included at the bottom of the printable. Some of the words are "it" family words and some are not.
For example, the words "oar," "cat" and "dog" are also included in the selection. The student must glue the words into the house that are in the "it" family.
Mice Are Nice
This worksheet teaches students about the long "i" sound by using the sound made with the letters "ice." Words included that fit in this word family include:
- Dice
- Rice
- Nice
- Ice
- Mice
- Twice
How to Use the Worksheet
Instruct students to complete the beginnings of words ending in "ice." There are two columns and the first word in each column is already completed as "mice" and "nice". An answer key with possible solutions is provided with the printable.
Why Learn Word Families
Taking the time to learn word families helps students with spelling and word recognition. It can enhance reading skills and affords students an opportunity to learn about rhyming words.
