Word Families: Idea #68

A great way to get your student reading quickly is to introduce word families. Word families group words together that all end the same way and have the same sound. It is wonderful because a word that once had three sounds, now only has two. 

For example, the word sat is in the -at family. When your student first sounded out the word sat, they had to make the three sounds: s-a-t. Your student will be able to read words more simply by knowing two letters together can make one sound. Now they can sound out the word sat, like this: s-at. Only two sounds! Kids will enjoy learning about word families and how to make reading easier.

Check out this website that has many word families listed: http://www.enchantedlearning.com/rhymes/wordfamilies/. I would recommend starting with the short a word families. Students tend to grasp those the quickest. Obviously word families with long vowel sounds will have to come last.

Have fun practicing word families with your student!