I am a true believer in the power of
FAMILY...specifically Word Families. In my own classroom, it's an
essential part of my Daily 5 Word Work.
Word families, or some people call them
chunks (families is just so much more friendly sounding to me but to each their
own), help readers look for patterns when decoding. When your students
recognize those patterns, they can more easily sound out words they don't
readily know.
It is always amazing to watch when a
light suddenly turns on as a students starts decoding with the help of word
families. I think they surprise themselves as much as they surprise us.
I won't soon forget hearing one of my most struggling kinders this
year, yell across the room at me in the middle of one of our first Ball
Word Celebrations. "Hey Mrs. McGuire, I just read KitKat. Kit
is part of the ~it family and Kat is part of the ~at family. I read
that!!" Confidence, independence and joy...pure joy is what they
experience when they 'get it.' So yes! I spend a ton of time
practicing and using word families with my kinders.
After I feel that the majority of my
students have mastered their letter sounds, I start introducing a new word
family each week. When a new family is introduced, it goes on my word
family wall (above my regular word wall, for quick, easy reference
for my kinders and
then another set on a ring goes in my writing center.)
We have a routine of whole group,
small group, center and independent practice activities that allow
my kinders to
get plenty of practice and familiarity with the word families.
Here's kind of a typical schedule
of some whole group activities I like to do:
Tuesday: Mini Lesson-Use the picture
cards from two or more sets of word families to sort (thumbs up thumbs down)
whether the word is or isn’t part of that week’s word family. Hand
the students a card and let them sort into a labeled pocket chart. (This
can move to a Daily 5 station with a recording sheet.)
Wednesday: Mini-lesson-Students
find all the ‘word family’ words hidden in my morning message. I have
students come up and underline, circle with wikki stix, use a pointer or flyswatter to identify
word family words.
Thursday: Mini-Lesson-I call out
word family words that may or may not be part of that week’s word family.
If it is, then students perform a specific physical act like standing up,
raising an arm, lifting their right leg, waving hello…It feels like Simon Says
because then can only perform the act IF the word is part of that week’s word
family.
My goal for whole group mini-lessons like
this is always to give my students a chance to move.
To
support the whole group lessons, I provide extra practice for each new word
family in small group and independent Daily 5 stations. I usually introduce these activities the
first several weeks to my students in small group before placing them in my
Daily 5 Word Work Station. But after
I've introduced several word families, most students can use these
independently.
Here’s
a few activities that I choose from each week to allow for practice:
Say-It-Make It-Write It I like to use this with some of
my small groups before it goes into a station so that I am sure that students
understand the words and concept. I have
enough copies of the playing mat laminated for each child in the group. I only use magnets for the ‘making’ part of
this activity, and I hold onto the playing card until everyone has made the
word and written it,
I open the card to show them the answer. Once this activity moves to a station,
students can choose to ‘make’ the word with magnets, beads,
Play-doh stampers or whatever letter
manipulative you would like to offer. Differentiating can be accomplished by giving your students choices. Here's one way to make that happen.
Memory Match: Played like traditional memory
but students will match the picture card with the word card.
Sorting Word Families:
Place the sorting picture cards in a bucket, a basket or even in your
sensory table with some seasonal shredded paper, pasta or rice. Students can sort the pictures into canisters
labeled with a thumbs up or a thumbs down, indicating whether they are part of
that word family or not. You can also
have them do this in a pocket chart or onto ropes hanging from your ceiling.
Be creative and make it fun. For students who need an additional
challenge, have them record their findings on the word family sorting sheet.
Word Family Hide n’ Seek: This
activity gives your students an opportunity to practice reading word family
words while playing a fun interactive game.
Place word family word cards in a small pocket chart. Behind one word card hide the picture
above. Students then point at and read a
word where they believe the picture is hidden.
If they guess correctly, they get to hide the card next. You can use cards from more than one word
family or just one word family. (You can find the playing piece in the ‘extras’
section at the end of this unit.
Write The Room For Word Families:
Laminate, cut apart, and mount the write the room cards below with
masking tape around your room. Based on
your students readiness level, select a recording sheet for them to use. You may either laminate these (my preferred
method) or print them off to use with a pencil if you prefer. Hand your student a clipboard and have them
search the room for the word family pictures. I have my recording sheets differentiated so that students are adequately challenged but not frustrated because the task it too hard. One level just has them entering the onset for the rhyme, another level has them writing the entire word family word and yet another level has them writing the word in the context of a sentence.
Homework/Morning Work/Extra
Practice I like to have the option of having something for students to take home for homework or just a little extra practice so I also provide some EXTRA differentiated printables including a differentiated word family slide, I-spy, word maze, Count, Graph and Write, and Say It-Make It-Write It sheets.
Once my students have a couple of word families under their belts, I can add a few more games and activities to extend their learning.
If you would like to see learn more about
my word work, you can click on the picture below. I have a whole set of activities available (193 pages!!!) for letter ‘a’ and am working on completing the next vowel groups.
These sets are available as a bundle (6 weeks
worth of Word Family Work in this set) or as individual units for you to pick
and choose.
