Tuesday Tried It: Weekly Word Family Ideas

I tend to talk about word families a lot on here and today I’m back with some more ideas to share with you that I added to my weekly literacy centers. Word families are an important piece to include in any primary classroom where students are developing their skills as readers. So much can be taught/practiced through the use of word families: rhyming, switching out of beginning sounds, looking for word chunks, etc.  Here are some ideas I’ve been trying out for weekly fun with word families!

One other activity we do with a focus on making words/word families is on the iPad using the free app: ABC Phonics Rocks!.  There is a paid version as well, but we’ve just been using the free one which has  a few words the students can make. The app shows a picture of something and then the student has to pull up the letters to make the word. It does not allow the student to pull up an incorrect letter, so that is a nice self-checking feature built right into the app. Once all three letters are put in place the letters dance and sing– which of course, my little friends find hilarious! It definitely motivates them to spell the words correctly. There is a beginner and advanced setting where clues can be turned on or off for the student (such as, the specific word family being focused on each page). The app also includes a little letter review as well. It is a great app to use for a quick practice of making words/word families.

If you are looking for more of my word family ideas, please check out this old blog post here. Thanks to Holly over at Fourth Grade Flipper for hosting Tuesday Tried It!