Word Families and spelling

Some parents have asked about spelling the word families. In Kindergarten, we like to play with the rhymes and word families, and begin to get familiar with them in context (in our shared reading of messages, simple charts and poems). We played with word families with magnetic letters or letter cards, but we are not expected to use them yet in our writing!  In Grade 1, we are expected to begin to write (spell) with the word families.

The best way to learn about word families and rhyming is to play games and sing songs about rhymes.

Down by the Bay is such a fun summer song to sing!

I'm showing these so you knew that your child does not have to learn them in Kindergarten! In Kindergarten your child should be spelling phonetically as they hear a word. If they spell cat "ct"  - that is wonderful! They heard the initial sound and the end sound! That is AWESOME. As they learn more conventional spelling, they will use it. Do not worry if they cannot spell words properly!

As they come across more words in their reading, they will become more aware of word families.

These are the word families that we focused on when I taught Grade 1 and Grade 2.

 Grade 1 (by the END of Grade 1)

at, am, an, ab, ag, ad, ap, im, in, ip

op, ob, ot, ow (low), ow (how), ed, et

ug, um, ay, y

Grade 2 (by the END of Grade 2)

est, ell, ing, ink, ine, ill, ight, ick, ack, ank, ail, ain, ake

eed, ew, ore, ock, out, unk, uck

The Grade 2’s also focus on Letter Blends and Digraphs.

 Letter blends (at beginning of words):

bl, br, cl, cr, dr, fr, tr, fl, gl, gr, pl, pr, sl, sm, sp and st (also at end).

 Letter digraphs (at beginning and end of words):

th, sh, ch, wh (beginning of words only)