Subscribe

1st grade · English Language Arts · Unit 3 of 13

Word Families

-at, -ig, -op and more

What your child practices

Words that share an ending, like cat, hat and bat. Once children know one word in a family, they can read and spell many more by changing the first sound.

Alabama Course of Study content standard: 1.7; 1.R2 · reading words in common word families

How we explain it

Children can open this short lesson before they practice.

  1. A word family shares the same ending, like -at: cat, hat, bat.
  2. Words in a family rhyme.
  3. Change the first letter to make a new word: ten, pen, den.

Example: Which word is in the “-ig” family? pig or pot? The -ig family ends with i-g. p-ig ends with -ig. Answer: pig

Word Families in Alabama

In the Alabama Course of Study, this is unit 3 of 13 in 1st grade English Language Arts, after Short Vowels and before Sh, Ch, Th.

Gradelings describes a child's practice on this unit as Beginning, Approaching, Meeting or Exceeding (Four practice steps). That reflects practice, not a report-card mark: the teacher decides the mark.

Source: Alabama State Department of Education (ALSDE)

Sample questions

A taste of this unit. In the app, questions change every time and get easier or harder to match your child.

  1. Question 1

    Which word does not rhyme with the others?

    • ten
    • big
    • dig

  2. Question 2

    Which word is in the “-en” family?

    -en

    • shop
    • wig
    • pen

  3. Question 3

    Put the sounds together. What word is it?

    h + en

    • hat
    • den
    • hen

  4. Question 4

    Which one rhymes with “cat”?

    🐱cat
    • 🖊️pen
    • 🐛bug
    • 🎩hat

  5. Question 5

    Put the sounds together. What word is it?

    m + op

    • pop
    • mug
    • mop

  6. Question 6

    Which word is in the “-an” family?

    -an

    • rug
    • van
    • bug

More 1st grade