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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.

Maine Learning Results learning standard: Reading 3 · 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 Maine

In the Maine Learning Results, 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: Maine Department of Education

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

    Put the sounds together. What word is it?

    t + op

    • mop
    • top
    • tug

  2. Question 2

    Which word is in the “-an” family?

    -an

    • man
    • mat
    • dig

  3. Question 3

    Which one rhymes with “mug”?

    ☕mug
    • 🥫can
    • 🖊️pen
    • 🔌plug

  4. Question 4

    Which word does not rhyme with the others?

    • fan
    • sat
    • van

  5. Question 5

    Which word does not rhyme with the others?

    • men
    • mop
    • ten

  6. Question 6

    Which word is in the “-en” family?

    -en

    • fig
    • men
    • stop

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