1st grade · English Language Arts · Unit 3 of 17
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.
Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills (TEKS) teks student expectation: 1.2(B); 1.2(C) · reading words in common word families
How we explain it
Children can open this short lesson before they practice.
- A word family shares the same ending, like -at: cat, hat, bat.
- Words in a family rhyme.
- 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 Texas
In the Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills (TEKS), this is unit 3 of 17 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.
- 1st grade guide for Texas parents
- Printable 1st grade English Language Arts sheet
- Texas report cards explained
Source: Texas Education Agency (TEA)
Sample questions
A taste of this unit. In the app, questions change every time and get easier or harder to match your child.
Question 1
Which word is in the “-an” family?
-an
- mat
- can
- top
can
Hint: Words in the -an family end with “an”, like van and man.
Question 2
Which one rhymes with “ten”?
🔟ten- 🖊️pen
- 🐛bug
- 🐷pig
🖊️ pen
Hint: Rhyming words sound the same at the end: ten, pen!
Question 3
Which word does not rhyme with the others?
- den
- men
- cat
cat
Hint: den, men all end with “en”. Which one doesn't?
Question 4
Which one rhymes with “hat”?
🎩hat- 🐱cat
- 🔟ten
- 🖊️pen
🐱 cat
Hint: Rhyming words sound the same at the end: hat, cat!
Question 5
Which word is in the “-ig” family?
-ig
- sat
- pan
- pig
pig
Hint: Words in the -ig family end with “ig”, like fig and dig.
Question 6
Put the sounds together. What word is it?
p + ig
- pig
- pop
- fig
pig
Hint: Say the first sound, then the ending: p… ig… pig!