Word families
Word families, built from real words
A word family is a set of words that share a rime, the vowel and everything after it: cat, hat and flat share -at. These pages list every family in our lexicon with a word ladder and teaching ideas.
The answer
A word family is a group of one-syllable words that share a rime, such as -at in cat and flat. Our 28 pages cover 2,309 different public words: single-family pages for the biggest rimes, and pages by vowel sound for the rest.
Families are keyed by spelling and sound together, so -ead in bead and -ead in bread are separate families, and -ow in snow is apart from -ow in cow. A rime gets its own page only when it has at least 15 words a student can practice; smaller families appear on the page for their vowel sound.
Use families for fluency and rhyme, not as a replacement for blending. A student who can read every word in the -ack family should still be able to sound out a new word that fits no family at all.
Families with their own page
The -at word family
Every one-syllable at family word in our lexicon, sorted by the sound before at, with a word ladder, rhymes and a teacher script.The -ack word family
Every one-syllable ack family word in our lexicon, sorted by the sound before ack, with a word ladder, rhyming spellings and a teacher script.The -ash word family
Every one-syllable ash family word in our lexicon, from cash to splash, sorted by the sound before ash, with a word ladder and a teacher script.The -ank word family
Every one-syllable ank family word in our lexicon, sorted by the sound before ank, with a word ladder, rhymes and a teacher script for the ank chunk.The -ill word family
Every one-syllable ill family word in our lexicon, from bill to thrill, sorted by the sound before ill, with a word ladder and a teacher script.The -ick word family
Every one-syllable ick family word in our lexicon, from pick to flick, sorted by the sound before ick, with a word ladder and a teacher script.The -ing word family
Every one-syllable ing family word in our lexicon, from king to string, sorted by the sound before ing, with a word ladder and a teacher script.The -ate word family
Every one-syllable ate family word in our lexicon, from date to skate, with a word ladder, rhyming spellings like wait and eight, and a script.The -ake word family
Every one-syllable ake family word in our lexicon, from make to snake, with a word ladder, rhymes, and the k after a long vowel explained.The -ail word family
Every one-syllable ail family word in our lexicon, from mail to quail, with a word ladder, the ale homophones and a teacher script.The -ay word family
Every one-syllable ay family word in our lexicon, from day to spray, sorted by the sound before ay, with a word ladder and a teacher script.The -y word family: y says long i
Every one-syllable word in our lexicon where final y says long i (by, cry, fly, sky), with a word ladder, rhymes and a teacher script.The -ine word family
Every one-syllable ine family word in our lexicon, from line to shrine, sorted by the sound before ine, with a word ladder and a teacher script.The -ore word family
Every one-syllable ore family word in our lexicon, sorted by the sound before ore, with rhymes spelled or and oar, a word ladder and a script.The -are word family
Every one-syllable are family word in our lexicon, from care to square, with air homophones, a word ladder and a teacher script.The -out word family
Every one-syllable out family word in our lexicon, from shout to sprout, sorted by the sound before out, with a word ladder and a script.
Families by vowel sound
Short a word families
Every short a word family in our lexicon with three or more words, from at and an to amp and ast, with each family's words and a word ladder.Short e word families
Every short e word family in our lexicon with three or more words, from ell and est to ench and ept, with each family's words and a word ladder.Short i word families
Every short i word family in our lexicon with three or more words, from ill and ick to ink and itch, with each family's words and a word ladder.Short o word families
Every short o word family in our lexicon with three or more words, from op and ot to ock and ob, with each family's words and a word ladder.Short u word families
Every short u word family in our lexicon with three or more words, from ug and uck to ump and udge, with each family's words and a word ladder.Long a word families
Every long a word family in our lexicon with three or more words, spelled a_e, ai, ay and eigh, with each family's words and a word ladder.Long e word families
Every long e word family in our lexicon with three or more words, spelled ee, ea and ie, with each family's words and a word ladder.Long i word families
Every long i word family in our lexicon with three or more words, spelled i_e, igh, y and ind, with each family's words and a word ladder.Long o word families
Every long o word family in our lexicon with three or more words, spelled o_e, ow, oa and old, with each family's words and a word ladder.Long u and long oo word families
Every long u and long oo word family in our lexicon with three or more words, spelled oo, ew, ue and u_e, with each family's words and a ladder.R-controlled word families
Every r-controlled word family in our lexicon with three or more words: ar, or and ore, er, ir and ur, air and are, with a word ladder.Word families for ou, ow, aw, oo and oi
Every word family in our lexicon for the vowels in out, saw, book and boy: ou, ow, aw, au, all, oo and oi families, with a word ladder.
Questions people ask
What is a word family?
A set of words that share a rime: the vowel and the letters after it. Cat, flat and splat are in the -at family. Teachers use families to practice reading many words from one known chunk.
Why are some common families missing their own page?
A family gets its own page only with 15 or more words a student can practice from our lexicon, after leaving out words used in our assessments. Smaller families, like -op and -it, are on the page for their vowel sound.
How many word families should a student learn?
There is no fixed number. Teach families as a way to practice the sound and spelling patterns in your sequence, a few at a time, and move on once a student reads a family's words accurately without guessing.