Word family
The -ake word family
The answer
The -ake word family is every one-syllable word that ends in the rime ake, said /ayk/. Our lexicon has 15 public words in it: 9 with one consonant first, 4 with a blend and 2 with a digraph or silent-letter pair.
What is in this family?
The ake family is long a with silent e and a k, so it combines two patterns students already know: silent e makes the a long, and plain k, not ck, comes after a long vowel. Our list runs from common words (make, take, cake, lake) to blends (brake, flake, snake, stake, shake). Break rhymes with it but is spelled e-a, a good word to point out.
The words, sorted by what comes before the rime
One consonant before the rime
| Word | Onset + rime | Readable after |
|---|---|---|
| make | m + ake | Lesson 54 |
| sake | s + ake | Lesson 54 |
| take | t + ake | Lesson 54 |
| bake | b + ake | Lesson 54 |
| cake | c + ake | Lesson 54 |
| fake | f + ake | Lesson 54 |
| lake | l + ake | Lesson 54 |
| wake | w + ake | Lesson 54 |
| rake | r + ake | Lesson 54 |
A blend before the rime
| Word | Onset + rime | Readable after |
|---|---|---|
| brake | br + ake | Lesson 54 |
| stake | st + ake | Lesson 54 |
| flake | fl + ake | Lesson 54 |
| snake | sn + ake | Lesson 54 |
A digraph or silent-letter pair before the rime
| Word | Onset + rime | Readable after |
|---|---|---|
| shake | sh + ake | Lesson 54 |
| quake | qu + ake | Lesson 54 |
Word ladder: change one sound at a time
Every step is a real word from the list, and each one changes exactly one sound. Say the change aloud before the student writes the new word.
| Step | Word | The change |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | make | start here |
| 2 | sake | change /m/ to /s/ |
| 3 | take | change /s/ to /t/ |
| 4 | bake | change /t/ to /b/ |
| 5 | cake | change /b/ to /k/ |
| 6 | fake | change /k/ to /f/ |
| 7 | lake | change /f/ to /l/ |
| 8 | wake | change /l/ to /w/ |
| 9 | shake | change /w/ to /sh/ |
| 10 | rake | change /sh/ to /r/ |
Rhymes spelled another way
These words rhyme with the family but spell the rime differently, so they belong to other families. Expect students to mix them up when spelling.
| Spelling | Words |
|---|---|
| -eak | break, steak |
| -ache | ache |
How do you teach it?
Teach after silent e and the ck or k rule. Contrast back and bake, snack and snake, rack and rake. Students hear that the short vowel takes ck and the long vowel takes k with an e.
"Read 'snack'. Short a, so c-k. Now 'snake'. Long a, so the a needs an e at the end, and after a long vowel we use just k: s-n-a-k-e."
What is the common error, and the fix?
Students write "cack" for cake or "bak" for bake. The fix links two rules: long a needs the silent e, and after a long vowel the /k/ is spelled k.
Sort it: a hands-on activity
Pair cards: back and bake, snack and snake, rack and rake, lack and lake. Students read each pair and sort into "short a with ck" and "long a with ke".
How this list was built
Every word comes from our lexicon of about 19,000 common words, each checked against a pronouncing dictionary and split into spelling units. Words a student meets in our assessments and progress-monitoring probes are left out, so practicing a list never rehearses a test. A family is every one-syllable base word (no suffix, not a compound) whose rime, the vowel unit and every unit after it, has the same spelling and the same sounds, so bead and bread are in different families. Ladders use only words from the list, and each step changes exactly one sound.
"Readable after" is the first lesson in the lesson sequence at which our decodability engine finds every sound-spelling in the word taught; "not taught" means the word has a spelling the sequence does not cover, so it is read with help. You can check your own lists and passages with the free decodable text checker.
Questions people ask
How many words are in the -ake family?
Our lexicon has 15 one-syllable words ending in ake that a student can practice. Words used in our assessments are left out, so a few common words may be missing from the list.
Why is it ake and not ack?
The vowel is long, and the ck spelling only comes right after a short vowel. With silent e making the a long, the /k/ is spelled k.
What is a word ladder?
A chain of real words where each step changes one sound: swap a sound, add one, or take one away. Students say the change before they write it, which trains them to hear every sound in the word.