Word family
Short o word families
The answer
Short o word families are groups of one-syllable words that share a rime with the short o sound, like -op, -ot, -ock and -ob. Our lexicon has 100 public words in 11 such families of three or more words, listed family by family.
What do these families share?
Short o has the fewest families of the five short vowels in our public list, and the families are small: op, ot, ock and ob lead. That reflects the public list more than English as a whole, since several common short o words appear in our assessments and are left out here. What remains is enough to teach the vowel and the families, and op gives the longest chain.
The families and their words
The -ot family, as in got
| Word | Onset + rime | Readable after |
|---|---|---|
| got | g + ot | Lesson 16 |
| hot | h + ot | Lesson 23 |
| lot | l + ot | Lesson 26 |
| not | n + ot | Lesson 12 |
| plot | pl + ot | Lesson 26 |
| spot | sp + ot | Lesson 12 |
| dot | d + ot | Lesson 13 |
| pot | p + ot | Lesson 12 |
| rot | r + ot | Lesson 24 |
| shot | sh + ot | Lesson 45 |
| slot | sl + ot | Lesson 26 |
| cot | c + ot | Lesson 14 |
| jot | j + ot | Lesson 29 |
| tot | t + ot | Lesson 12 |
| blot | bl + ot | Lesson 26 |
| clot | cl + ot | Lesson 26 |
| knot | kn + ot | Lesson 98 |
| trot | tr + ot | Lesson 24 |
The -op family, as in pop
| Word | Onset + rime | Readable after |
|---|---|---|
| pop | p + op | Lesson 12 |
| top | t + op | Lesson 12 |
| drop | dr + op | Lesson 24 |
| shop | sh + op | Lesson 45 |
| stop | st + op | Lesson 12 |
| chop | ch + op | Lesson 48 |
| crop | cr + op | Lesson 24 |
| bop | b + op | Lesson 17 |
| cop | c + op | Lesson 14 |
| hop | h + op | Lesson 23 |
| lop | l + op | Lesson 26 |
| mop | m + op | Lesson 12 |
| sop | s + op | Lesson 12 |
| flop | fl + op | Lesson 26 |
| plop | pl + op | Lesson 26 |
| prop | pr + op | Lesson 24 |
| slop | sl + op | Lesson 26 |
The -ock family, as in lock
| Word | Onset + rime | Readable after |
|---|---|---|
| lock | l + ock | Lesson 44 |
| block | bl + ock | Lesson 44 |
| clock | cl + ock | Lesson 44 |
| knock | kn + ock | Lesson 98 |
| stock | st + ock | Lesson 44 |
| mock | m + ock | Lesson 44 |
| rock | r + ock | Lesson 44 |
| sock | s + ock | Lesson 44 |
| shock | sh + ock | Lesson 45 |
| dock | d + ock | Lesson 44 |
| hock | h + ock | Lesson 44 |
| crock | cr + ock | Lesson 44 |
| flock | fl + ock | Lesson 44 |
| frock | fr + ock | Lesson 44 |
| smock | sm + ock | Lesson 44 |
The -ob family, as in job
| Word | Onset + rime | Readable after |
|---|---|---|
| job | j + ob | Lesson 29 |
| bob | b + ob | Lesson 17 |
| mob | m + ob | Lesson 17 |
| blob | bl + ob | Lesson 26 |
| cob | c + ob | Lesson 17 |
| gob | g + ob | Lesson 17 |
| lob | l + ob | Lesson 26 |
| rob | r + ob | Lesson 24 |
| sob | s + ob | Lesson 17 |
| slob | sl + ob | Lesson 26 |
| snob | sn + ob | Lesson 17 |
| throb | thr + ob | Lesson 47 |
The -od family, as in god
| Word | Onset + rime | Readable after |
|---|---|---|
| god | g + od | Lesson 16 |
| rod | r + od | Lesson 24 |
| sod | s + od | Lesson 13 |
| cod | c + od | Lesson 14 |
| nod | n + od | Lesson 13 |
| pod | p + od | Lesson 13 |
| plod | pl + od | Lesson 26 |
| prod | pr + od | Lesson 24 |
| shod | sh + od | Lesson 45 |
| trod | tr + od | Lesson 24 |
The -og family, as in bog
| Word | Onset + rime | Readable after |
|---|---|---|
| bog | b + og | Lesson 17 |
| fog | f + og | Lesson 16 |
| hog | h + og | Lesson 23 |
| clog | cl + og | Lesson 26 |
| frog | fr + og | Lesson 24 |
| jog | j + og | Lesson 29 |
| flog | fl + og | Lesson 26 |
| slog | sl + og | Lesson 26 |
| smog | sm + og | Lesson 16 |
The -ond family, as in bond
| Word | Onset + rime | Readable after |
|---|---|---|
| bond | b + ond | Lesson 17 |
| fond | f + ond | Lesson 13 |
| pond | p + ond | Lesson 13 |
| blond | bl + ond | Lesson 26 |
| frond | fr + ond | Lesson 24 |
The -on family, as in on
| Word | Onset + rime | Readable after |
|---|---|---|
| on | (none) + on | Lesson 12 |
| con | c + on | Lesson 14 |
| don | d + on | Lesson 13 |
| non | n + on | Lesson 12 |
The -ox family, as in box
| Word | Onset + rime | Readable after |
|---|---|---|
| box | b + ox | Lesson 31 |
| ox | (none) + ox | Lesson 31 |
| cox | c + ox | Lesson 31 |
| fox | f + ox | Lesson 31 |
The -otch family, as in scotch
| Word | Onset + rime | Readable after |
|---|---|---|
| scotch | sc + otch | Lesson 69 |
| botch | b + otch | Lesson 69 |
| notch | n + otch | Lesson 69 |
The -omp family, as in pomp
| Word | Onset + rime | Readable after |
|---|---|---|
| pomp | p + omp | Lesson 12 |
| romp | r + omp | Lesson 24 |
| stomp | st + omp | Lesson 12 |
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 | on | start here |
| 2 | con | add /k/ |
| 3 | cob | change /n/ to /b/ |
| 4 | cod | change /b/ to /d/ |
| 5 | cop | change /d/ to /p/ |
| 6 | cot | change /p/ to /t/ |
| 7 | got | change /k/ to /g/ |
| 8 | god | change /t/ to /d/ |
| 9 | gob | change /d/ to /b/ |
| 10 | job | change /g/ to /jh/ |
How do you teach it?
Teach op and ot first, with plenty of onset swaps, then ock as a ck family. Many students say short o with a wide-open mouth, so model it clearly and keep the lists short.
"Watch my mouth: /o/. Wide open. Now /u/. More relaxed. Read with me: shop, chop, crop, drop. All /op/, all short o."
What is the common error, and the fix?
Students mix short o with short u, reading cop as cup. The fix is to watch the mouth: short o is open, short u is relaxed. Say minimal pairs and have students point to the vowel they hear.
Sort it: a hands-on activity
Sort short o and short u cards (shop and shut, rock and truck, pot and cut) into two columns by vowel sound, then sort the short o pile by family.
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 short o word families are there?
In our lexicon, 11 rimes with the short o sound have at least three public one-syllable words, 100 words in all. Smaller families exist, but two words are not enough to practice a pattern.
Why are there fewer short o families here?
Some of the most common short o words are used in our assessments, so we leave them off public lists. The remaining families still cover the vowel well.
Why teach word families at all?
Families let a student read many words from one chunk, which builds speed and confidence. They work best alongside sound-by-sound blending, so a student can still read a word when no family fits.