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Tracie Howard

Word Family Instruction for Beginning Readers

Overview:

The “at” word family is introduced within the meaningful context of the big book Have You Seen My Cat? By Eric Carle. Students are engaged in shared reading, followed up by hands-on activities to form and read words with the “at” rime.

From Theory to Practice:

Johnston, F.R. (1999). The Timing and Teaching of Word Families. The Reading Teacher, 53 (1), 64-75.

• The study of word families provides young students with the understanding that rime is a reliable and generative unit for reading and spelling words.

• Children’s invented spelling can be used to determine when they are ready for instruction with word families and what that instruction should include.

• Word family instruction progresses through stages based on the readiness of the children: engage students in language play with rhymes, then work with one word family at a time, next compare word families with the same vowel, then compare word families with mixed vowels, and finally compare and contrast short and long patterns.

Student Objectives:

Students will be able to

• Recognize the “at” rime in words

• Manipulate the onset to make different “at” words

• Blend onset and rime to read “at” words

• Use “at” words in writing

IRA/NCTE Standards:

1. Students read a wide range of print and non-print texts to build an understanding of texts, of themselves, and of the cultures of the United States and the world; to acquire new information; to respond to the needs and demands of society and the workplace; and for personal fulfillment. Among these texts are fiction and nonfiction, classic and contemporary works.

3. Students apply a wide range of strategies to comprehend, interpret, evaluate, and appreciate texts. They draw on their prior experience, their interactions with other readers and writers, their knowledge of word meanings and of other texts, their word identification strategies, and their understanding of textual features (e.g. sound-letter correspondence, sentence structure, context, graphics).

Resources:

• Have You Seen My Cat? By Eric Carle

• Interactive Word Build & Bank

• Interactive Starfall

• “at” worksheets

• pocket chart

• index/flash cards with “at” word written on each one

• scissors

Preparation:

1. Get the book Have You Seen My Cat? By Eric Carle.

2. Bookmark websites for Word Build & Bank and Starfall. Schedule lab time.

3. Copy “at” worksheets for each child.

4. Write cat, bat, hat, mat, pat, sat, fat, and rat on flash cards.

Instructions and Activities:

Day 1

• Engage the class in a shared reading of Have You Seen My Cat? by Eric Carle.

• Show the students the cat flashcard and tell them this is a word they saw many times in the book they just read. Explain that in this word the letters “at” make the /at/ sound, and when you put a “c” in front of it then you get the word cat.

• Now show the students all 8 of the “at” flashcards and ask “What do you notice about these words?” looking specifically for responses like “They all rhyme.” “They all have a T at the end.” “They all have an A in the middle.”

• Explain that usually “at” makes the /at/ sound and when we put other letters in front of “at” we can make other words that rhyme with cat. Read through the flash cards together emphasizing the “at” in each word.

• Cut the flash cards apart, between the onset and the rime, displaying the pieces on a pocket chart. Call on children to come up and make a specific word by putting the onset and rime back together.

Day 2

• Review the flash cards from the previous lesson, then have students cut apart individual worksheets with onsets and the “at” rime. The students will use the pieces to make the “at” words called out by the teacher.

• Have the students access the online interactive Word Build & Bank. Students will use the mouse to click and drag in order to manipulate letters to make “at” words (Students need to be made aware that eat and oat will be included in the activity, although they do not make the /at/ sound.). When finished, have students print word lists for at-home practice.

Day 3

• Have students cut apart individual worksheet with “at” words and pictures and match the words to the pictures. Students can be challenged to remove the pictures and read the words. Words and pictures can be stored in envelopes and taken home for additional practice.

• Have students access the online interactive Starfall. Students will use the mouse to click and drag onset letters to match “at” words to pictures.

Extensions:

• Have students pair up and use the “at” words and pictures cards to play “concentration”.

• Have students access the online interactive Word Family Sort to sort short a families.

• Encourage the use of “at” words in journal writing.

• Provide post-it notes or highlighter tape to allow students to search for “at” words in other texts.

• Read The Gingerbread Man to introduce the “an” family. Engage students in comparing, contrasting, and sorting “at” and “an” words.

Student Assessment/Reflections:

• Observe students and keep anecdotal notes on their understanding during the group discussion, review, and cut-apart worksheet activities.

• Oral assessments can be done by flashing “at” cards for students to read.

• Observe student’s writing.

|b |c |f |h |

|m |p |r |s |

|at |at |at |at |

|at |at |at |at |

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