Words that belong to the same word family all share a common element or sequence. In most cases they share a series of letter blends. This is why you will see word families often referred to as "chunks", because they share a chunk of letters in common. As a result, the words tend to make the same sounds and are valuable for learning how to spell words. Having the able to find patterns and sounds in words really helps boost your reading ability. Students who are strong in this skill can often sound out unfamiliar words with relative ease. Students that learn words through the use of phonetic skills often become the stronger spellers.

I like to introduce word families to me students in a variety of ways. First, I start by using a modified graphic organizer that is called a web. In the center of the organizer I place the letter that words in this family might share. Let's say the letters -ake. I ask students for words that have that ending and they will call them out such as: take, rake, make, sake, fake, cake, and continue until the web is filled up. I then have the students use all the words that they thought up in sentences. We take turns reading those sentences aloud. These worksheets will help students begin to understand the magnitude of word families and how they can help them become better readers and spellers.