Manipulative Activities to Teach Word Families
Using ABC Teach and Carl's Corner to Create Word Family Activites
When teaching children word families for spelling and reading, manipulatives can be just as important as paper and pencil practice. ABC Teach and Carl’s Corner are two educational websites that provide many useful materials.
ABC Teach
ABC Teach was started back in 2000. It provides educational activities that cross all curriculum areas for grades Pre/K through Grade 3. Materials are made using Board Maker and are primarily designed by the site masters. They do also accept submissions and suggestions from other educators. They provide interactive tools that allow teachers to create their own activities with their own lists. Many free pages exist, but the bulk of the pages are available to members only, for a nominal annual fee.
Carl’s Corner
Carl’s Corner is a site created and designed by Cherry Carl, a retired language specialist, who wants to continue helping children learn how to read. She in constantly adding new material, taking suggestions, and revamping the site to fit teachers’ needs. She also offers tutorials and lots of advice.
Word Sorts
Both sites have word sorts with pictures. These activities consist of word cards with corresponding picture cards. Print off these sets and laminate them for strength.
Divide them by word family. Words that follow the c-v-c (consonant-vowel-consonant) rule can be part of the “pink series”. Short vowel words that include consonant blends and digraphs go into the “blue series”. Long vowels and other phonograms go into the “green series”.
Have the child first practice sounding out each word, then match the pictures, or vice versa. Then the child can copy them into a notebook or practice spelling favorites with a moveable alphabet.
Put two similar word families together (e.g. –am and –an, -ot and –at, etc.). Have the child sort the pictures by word families then label all of the words. Sort the word cards by word families.
Word Slides
Both websites offer word slides. The control card has the word family printed. Cut a slot, and slide beginning sounds through, creating new words at each interval. On Carl’s Corner, each slide has a picture of one of the words as an example. The ones on ABC Teach are strictly the words. Laminate for durability.
Word Wheels
Word wheels operate similarly to word slides. They are two circles on top of each other, attached by a brad in the center. The top wheel has the word family printed in the center, with a window to the left. The bottom wheel has different beginning sounds, which appear in the window as the wheel is turned. Again, laminate for durability.
ABC Teach and Carl’s Corner are two valuable tools for a teacher looking for new manipulative activities to teach word families. The fun pictures make the word sorts entertaining and children are drawn to the rhyming words in the word slides and word wheels. Best of all, the cost of making these materials is far less than any pre-purchased materials found in a teacher catalog.
Resources
Teaching Phonetic Reading in Montessori: The Pink, Blue, and Green Series
Word Families with Moveable Alphabet
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Word Strips from ABC Teach
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