Word Family Notebooks...and a couple FREEBIES!

Hi Everyone! Kerri here...
I LOVE teaching my kids about word families, or chunks, as we sometimes call them. We learn about a new word family every week, and my kiddos absolute LOVE it! They can't wait to find out what the new chunk of the week will be, and they get so stoked when they find words that have that chunk in their phonics stories, or other books that they read throughout the week. Here are some of the things that I have found useful when teaching the different word families...

These posters from Carson-Dellosa are FANTASTIC! I laminated mine and every week, the kids brainstorm words that belong in the word family that I write onto the chart with a Vis-a-Vis marker. Works great and the kids love how fun the charts are! I think Lakeshore also sells a set.

This chart is super fun because it has a CD attached and each word family is made into a song from traditional tunes. I think the words repeat 3 times, so the kids can practice singing along. Plus, the chart is write and wipe so I let the kids some up and circle the word family words that are found in each song. They love it!

These are THE BOMB!! 25 stories, each focusing on a different word family. The stories are cute, colorful, and you can also purchase a read-along CD that has cute sound effects. At the end of each book is a page of riddles and my kiddos love to play the word family guessing game!

Ok, these are HILARIOUS! This is a CD and DVD combo. The DVD has a little song and movie for each word family. Catchy tunes, simple but fun artwork for each word family and the kids really get a kick out of watching the little 2 minute music video each week.  This is the short vowel DVD.

Long Vowel DVD. My chitlins LOVE it!

So, I created this little diddy off of a similar Lakeshore worksheet last year when I went to first grade. I run it back to back, with room for about 20 or so different word families. Even though I teach a different word family every single week, I knew I wouldn't have time each week to do the Word Family Notebook, so I only ran mine with 20 pages. I put them in the 3 prong folders that are SUPER cheap right now at TARGET (15 cents each), and we used them the whole year. Sometimes we did it whole group (mostly at the beginning of the year or when I wanted them to focus on their printing), small group in centers, or even with partners after they got the hang of the routine. 

Click here for the file

 I also used this notebook in Kinder and we did it whole group each week from January on, focusing only on the short vowel word families. In First Grade, I love this because you can really focus on the different spelling patterns and give the kids something concrete to help them remember each one! There are 3 sections: a place to brainstorm the chunk words, a place for a "SILLY" rhyming sentence, and a place for an illustration. The hook for the kids is the silly sentence, of course, and I really like this part because each week we can talk about writing a complete sentence, capitals and end marks and all that jazz! You catch my drift??
Click on the words below the picture above to download the Word Family Notebook, and click on the pic below to download the Word Family Notebook cover! AND... I would love to know how you teach word families in your classroom! So, how about you leave a comment and let me know!! :)

STOP THE PRESSES!! As I was sitting here typing, a package arrived at my DOORSTEP!!

TADA!! I CANNOT WAIT TO DECORATE MY CLASSROOM WITH THESE BABIES!! Don't you just LOVE Dots on Turquiose from Creative Teaching Press?? I DO! Pics from my newly decorated classroom will come in a few short weeks! Stay tuned...  :)