Tuesday, July 26, 2011

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...  :)

15 comments:

  1. Thanks for the freebies...I will use these in my word work station! I have one someplace (I will look for it) that is a review for making 20 words. The kids write 5 words themselves after they have learned 4 new word families. Its kind of fun. LOVE the new decorations too!

    Janea
    firstratefirstgrade.blogspot.com

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  2. I love the idea of having a word family notebook! Thanks for explaining how you use it both in kinder and first since I am new to the kinder world! In first, I have used the Word Family books by Scholastic. Before reading, I have students brainstorm words that rhyme with the word family of the week. I create a list with the rhyming part of each word in red (so it stands our and they can actually see the pattern). Then I read the book and my kiddos have to listen for any words in the pattern that we missed. Then we add those to the list. At the back of each book there are "riddles". I read these to the class and they have to look at our word family list and see if they can figure out the answer to the riddle. Great fun, but I have wanted to do more. Your ideas allow me to. Thank you!
    Camille
    An Open Door

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  3. I use the word family posters from Carson Dellosa also. I love the dots on turquoise! I fell in love with these and also the brown polka dot set! I have combined the two for my classroom "teacher" area this year and also my focus wall! The two look great together!

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  4. I just posted a song for the ig word family! Great ideas and Thanks for the freebies! Love the new decorations!!!!
    Really Roper

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  5. Love the Dots on Turquoise. I have been planning to use those products to decorate my classroom since the minute I laid eyes on them!!! :o) I can't wait to see pictures of your room!

    Katie

    Keeping Up With Katie

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  6. I love the idea of a Word Family book/folder for each of the kiddos! Thanks so much for sharing! Check out my blog-I love to share freebies too!
    Christie :)
    First Grade Fever

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  7. I've been working on word families also. I've been told our upcoming classes are struggling a bit and I thought word chunk/family reviews would be a good way to begin the year. I've created about 20 word family units with 6 activities for each. Your cover will be a great addition. Thanks!
    Lory
    Lory's Page

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  8. Love the new decor! I absolutely love those colors! Thanks for the freebie! :)

    http://firstgradewizards.blogspot.com

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  9. I love this idea of the word family notebook! I can't wait to use it and share it with my teacher friends!! Thx!

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  10. Wow these are such a great idea!!! Thanks so much for the freebie!!

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  11. Thanks for the freebie! Awesome idea!

    I just got my first teaching job!! :) I always planned on teaching intermediate, but it's a first grade job. I'm super excited, but a little overwhelmed as well. Your blog is full of so much inspiration and so many good ideas!! Thanks!

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  12. I just started using the word family notebook that I found here. Holy Moley, I'm in love. I think my parents are too because I send it home after we complete it together in class. AWESOME. Seriously, just so awesome. What a great idea! I really love the part where they write and illustrate a silly rhyming sentence. I'm writing the sentence for them in advance for now, and we'll read it together and as the year progresses we'll write it together and they'll copy it. Eventually, they might be writing it themselves, but we're only K so, we'll just see about that. I have always used the Carson Dellosa posters too and love them but this notebook just makes it all come together. AWESOME.

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  13. I am a year late but that's the great thing about blogs and Pinterest! I get to find all the resources I missed out on. I love the word family notebook. I have those laminated posters as well. They're too cute. Thanks for the resource.



    Miss Cosby

    You Might Be a First Grader...

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  14. Thanks for the file! Love it!

    Blessings,

    Jessica Stanford
    Mrs. Stanford's Class
    I hope that you'll join me for my giveaway ♥

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  15. Your blog post is a few years old but I still wanted to say thank you! I love the freebies and the word family notebook idea. I'm a homeschooling mom and will be using these for my twin 1st graders. We've been playing around with word families but I believe your sheets will be more entertaining, compared to plain writing paper, when it comes time to write our word families down. I've tried a personal "word wall" to put in their binders they use for reference, but it wasn't that fun and so became a chore.

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