Grade by Grade
B. Foundations of Language · Sounds, Letters and Reading Words

Reading CVC Words and Word Families

B2.3 B2.4 B2.8About 35 minutes
Learning goals
  • I can read short words like cat, sun and pig by blending the sounds.
  • I can read words in word families, like cat, hat, mat.
  • I can change one letter to make a new word.
  • I can read short sentences made of words I can sound out.

Words to know

CVC word
A short word with a consonant, then a vowel, then a consonant, like c-a-t.
short vowel
The sound a vowel usually makes in a CVC word: a in apple, e in egg, i in insect, o in octopus, u in umbrella.
word family
A group of words that end the same way, like cat, hat, mat (the -at family).
decode
To figure out a word by turning letters into sounds and blending them.

You can read now!

You know letter sounds. You can blend sounds. Put them together, and you can read words!

Look at these letters: s u n. Say each sound: /s/ /u/ /n/. Blend them: sun! ☀️

You just decoded a word.

CVC words

Many short words follow the same pattern:

Consonant + Vowel + Consonant

  • c-a-t
  • d-o-g
  • p-i-g
  • b-e-d
  • b-u-s

In a CVC word, the vowel almost always makes its short sound.

catC V C: consonant, vowel, consonant
cat is a CVC word. The vowel is in the middle.

How to read a word: touch and say, then slide

  1. Touch each letter and say its sound.
  2. Slide your finger under the whole word and blend the sounds together.
  3. Check: Is it a real word? Does it make sense?
Worked example

Let's read "pig" together

Read this word: pig

  1. Touch p: /p/.
  2. Touch i: /i/.
  3. Touch g: /g/.
  4. Slide your finger under it and blend: /p/ /i/ /g/ → pig.
  5. Check: Yes, a pig is a farm animal. 🐷 It is a real word.

The word is pig.

Word families

Words in a word family have the same ending chunk. If you can read one, you can read them all! Just change the first sound.

chmsbrpat→ hatSlide the strip:cathatmatsatbatratpat
A word family slider: keep the -at chunk and change only the first sound to read cat, hat, mat, sat, bat, rat, pat.
-at-an-ig-op-ug-et-en
catcanbighopbugjethen
hatfandigmophugnetpen
matmanpigpopmugpetten
satvanwigtoprugwetmen
Word families: same ending, different first sound
Worked example

Let's change one letter

Start with cat. Change the c to b. What is the new word? Now change the a to i.

  1. cat → take away c, put in b → bat. 🦇
  2. bat → take away a, put in i → bit.
  3. Changing the middle letter changes the vowel sound: /a/ became /i/.

cat → bat → bit

Read a sentence

Now read these sentences. Touch each word as you read.

  • The cat sat on a mat.
  • A big pig is in the mud.
  • Ten men run to the bus.

The word the is a special word you will learn more about later. For now, just remember it says "thuh".

Silly sentence

Read this silly sentence:

A big pig in a wig can jig! 🐷

The words big, pig, wig and jig are all in the -ig word family.

Hands-on activity

Word family slider

You need: a strip of paper, scissors (with a grown-up's help), and a marker.

  1. On a card, write a word ending like -at in big letters on the right side.
  2. On a strip of paper, write letters in a column: c, h, m, s, b, r, p.
  3. Slide the strip up and down beside -at. Read each new word: cat, hat, mat, sat, bat, rat, pat.
  4. Make another one for -ug or -op.

Talk about it: "Which ones are real words? What does each one mean?"

Your turn

1

Read: map

2

Read: sun

3

Read: web

4

Which word is in the -ug family: hug, hog, hag?

5

Change the m in mop to t. What word did you make?

6

Read the sentence: The dog can dig.

7

Write 3 words in the -en family.

More practice: warm-up

1

Read: bed

2

Read: fox

3

Read: cup

4

What vowel is in the middle of pin?

5

Read: hat, mat, sat

More practice: on your own

1

Read: A red hen is in the pen.

2

Change the u in bug to a. What new word?

3

Which word does not belong in the family: jet, net, nut, pet?

4

Read: six. How many sounds do you hear?

5

Which word matches 🐛: bug, bag, big?

Challenge

1

Make a word chain. Start with hot. Change one letter each time: hot → h_t → _it → ...

2

Read: Can a big cat sit on a log? Then answer it: yes or no?

3

Write a CVC word with each vowel: a, e, i, o, u.

Check your understanding

Quiz

1.

Which word is in the -at family?

2.

Read these letters: p-i-n. What is the word?

3.

Which word has the short u sound, like in umbrella?

4.

Change the c in cat to b. What is the new word?

5.

What kind of word is dog?

6.

Which sentence goes with this picture: 🐷 in mud?

For parents and teachers

Big idea: Grade 1 students use phonics to read phonetically regular words, starting with CVC words, both alone and in sentences (B2.3, B2.4). Reading them smoothly in short sentences begins fluency (B2.8).

How to help at home:

  • Use magnetic letters on the fridge. Build a word, then change one letter at a time.
  • Encourage "touch and say, then slide". Don't let your child guess from the first letter alone. Point to each letter.
  • Use decodable books (books with mostly words your child can sound out) from your school or library.

Common difficulties:

  • Guessing from the first letter (reading "bug" as "big"). Cover the word and reveal one letter at a time.
  • Mixing up short vowels, especially e and i. Keep a vowel card with key words (apple, egg, insect, octopus, umbrella) nearby.
  • Saying the sounds but not the word ("/c/ /a/ /t/... ?"). Model blending faster each time, and stretch continuous sounds.

Praise effort: "You looked at every letter!"