Word Family Factory hands kindergarten students 12 mixed-up CVC words to sort into four families: -at, -an, -ot, and -op. The robots have muddled their boxes, and the list is built from near twins such as cat and can or pot and pop, so students must look at the last letter. Two questions follow the sort. The sheet practices Common Core RF.K.3.d and RF.K.2.c, and the answer key gives the full sort with sample replies.
RF.K.3.d
“Distinguish between similarly spelled words by identifying the sounds of the letters that differ.”
The sort and question 1, where students separate pairs that differ by one letter, like pot and pop or cat and can.
RF.K.2.c
“Blend and segment onsets and rimes of single-syllable spoken words.”
Sorting by rime, then making a new -at and -op word in question 2.
A boxed grid of 12 words: bat, pot, pan, hop, can, hat, pop, hot, top, cat, dot, and man.
Four columns headed -at words, -an words, -ot words, and -op words, with three words to place in each.
Question 1 asks which word was tricky and what letter changed. Question 2 asks for one new -at word and one new -op word.
The sorted table plus sample replies, such as cat and can with the t and n changed, and mat or mop as new family words.
Cut and sort
Cut the Mixed-Up Words grid into 12 cards. Students group them on the desk, then copy each column onto the sheet.
Cover the first letter
Write cat and can side by side. Students who read only the first letter put them in the same family, so show them how to cover the c and read what is left.
Word wall follow-up
Add the four family headers to your word wall. The next morning, students post their question 2 words under -at and -op.
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