105+ CVC Word Families – List & Free Anchor Chart
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A list of over 105 CVC words grouped into CVC Word Families, organized by the same middle vowel and ending consonant. Get the free printable anchor chart to use for classroom or individual reading practice!
CVC Word Families
CVC word families are groups of words that follow the consonant-vowel-consonant pattern and contain the same ending part of the word (so the same middle vowel and final letter). Essentially, they’re groups of CVC words that rhyme!
Teaching word families helps to develop an awareness of onset-rime within syllables. Onset refers to the first consonant sound that comes before the vowel. Rime refers to the group of letters that follow, starting with the vowel and any following consonants.
👉 Example: In the word pat, p is the onset, and -at is the rime.
Grouping words in this way helps strengthen onset-rime awareness, an important phonological awareness skill. This helps the brain make connections between letters and sounds, and leads to expansion of sight word vocabulary and builds automaticity.
Using the Chart
Print the chart and use it for group practice. Start by pointing to one word family, then the first word in that group.
For each word on each list, say out loud, “If I can read [word family], then I can read [word]. Then repeat, moving on to the next word on the list.
This might seem repetitive, but it builds an awareness of common word parts. And that’s an empowering skill for kids to learn!
They quickly realize that if they can read -at, they can now read bat, cat, fat, hat, mat, pat, rat, and sat.
Dr. Louisa Moats, in her book Speech to Print, provides a great multisensory activity for onset-rime division using felt squares.
Teacher says: “Let’s say some words in parts. I’ll say the whole word. Then you say the whole word and then divide it into two parts. Touch a syllable square [colored felt square] for each part, like this.” [Model the technique first.]
c-ar sh-ip w-ave p-ie sk-at d-esk
(2020, p. 83)
Word Families
Short a CVC Words
-at words: bat, cat, mat, hat, rat.
-ag words: rag, bag, tag, wag, zag.
-an words: can, pan, man, fan, ran, van.
-ap words: cap, nap, map, gap, tap, rap, lap, zap, sap.
-am words: jam, ham, ram, Pam, Sam.
-ab words: cab, lab, tab, nab, gab.
-ad words: mad, sad, dad, pad, lad, fad, tad.
Note: For -an and -am words, be sure to point out how the /a/ sound changes slightly and makes a sort of whiny sound. Some refer to this as glued sounds or welded sounds.
Short e CVC Words
-et words: net, wet, pet, jet, vet, let, met, set, get.
-en words: hen, pen, ten, men, Ken, den, yen, Ben.
-eg words: leg, peg, beg, Meg.
-ed words: red, bed, wed, fed, led.
Short i CVC Words
-ig words: pig, wig, dig, fig, big, jig, rig.
-ip words: rip, lip, zip, sip, tip, dip.
-in words: pin, win, fin, tin, bin.
-it words: pit, hit, sit, bit, fit, zit, mit, kit.
-ix words: six, fix, mix.
-im words: rim, him, dim, Kim, Tim.
Short o CVC Words
-og words: dog, hog, log, fog, bog.
-ot words: hot, pot, cot, bot, dot, lot, rot, not.
-op words: cop, mop, top, pop, hop.
-ob words: job, rob, mob, sob, Bob.
Short u CVC Words
-ug words: mug, hug, bug, tug, rug, lug, pug, dug.
-un words: sun, fun, run, bun, pun.
-ut words: nut, cut, hut, but, rut, but.
-ub words: sub, tub, cub, rub, hub.
More CVC Resources
Printable Anchor Chart
Get our FREE anchor chart by downloading the attachment here. It’s fun and colorful! It’s sized for enlarged 18 x 24 inch sized poster printing. It can also be printed on traditional 8.5 x 11 paper for individual practice.
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Hello and thank you both for such great resources-I am a former Kindergarten teacher and wish I had discovered you then. I now teach from home through Outschool-would I have your permission to show some of your free resources on my screen during my lessons? My students would find them very helpful. Thank you-Tori Rowland iamsewblessedATgmailDOTcom
Hi Tori,
We are so glad to hear you are utilizing our resources with your students. Yes – you can share our resources on your screen. If you want to provide them for students to complete, we just require that you provide the link so students have to visit our site to download the resource. Please do not share the documents as attachments. Thank you!
Katie & Laura
I am just starting to teach long vowels this year. Your resources are AMAZING!!!!! Thank you so much for supporting literacy!!
Tiffany,
That is very exciting. It is so great when kids progress in their abilities and knowledge of phonics concepts! Best of luck!
Katie and Laura
I can’t find a link to print this. It says download and print here but there’s nothing to click.
Lisa,
Sorry for the trouble. To download our FREE resources, click the link in the email to visit the blog post. Scroll to the “Download & Print” section at the bottom of the post. Click the blue “Download” button to open the resource, then either hit the download icon to save it locally or hit the print icon to print without saving! You do NOT need to download any software or apps to access our Google Docs. Need help? Send us an email and we’d be happy to assist you!
Can you please help with printing to 8 X 11 page?
I will try the school printer to see if I can print the poster. Thank you.
Hi! We set ours to print on regular 8×11 paper and it works just fine (you can see how it looks in the photo in the post)! Let us know if you need assistance. 🙂
In your printer settings, choose “fit to page” or “fit to printable area”. That worked for me. 🙂