Level 2 • Lesson 45 — Build families of related words

Objective

Build families of related words so you can see how words connect in meaning and spelling and use that to understand new words.

Materials

Word cards with base words (play, help, read, joy, move)
Word cards with related words (player, playful, replay, joyful, movement, helper, helping, reread)
Notebook or chart for drawing word-family groups
Pencil ✏️ and colored pencils or markers

Mini-lesson — What is a word family?

Many words are part of a word family. They are like cousins. They are connected in meaning and often in spelling.

Look at the word play:

play — We play outside.
player — A player is a person who plays.
playful — A playful puppy likes to play a lot.
replay — We replay the song, we play it again.

These words all belong to the play family. They share a base word and a related meaning.

Word families can be built in two main ways:

Words that share the same base word (read, reread, reading, reader).
Words that share a similar meaning (happy, joyful, glad).

When you meet a new word, you can ask:

“Does this look like a word I already know?”
“Does this feel like it belongs to a word family I know?”

Today you will sort words into families and use the families to help you talk about what the words mean.

Picture: A word-family house with words inside it.

Guided Practice — Word-family mini-book

How to use this mini-book:

On each page, look for the base word and its family members.
Ask, “How are these words the same? How are they a little different?”
Have your child say a new sentence using one of the family words.

After reading, draw a small “word-family house” for one base word and write 3 or 4 family words inside it.

Word families in this mini-book

play, player, playful, replay help, helpful, helper joy, joyful, joyless

Mini-Book: Busy word families

1

The play family.

Kids play on the field. One player kicks the ball. A puppy runs in a playful way. We replay the best part.

2

The help family.

Dad can help with homework. A helper holds the door. A kind friend is very helpful when you feel stuck.

3

The joy family.

There is joy at the party. The music is joyful. A rainy day with no games feels almost joyless.

4

Many families.

Word families live in every story. When you see one word you know, you might find more of its family on the page.

Reading Practice — Sort the word families

For each card, choose the words that belong together in the same family.

1) Which set of words is one word family?

2) Which group belongs to the help family?

3) Which set of words is a family because they have similar meanings?

4) Which words make a good read family?

5) How can word families help with a new word?

Quick Check (10 questions)

1) What is a word family?

A group of words with no connection A group of words that are related in meaning or share the same base word A list of words you never read

2) Which group shows a word family built from a base word?

help, helpful, helper help, chair, window book, blanket, cup

3) Which group shows a family of words with similar meanings?

cat, dog, fish run, jump, sit tiny, small, little

4) In the play family, which is the base word?

playful play replay

5) Which word could belong to the joy family?

joyful joystick join

6) “The reader liked reading and rereading the book.” All of these words belong to which family?

play joy read

7) How can word families help you understand a new word?

They make the word longer and harder. They remind you of a base word or meaning you already know. They hide the real meaning.

8) Which sentence shows someone using a word family?

“I know help, so helpful must mean full of help.” “I do not look at any word parts.” “I only read the pictures.”

9) Which pair belongs to the same word family?

cat, happy sun, slowly move, movement

10) What is one goal of this lesson?

To see how words are related in families To forget words you already know To only read one word from each story

Assessment (parent/teacher)

Groups words correctly into at least three word families Explains in simple language how the words in a family are connected Uses knowledge of families to suggest meanings for one or two new words Reads mini-book pages with good accuracy on word-family words

Exit ticket (student)

😀 I can spot word families and use them to understand words 🙂 I need a little more practice with word families 😅 Word families still feel tricky

I will practice…

Making “word-family houses” for words I see in stories Saying how family words are the same and different Looking for base words inside long words

Lesson 45: Build families of related words