📖 ReadingLevel 1Lesson 7
← Back🔒 PDF with full access

Rhyming Words and Word Families

Lesson preview: the Mini Lesson and Vocabulary are open to everyone. Guided practice, exercises, the parent checklist and the printable PDF worksheet come with full access (free 7-day trial or membership).

Learning Objectives

  • 1Identify rhyming words by hearing that they share the same ending sound
  • 2Group words into word families that share the same vowel-consonant ending
  • 3Use a known word family to read new words by swapping the onset
📘

Mini Lesson

Have you ever noticed that some words sound alike at the end? Cat and hat both end in /-at/. Hop and top both end in /-op/. Words that share the same ending sound are called rhyming words — and groups of them form a word family!

What makes words rhyme?

  • Rhyming words have the same vowel + consonant ending — called the rime.
  • Only the beginning sound (the onset) changes.
  • Example: c-at · h-at · b-at · s-at → all in the -at family!

Why word families help you read

  • If you can read cat, you can quickly read hat, bat, mat, sat, rat — just swap the first sound!
  • Word families are a shortcut — learn one, read many.
  • They also help you spell: if you know -ight, you can spell light, night, right, fight.

Eight word families in this lesson

  • -at: cat / hat · -ig: big / wig
  • -op: hop / top · -en: hen / ten
  • -ug: bug / mug · -ake: cake / lake
  • -ing: ring / sing · -ight: night / light
Three word families with their rhyming wordsThree labeled boxes — the -at family (cat, bat, hat, rat), the -ig family (pig, dig, big, wig), and the -op family (hop, top, mop, pop) — each showing the family ending and the rhyming words inside.Three Word Families-atcatbathatratall rhyme!-igpigdigbigwigall rhyme!-ophoptopmoppopall rhyme!
Each box is a word family — all the words inside rhyme.
Cat and hat rhyme — the -at ending is the sameA rhyming pair. On the left a cat with a label cat; on the right a hat with a label hat. The matching -at ending is circled and highlighted at the bottom to show the shared rime.cat and hat rhyme!cathatsame ending sound — the rime:-at
Cat and hat rhyme — both end with the -at sound.
💡

Ask yourself: "Do these two words end with the same sound? Then they rhyme!"

Vocabulary
Rhyme
When two words share the same ending sounde.g. cat / hat, bug / mug
Word family
A group of words that share the same vowel + consonant ending (the rime)e.g. -at, -ig, -op, -ug, -ake, -ing, -ight
Onset
The beginning consonant sound of a word — the part that changes when you swape.g. the c in cat, the h in hat
Rime
The vowel + ending consonant part of a word — the part that stays the same in a familye.g. the -at in cat, hat, bat, sat
Free · 7 days · No credit card

Unlock the full HSEA system for 7 days.

Add your first kid profile and your 7 days start: every lesson in every grade, saved progress for each child. Nothing to set up, no card required, nothing to cancel.

  • ✓ All 1,680 lessons, Grades 1–6, every subject
  • ✓ Profiles + saved progress for every kid
  • ✓ Printable lessons with answer key
Start your 7-day free trial →
Already convinced? See full membership plans →
← Lesson 6: Recognizing High-Frequency Sight WordsLesson 8: Reading Short Sentences with Expression →