Objective

The objective of this lesson is to teach the -at family of words to your child.

The cat and the rat

Goal

By the end of this lesson, your child will be familiar with the -at family of words. Note that it may take some time for your child to be familiar with reading using phonics… it may take several sittings with your child to teach them how to pronounce these words and to read the free downloadable booklet accompanying this lesson. This is okay – be patient with your child as he or she is learning to read, and make sure that reading is a fun and enjoyable experience.

Time requirement

One hour. May be reinforced over several teaching sessions.

Grade level

Pre-kindergarten and kindergarten.

Words in the -at family

Here are some words in the -at family that you can use to practice phonics with your children or students.

  • At
  • Bat
  • Cat
  • Rat
  • Fat
  • Sat
  • Flat
  • Brat
  • Chat
  • Gnat
  • Pat
  • Spat
  • Scat
  • Mat
  • Vat

Phonics activities

There are two worksheets to download to accompany your phonics teaching. After you’ve taught your child a bit about phonics and about the different -at words, have them work on the two sets of worksheets. The first is a matching game with words and pictures of -at family words, while the second is a fill in the blanks activity that they can complete. Be sure to let them know that you are available to help them if they ask for your assistance. The goal is to make learning how to read enjoyable and stress-free for your child.

Free phonics book

The -at family phonics booklet called “The Mat” is already in proper format; just print out the pages and order them according to the numbers printed at the bottom of each page. If you like you can laminate the booklet and include it in your phonics family library.