Nowadays the importance, purpose, and shape of a family seems to differ from one home to the next. While some families preach the importance of being together and tackling life's hardships as one, not all families practice such ideas. Some families are defined by a father, mother, and children while others are made up of a number of relatives such as grandparents, aunts, uncles, and even cousins. On the flip side, other families are made up of simply a mom and her child. Modern times have changed social roles, provided an unsettled economy, and as time has passed, the meaning of family has simply imploded. The definition of a standard family is no longer religion-based in most people's minds, but more so based on political and economic situations.
In the last few years, marriage rates, divorce rates, and even birthrates have all dropped, despite the fact that many of us are used to hearing that some of these numbers are actually on the rise. But, in time's of uncertainty, it seems that many of us put our lives on hold in some way or another. When we push the brakes on life and push things such as pregnancy, marriage, and even divorce to the side, the number of families not only decreased but so does the overall quality of family life.
Moving Out Only To Move Back In
We typically expect a family to be made up of parents and their children, but we expect that in time, when the children are old enough to go to college, they move out, grow, learn, and venture the world that is before them. Moving out of your parent's home has always been deemed as a necessary step in growing up and obtaining your own sense of independence. Not many twenty year olds in today's world want to admit that they are still living with mom and dad as it's not the "cool" or "grown up" thing to do and being a social non-start is never good for the ego. So with such thoughts in mind, many college students opt to attend college away from home, leaving behind obvious stability and safety.
As Dr. Lowrance expained, "Some countries have laws that make the parents take their grown children back in and support them until they have an eduction or get a job. By law they have to pay for their kids' food and housing. That delays personal development. Nobody will ever grow up if they're taken care of perpetually by their parents."
But, in today's world, with foreclosure rates exploding, unemployment rates growing at tremendous rates, and jobs paying less and less, though college students may be moving out, they're also moving back in. A study conducted by Twentysomething Inc. discovered that 85% off 2011's graduating class will be moving back home not too long after earning their college degree. Earning a degree should be a time of celebration and pride, but earning a degree in today's world comes with an average cost of $27,200 in debt.
Today Families Akin To The Waltons?
[caption id="" align="alignleft" width="275" caption="Publicity photo of Richard Thomas and Ellen Corby from the television program The Waltons."][/caption]
At the same time that college students are moving back in with mom and dad, so are other relatives. As Dr. Don Lowrance explained, the modern American family may be revisiting families of the past. "If the economy continues to worsen, we're going to have more of a 1940's lifestyle, and we'll see more and more of this. Those types of families, where hopefully Grandma and Grandpa are there in a supporting role, but they're part of the family unit, and they're not some place else where you see them once or twice a year."
Dr. Lowrance has first-hand, personal experience with this old-fashioned type of family where many generations live under the same roof. Though his daughter and son-in-law never asked for him to move in, Lowrance holds family to a high value and believed that by moving in, his grand daughter wouldn't suffer from the hectic life of having a mother working a full time job and a father attending college for an engineering degree. This way, everyone in the family is taken care of and though many would frown upon having their parents move in, in some cases nowadays, having extra parental and familial care is best.
As he explained his situation, "They were going to do this regardless. We saw a need and we offered the idea to them and then had to talk them into it. We could see that my grand daughter would be the one who would suffer in all this and we didn't want our grand daughter to be in a day care center and not have the care of a family member and instead be cared for by a hired helper."
With such busy schedules and fast-paced life, having extra support is a must in many households today, no matter if it means moving back in, allowing a family member to live with you, or simply accepting the fact that the road to adulthood and complete independence is much longer than it ever has been. Even in today's world, the most driven and go-getter people have to rely upon others for help. And while many may see it as shameful, life today has changed when compared to how life was before. With a shaky economic situation and continuous changes in government and banking policies, independence can take much more time to achieve. But in the end, such changes may not be completely negative, as tough times usually allow for the importance of family and relationships to shine brighter than ever.
Ashley Pages is a writing superstar for Off-Topic Media. Special thanks to Dr. Don Lowrance, a Corpus Christi sleep apnea dentist, father, and grand father, for sharing his thoughts with us. He can be reached at:
Don H. Lowrance, DDS
4707 Everhart Road #101
Corpus Christi, TX 78411
(361) 851-8274
When studying the _ug word family/rime, this little ladybug can be a helpful visual.
Definitions:
Onset – An onset is the beginning consonant element in a syllable, before the vowel. (For example, the word ring. R is the onset and ing is the rime. (Ring, wing, king and bring all belong to the ing word family.)
Rime or Word Family- There are 37 most commonly used rimes/word families. When students learn the 37 word families they are equiped to write and spell more than 500 word combinations (Wylie and Durrell, 1970). A rime or word family is the vowel and any following consonants within a syllable. They are groups of words that have a common feature or pattern. They share the same combinations of letters and a similar sound.
The 37 most common word families in English are: ack, ain, ake, ale, all, ame, an, ank, ap, ash, at, ate, aw ay, eat, ell, est, ice, ick, ide, ight, ill, in, ine, ing, ink, ip, it, ock, oke, op, ore, ot, uck ,ug, ump, unk (Wylie and Durrell).
Materials:
Instructions:
Teacher
Laminate the Ladybug _ug Template. (Another option is to copy the ladybug onto clear transparency and use it on the overhead projector.)
Teacher Demonstration and Class Discussion:
Use this little ladybug as a way to introduce the ug word family/rime. Using the laminated ladybug explain that there are lots of words ending with ug. All words ending with ug are in the same word family. Let the children suggest ug words as you write them onto the ladybug. At least one student will probably give the correct answer... bug. After writing and then erasing bug ask the students to think of other words in the ug word family. Some suggestions are: tug, rug, mug, slug. When you are finished end with the word bug, and post the ladybug in your classroom for reference.
Tell the students that there are 37 most common word families in English: ack, ain, ake, ale, all, ame, an, ank, ap, ash, at, ate, aw ay, eat, ell, est, ice, ick, ide, ight, ill, in, ine, ing, ink, ip, it, ock, oke, op, ore, ot, uck ,ug, ump, unk (Wylie and Durrell).
Assign one word family to each student. When reviewing assessments, this is the ideal time to assign a word family which you know each individual student is in need of studying.
Students
Assignment/Free, Differentiated Printable:
Pass out My Word Family/Rime. Students write the word family they have been assigned on the paper and draw pictures and write words demonstrating words in that word family.
Students share their word family words and drawing with the class for discussion and review.
References:
Wylie, R.E., & Durrell, D.D. (1970). Teaching vowels through phonograms. Elementary English, 47, 787-791.
There are
Use this fun game, complete with free printable game template, to reinforce word families.
Materials to Create the Game:
Instructions to Create the Game:
Teacher
- Laminate all of the game pieces (ice cream cone, scoops of ice cream, score cards and both dice). Because the game pieces are laminated you can re-use the game several times. If you choose not to laminate the game pieces it may not last as long, but you students can still play the game without the pieces being laminated.
- Cut out, fold and tape together the dice. You will find one dice to use with word families already written on it. The blank dice can be used to write any of the word families your students are in need of studying. If you laminate the dice and use a white board marker to write the word family, you can re-use the dice when students are ready to move on to a new word family. If you don't want to laminate the dice, you can print it onto card stock and use a black pen or pencil to write the word family on the dice.
The 37 most common word families in English are: ack, ain, ake, ale, all, ame, an, ank, ap, ash, at, ate, aw ay, eat, ell, est, ice, ick, ide, ight, ill, in, ine, ing, ink, ip, it, ock, oke, op, ore, ot, uck ,ug, ump, unk (Wylie and Durrell).
Students
- Cut out the ice cream cones, scoops of ice cream and score cards.
- Cover the yogurt container with construction paper and tape the words "Ice Cream" on the side. Put the scoops of ice cream inside the container.
How to Play the Game
1. Give Each Player One of the Following:
- One Chocolate Rainbow Sprinkle Ice Cream Cone
- One Score Card
- Pencil or White Board Marker (if score card is covered with laminate).
2. Put All of the Following Materials on the Table:
- Dictionary
- Word Family Dice (Dice is filled in with a word family on each side. Use the example dice or create your own on the blank dice.)
- Container of Ice Cream Scoops
- Word Family Dice
- Timer (to time seconds)
To determine the first player, roll the word family dice. The first player to roll "ice" starts the game.
In a clockwise direction, each player rolls the dice. After rolling the dice the player has 10-30 seconds (amount of seconds is determined by the teacher) to write a word in the appropriate word family. For example, is the word family is "all", the student has to write a real word before time runs out. If the student wrote the word "call", the word is correct, so he gets a scoop of icecream and puts in on his cone. If he wrote "jall" a student can say, "I scream you scream, we all scream for ice cream." Saying this phrase means that you are being challenged and that you must look your word up in the dictionary. If it is not a real word, you don't get a scoop of ice cream. If it is a word, you get to take a scoop of ice cream off of your challengers cone. If your challenger does not have a 2nd scoop of ice cream, he cannot challenge you. The teacher, however, can challenge you at any time.
The first player with 5 scoops of ice cream (4 correct words) wins.
References:
Wylie, R.E., & Durrell, D.D. (1970). Teaching vowels through phonograms. Elementary English, 47, 787-791.
Here's a free template and lesson plan (below). The students will slide the egg halves to create words. Then, they will guess which object is inside the egg. When the egg is open they will find the surprise answer. This lesson plan can be differentiated depending upon the needs of the student. Students learn onset and rime/word family.
First, let's review a few definitions, which will help guide the purpose of our instruction.
Definitions:
Onset - An onset is the beginning consonant element in a syllable, before the vowel. (For example, the word ring.
R is the onset and ing is the rime. (Ring, wing, king and bring all belong to the ing word family.)
Rime or Word Family- There are 37 most commonly used rimes/word families. When students learn the 37 word families they are equiped to write and spell more than 500 word combinations (Wylie and Durrell, 1970). A rime or word family is the vowel and any following consonants within a syllable. They are groups of words that have a common feature or pattern. They share the same combinations of letters and a similar sound.
The 37 most common word families in English are: ack, ain, ake, ale, all, ame, an, ank, ap, ash, at, ate, aw ay, eat, ell, est, ice, ick, ide, ight, ill, in, ine, ing, ink, ip, it, ock, oke, op, ore, ot, uck ,ug, ump, unk (Wylie and Durrell).
Chunk - A chunk is a unit of letters commonly grouped in words. Chunks are found at the beginning, middle or end of words. For example, the an chunk is in the words another, and, sand, man, handy, and chants. Teaching students how to recognize common chunks can help them figure out new words when reading and writing.
Phonogram -A phonogram is a letter or combination of letters which represent a sound. Here is a list of 72 basic phonograms: a, b, c, d, e, f, g, h, i, j, k, l, m, n, o, p, qu, r, s, t, u, v, w, x, y, z, ai, ar, au, aw, ay, ch, ci, ck, dge, ea, ear, ed, ee, ei, eigh, er, ew, ey, gn, ie, igh, ir, kn, ng, nk, oa, oe, oi, oo, or, ou, ough, our, ow, oy, ph, sh, si, tch, th, ti, ui, ur, wh, wor, wr. Romalda Spalding (1970) referred to all of the basic phonograms in her work, with the exception of our (as in your) and nk (as in sank). (Note: After completing assessments, it can be helpful to create a special Surprise Phonogram Egg for students in need of help with specific phonograms.)
How to Create Your Own Surprise Egg Word Family Game
Materials:
- Surprise Egg Word Family Game template (glue on top of the egg cartons. Keep the ring to put inside the example ing egg.)
- Plastic Easter eggs (as many as you want or 37 for an entire set)
- Black or dark blue permanent marker
- Objects inside the eggs (Draw on paper or find inexpensive objects to put inside each egg. This is the fun part. Student can help with this, too.)
- Egg carton with free template or basket to store the finished eggs. (You can make a few eggs or an entire set of 37, using each of the word families. If you use egg cartons, you will need 3 cartons, which fit a dozen eggs. You will have one extra egg, so tape or use a wikki stick to attach the extra egg on top of the stack of 3 cartons.)
- For reference, keep this list of the 37 most common word families in English: ack, ain, ake, ale, all, ame, an, ank, ap, ash, at, ate, aw ay, eat, ell, est, ice, ick, ide, ight, ill, in, ine, ing, ink, ip, it, ock, oke, op, ore, ot, uck ,ug, ump, unk (Wylie and Durrell). You will write these word families on the right half of each egg.
Instructions:
Create and Show Students The Teacher's Example Surprise Egg Word Family Game
1. Create an example. Use a permanent marker to write the ing rime onto the right hand side of the egg. Then, write an r, w, br and k on the left half of the egg.
Left Right
wing
sting
ring
bring
2. Put a toy ring or a picture of a ring inside the egg.
3. When you are ready for instruction, twist each side of the egg to create a new word and say each word out loud.
4. Then spell each word as students repeat after you.
5. Students write each word on a white board as you show them the word. They hold the whiteboards up when finished.
6. Ask, "What sound do all of these words share?" (Listen for a student to say the correct answer.) These words are in the ing word family.
7. Here's the fun part. Ask the students,"What ing surprise word is inside of the egg?" (Students guess.)
8. Open the egg and show the students the ring.
Students Create Surprise Egg Word Family Game
- After showing the students your example, the students can brainstorm words under each rime/word family on a poster board or overhead projector. Use this brainstorming as a means of instruction and let the students help create the words. Tell the student to decide on one word in the egg and tell them to draw a pictures or find an object representing that word inside each egg. (For example, for the ing egg, the surprise was a ring.) If the students complete six-seven rimes/word families a day it will take about six days to complete all of the common word families. Keep this poster or overhead transparency for the following day.
- The next day, split the students into small groups and give each group an even number of eggs. Assign each group a word family to write on each egg.
- After they write the word family, they need to choose one word and draw a picture of the word to put inside of the egg.
- Students then close the eggs with the pictures of the words inside and writing on the outside.
Students Trade/Play Surprise Eggs
Rotate the groups of eggs to each group, until each group gets and opportunity to see each rime/word family and find the surprise inside each egg.
Additional Uses:
- Substitute teachers - Skip painting the egg cartons to save time. After the students help create your game, keep it for future use.
References:
Spalding, R. & North, M.E. (2003). Writing road to reading 5th rev ed: The Spalding Method for teaching speech, spelling, writing, and reading. Harper Collins. New York: NY.
Wylie, R.E., & Durrell, D.D. (1970). Teaching vowels through phonograms. Elementary English, 47, 787-791.
