Book excerpt: These rib-tickling word family plays will delight children and help them become confident, fluent readers. Each play gives children plenty of practice reading a group of words from the same word family--words that share the same sound and spelling pattern. Learning to recognize these families of words helps children decode with ease so they can focus on comprehension. Easy-to-read text in large type builds reading confidence! Each play targets a key phonogram Research shows that recognizing and using word families helps children develop phonemic awareness of rhyming words, increase sight word vocabulary, and improve decoding & spelling skills Engaging plays invite repeated readings that help boost fluency skills such as reading rate, automaticity, and expression Reinforces vocabulary and listening skills Perfect for Readers Theater