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1st Grade Short I Word Families Worksheets

First graders sort -in, -ip, and -ick words fast and use the families to read blends: if a child owns in, then spin, grin, and twin are one sound away. The -ick column quietly teaches the ck ending rule.

Free printable PDF, aligned to Common Core RF.1.3. One skill per page, answer key on page two.

Every sheet is one of a kind and prints with a version code, so you can reprint the exact same one later. New version every click.

A sample 1st grade sheet. Yours will have different sentences. Click it to print your own.

The kind of words you'll sort

Say each word. Write it under its family.

thickshinflipchickgrinskinfinclickticktripchipdrip

Columns: -in and -ip and -ick. "grin" belongs under -in; "trip" belongs under -ip; "tick" belongs under -ick.

Every print draws a fresh mix of word lists at this level, so a make-up test or a second sibling gets a different sheet.

What's on each sheet

Every version prints on US Letter or A4, with its answer key on the last page.

How to teach this

Use the columns to build blend fluency: cover the first letters and reveal them one at a time (in, pin, spin, grin). If your student writes kik for kick, point at the -ick column; the pattern corrects the spelling without a lecture.

Watch for: The -ick family spells the k sound with ck, which is how English usually ends a short-vowel word: kick, not kik. Blends stack onto families: s-p-in is still an -in word, just with two sounds up front.

Common questions about short i word families

How do families help with words like twin and grin?
They split the work: the child already owns -in, so only the blend is new. Reading becomes tw + in instead of four separate letters. Blends stop being walls and become doorways into words they already know.
Why does kick end in ck but kite doesn't?
The short vowel is the signal: after a short vowel sound, English ends the k sound with ck (kick, stick). Kite's long i changes the rules. First graders don't need the full theory, but the -ick column plants the pattern early.

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Aligned to Common Core RF.1.3. Reviewed by the One More Sheet curriculum team. Content version 68, updated July 2026.