Words That Start With A For Kids

The excitement and joy over A words for kids begin in pre-K and kindergarten. These little readers can transition from the ABCs to three-letter words that begin with A with these helpful lists and preschool activities.

When kids are learning the building blocks of phonics, A is one of the most important sounds that they'll learn. Practice identifying and sounding out these basic A words found on most preschool and kindergarten sight word lists.

• a - one, or a specific thing
• add - finding the total of two numbers
• ago - before now or in the past
• an - one; any one; one sort of something
• am - a verb used with the word "I" as the first person singular version of the verb "be"
• and - also; in addition to
• are - plural, present tense of the verb "to be"
• as - the same amount; used to show comparison
• ask - to request the answer to a question
• at - to show the position of something

Learning the basics of a sentence is a good start for a lesson about the letter A. If students are ready for a bit more of a challenge, use this mix of short, easy words and longer A words for kids in the classroom. They include fun animals, everyday items and common words found in storybooks.

Challenge beginning readers to match these A words to the proper pictures in the worksheet below. It's a helpful way to reinforce letter recognition and early reading.

Once your preschoolers and kindergarteners can identify the letter A, they can work on writing it. Print out a tracing worksheet for beginning writers to trace upper and lowercase A.

By the time students reach first grade, it's time to up the ante on their A words list. Here are a few words to continue the journey in 1st grade, 2nd grade and 3rd grade.

• ability - a special talent or skill
• aboard - being on or inside a vehicle, ship, or airplane
• absorb - to soak up
• accuse - to say another person is at fault for something
• across - on the other side or from the other side
• active - a person, thing, or idea which is moving
• actor - a person who performs in a film, television show, or on stage
• adopt - to willingly take someone into a relationship, especially a child
• adult - someone fully mature, generally over the age of 18
• advice - a recommendation provided to serve as a guide to handle a situation
• afloat - something that stays on the surface of the water
• age - the number of years someone has been alive
• agree - to have the same opinions or views
• album - a bound book with blank pages for mountain pictures, etc.
• alike - having similarities
• along - to adhere or stand by; to be next to
• alphabet - a system of letters from a language
• although - regardless of the fact
• amount - how much you have
• ancient - an era that existed a very long time ago
• angry - feeling or showing strong discontent or resentment
• anybody - any person
• apply - something that is relevant or applicable to something else
• April - the fourth month of the year
• Arctic - anything associated with the North Pole region
• artist - a person who creates paintings, sculpture, pieces of writing, music, dance or a variety of other types of creative products
• attract - to draw in
• avoid - to keep something from coming near you

If your early elementary students are already earning A's for their spelling, consider putting on an A-focused play! Have kids choose words from the list above and incorporate them into an A-plus presentation.

Double letters are one of the challenges students may face at this level. Even as adults, we sometimes wonder if accurate has two Cs or Rs. This is a nice opportunity to set upper elementary students in 4th grade and 5th grade up for success.

• abandon - to leave something behind
  
• access - to approach or enter something
• accommodate - to provide a place to stay
• accomplish - to finish or complete something
• accurate - free from any errors
• achievement - something accomplished through great effort
• address - a written or verbal statement
• adhere - to stick to something
• agony - extreme upset or sadness
• altitude - the height of things above the earth's surface
• ancestor - a person from whom someone is descended from
• anxious - someone who feels uneasy or nervous
• apprehensive - a person who is upset or worried about a future event
• aroma - a smell or scent
• arrest - to take a person into custody for legal purposes
• arrogant - someone who is full of self-importance
• assist - to give help
• assume - to formulate or verbalize an idea with no evidence
• attempt - an effort made to accomplish something
• avalanche - a massive quantity of snow that comes down suddenly
• awkward - a situation that is uncomfortable

A fun way to encourage students to remember important vocabulary words is to ask them to draw one of the words. Give them some "free draw" time to select one of their vocabulary words on a sheet of paper. For example, someone who draws "ancestor" can draw their grandparents or someone else in their family.

Below, you'll find a colorful spinner to print out. You'll announce a word and then, based on where the spinner lands, students can either define it, spell it, offer a synonym, provide an antonym, act it out, use it in a sentence, or draw a picture.

Letter A-words abound. And, with the right coaching, we can set our students up for success in no time at all. Take a look at Wordfinder's extensive list of words that start with A. It allows you to create your own word lists, which is a perfect start to a vocabulary list. All you need to do is use the Advanced setting to select the words you'd like to add.

To continue making your spelling lessons fun, check out these words that start with B for kids of all levels. Developing a love of learning as early as preschool is a tremendous key to success.