Words That Start With T For Kids

Not only is it important to get preschoolers to recognize the letter T in words, but you also want to start introducing them to Dolch sight words and CVC words. Additionally, though they might be longer words, words like teacher and tiger are familiar to them, so these are easy to use with pictures to help them recognize T words for kids and T sounds.

At this age, the priority of any language lesson is to build that all-important connection between a sound heard and a written symbol on a page. As a starting point, we recommend giving your youngest learners vivid images to connect with the T sound. We've developed a trace-the-letter activity with that in mind.

T is a common enough letter that it begins many words appropriate for your kindergarten-aged learners. Focus on providing clear, concrete, important concepts suited for these young minds by looking at CVC and CVCC words.

• Tail: The long, wagging appendage on lots of animals' bottoms
• Take: To get for yourself, to acquire
• Tale: Story, something told
• Tall: Higher than average, not short
• Tan: Light brown, especially of skin in the sun
• Tap: Brief, clear clicking sound
• Tea: A warm beverage made from dry leaves
• Teen: Someone between 13 and 19 years old
• Tick: Soft, regular clicking sound
• Toe: The five appendages on the end of your foot
• Tone: Specific musical sound
• Tool: An object used to do a job
• Top: Thing above everything else, first
• Try: Make an effort or attempt to do something
• Tub: Wide, shallow vessel, usually to hold liquids
• Tune: Melody, the way a song goes
• Twin: One of two children born at the same time
• Two: More than one and less than three

The soft and hard T sound can be quite different for beginning learners. Therefore, it can be fun to have an activity ready for them to understand the soft and hard T sounds.

1. Create a laminated list of words with a soft and hard T sound.
2. Place students in two teams.
3. Give a student from each team a buzzer or bell.
4. Hold up a card with a soft T or hard T sound.
5. The first student to answer correctly gets a point for their team. Have the next student come up and continue through the cards.

Worksheets can also be a great way to help kindergarteners start to read and understand T words. Print out this worksheet to help kiddos get ready for reading.

Early elementary students in 1st grade and 2nd grade are delving into reading. To support your students beginning to engage with written language, use this list to provide equal parts clear and concrete terms and words that may inspire questions. Nothing reinforces linguistic development more profoundly than talking with a teacher about what a word means and how it can be used.

• Taunt: To tease cruelly, to make fun of
• Tent: Fabric shelter hung over a pole
• Tint: Shade of color on an object
• Toll: Money paid to use a road or bridge
• Town: A big village or small city
• Track: A straight path for something to travel on, especially a train
• Train: A vehicle for carrying things or people along a track
• Tribe: A large group of related people
• Trick: Something that deceives or surprises
• Truck: A large vehicle for carrying cargo
• Twine: Rough string that comes in balls
• Twist: To turn something around a central object
• Tyke: A small child, kid

To reinforce learning, reward your students for their knowledge. Let them show off a bit. Be verbal, and be sure to call on as many different students as you can when you see lots of hands go up to offer a definition. We've also provided here a fill-in-the-blank sentence quiz to help your students start to build their lists of words into phrases.

Again, many of these words will probably be familiar to some of your students in grades 3-5. The only way to guarantee they keep that familiarity is through repetition. Activities in upper elementary grades should engage students with the context and larger significance of language presented. At this stage of development, vocabulary moves from being a memorization exercise to one that explores more creative expression.

• Taste: The sense that picks up the flavor in food
• Teacher: Someone who helps others learn, especially children
• Thick: Wide, dense, not thin
• Thin: Narrow, not thick
• Thirst: Needing water
• Tide: The movement of the sea in and out
• Total: All of, the entire amount
• Traipse: To walk casually
• Trap: To catch a person or animal, or something that catches a person or animal
• Tray: A flat platter used for carrying smaller objects
• Trial: A test of something
• Tripe: Food made from a cow's stomach
• Troop: A group of people, usually one that travels together
• Trope: A concept used in books, movies or other kinds of art
• Trouble: Difficulty, unpleasantness
• Trout: A kind of freshwater fish
• Trudge: To walk tiredly
• Trundle: To roll an object with wheels
• Truth: What really happened, not a lie
• Tutor: Someone who teaches people one at a time or in a small group

This is the age at which you can begin to talk about the subjective or idiomatic uses of language. You can begin teaching your students phrases like "through thick and thin" or "grain of truth." Encourage students to share phrases they've heard containing these words by creating an idioms with T activity. Take out a timer and have students write down as many idioms using T words as they can think of. After a minute, find unique idioms and have students try their hand at making unique idioms.

T shows up everywhere in English. The process of connecting the letter to abstract concepts starts with lists, but it proceeds into the etymology, usage and consequences of language as a whole. When you can engage your students with that, you'll have given them true and lifelong literacy.

WordFinder is another great resource to track down take-charge T words. Its list of words that start with T includes a variety of words that are perfect for your vocabulary list. Fill out the advanced search field to narrow down your list even more! For more enriching vocabulary and etymology, take a look at our words starting with U. It's a fact those little learners will be ready to up their game for these unique words. Have fun!