WordPower News
Learning to read is easier when children can recognize patterns in words. One powerful way to support this is through word families—and they’re available in WordPower through the Phonics pages in files with 42 locations and higher.
What Are Word Families?
Word families are groups of words that share the same ending sound and spelling, such as:
- at: bat, cat, hat
- ake: cake, make, take
- ock: dock, rock, sock
Watch video: https://youtu.be/a8qY0fyYXVU
When children learn one word in a family, they can often read many more. This helps reading feel more manageable and less overwhelming.
Why Are Word Families Important?
Word families help children:
- Recognize patterns in words
- Learn new words more quickly
- Build confidence as readers
Instead of memorizing words one at a time, children learn skills they can use again and again.
Why This Matters for AAC Users
For children who use AAC, literacy supports independence and communication. Word families help connect sounds, letters, and words, making it easier for children to spell, read, and create new messages—not just rely on memorized phrases.
Word Families in WordPower
Word families can be found in WordPower through the Phonics pages, allowing children to explore reading patterns right inside the same system they use to communicate every day. Customize word families to fit the learners needs.
By combining language and literacy in one place, WordPower helps children build stronger reading skills while growing their voice.
Inspired during the development of the Mandarin files, a recent update to WordPower60 Basic includes the addition of three new verb categories: HYGIENE, MOVEMENT, and COMMUNICATE within the ACTIONS page.
These categories are designed to support learners who benefit from finding related words grouped together on a single page. You will find them on the last page of actions.
Why Add Verb Categories?
Some AAC users benefit from categorical organization because it:
- Makes related words easier to locate
- Supports vocabulary expansion within a theme
- Encourages exploration of new verbs
- Builds semantic connections
While WordPower is built around motor planning and core vocabulary access, these additional categories provide another layer of support for learners who thrive with grouped vocabulary.
If this organization is helpful for your AAC learner, you may consider copying and pasting frequently used buttons to a location earlier within the Actions section for faster access.
HYGIENE
The HYGIENE category includes everyday self-care verbs such as:
- brush teeth
- wash hands
- brush hair
These words are especially useful for daily routines at home and school, helping learners comment, request, or participate more independently during personal care activities.
MOVEMENT
The MOVEMENT category includes action words such as:
- dance
- jump
- step
- walk
These verbs are perfect for play, physical education, recess, and movement-based activities. They also provide opportunities to model language during motivating, high-energy moments.
COMMUNICATE
The COMMUNICATE category supports higher-level language functions with verbs such as:
- answer
- ask
- explain
These words help learners move beyond requesting and into social interaction, conversation, and academic participation.
Explore the Actions Page
Take some time to explore the updated Actions section in WordPower60 Basic and discover new opportunities for modeling and expanding language.
Try:
- Modeling new verbs during routines
- Pairing core words with these new actions
- Encouraging exploration without pressure
Most importantly — have fun with it! Language grows best in meaningful, engaging interactions.
What are Logical Next Words?
WordPower files are designed to support efficient, natural communication. One of the programming features that helps accomplish this is called Logical Next Words.
This feature helps reduce the number of button presses needed to create messages by predicting and suggesting logical follow-up words or phrases. It can also provide helpful language support for beginning communicators as they learn to build sentences and expand communication.
For example, when selecting the verb take in WordPower60 Basic, logical next words appear including:
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While Logical Next Words are available across the WordPower suite, the specific options may vary depending on the grid size and file design. As you watch, you’ll see how this feature can support faster, easier, and more engaging communication.
This video explores examples of Logical Next Words in WordPower60 Basic.
In this video, we’ll explore Logical Next Words in six WordPower files:
WordPower25 WordPower42 Basic
WordPower48 WordPower60 Basic
The NEW WordPower80
WordPower108 with Keyboard
Discover the Hidden Gems in WordPower 
There’s more to WordPower than meets the eye!
WordPower vocabularies are designed to support efficient, flexible communication, and they include many features that can be easy to overlook. Our Hidden Gems video series takes a closer look at some of these helpful features, resources, and updates.
WordPower Hidden Gems
The first video (October 2023) explores features that have been built into WordPower vocabularies to support communication, literacy, personalization, and everyday activities.
Discover features such as:
- Writing to Apps
- Cursor Moves for editing text in the speech display bar
- Literacy supports, including early books, story concepts, character traits, and Stories and Scripts
- Phonics sounds updated
- Core in Groups
- Growing Vocabulary
- Social communication pages
- Spanish and French language options
- Helpful tools such as Logical Next Words, Word Completion, Smart Punctuation, Whiteboard, & Lock Page
Watch Hidden Gems on YouTube →
WordPower Spotlight: 2026 Hidden Gems
The second video (September 2026) highlights updates and recent additions to WordPower.
2026 Hidden Gems flyer
Explore:
- WordPower80, a new 80-location vocabulary option
- Vocabulary additions and updated Logical Next Words
- New pages for Word Families, Pain Scales, Zones of Regulation, and Vehicle Sounds
- New organization for related verb categories
- A new dialect tool on supported vocabularies
- Options for using WordPower with apps, including ChatGPT
Watch WordPower Spotlight: 2026 Hidden Gems →
Keep Exploring
WordPower continues to evolve through clinical experience, feedback from clients, families, and professionals, and new technology opportunities.
Whether you’re an AAC user, family member, educator, speech-language pathologist, or other AAC professional, take a few minutes to explore the Hidden Gems videos. You may discover a feature you didn’t know was there!