A Focus on Rhymes
In my previous blog post, I focused on phonemic awareness and its importance. With that, I mentioned the implications of problems with rhyming. When students have a tough time identifying the matching sounds of rhyming pairs, this can be an early indication of trouble with learning to read.
When students don’t hear the similarities in rhyming words, they will also often have a tough time hearing and identifying the sounds of words. This then leads to the process of learning to read quite difficult.
To combat the difficulties with rhyming words, a focus should be placed on rhyming with these students. Most early readers can benefit from rhyming practice- it doesn’t just have to be ones who are struggling with figuring them out. Keep reading for ideas on how to work on rhyming words with your early readers!
Read Books with Rhymes
One thing you can do is include a variety of books in your classroom library that have rhyming pairs. These not only make entertaining read alouds from their rhythmic text, but also always can lead to a quick discussion on rhyming words.
Before reading, tell students to keep an ear out for words that rhyme. Then ask them to give a thumbs up each time they hear a rhyming pair. Throughout your read aloud, pause to ask for words that rhymed on the page you’re on. You can provide the first word and then have students provide the rhyming word. To take this one step further, have students name other words that also rhyme with those words.
Rhyming Word Work Activities
Get your readers thinking about rhyming words often. As with any new skill, the more practice they have, the better they catch on. Here are a few ideas to do with rhyming word cards:
- Read the rhyming words.
- Find the matching pairs.
- Look at the word card and make the rhyming words.
- Separate parts of the word that make the rhyming pairs different.
Reading Rhyming Words, in Context
I’m a huge believer in readers practicing words in, and out, of context. They need the chance to figure out a word on its own, as well as within sentences and stories. That’s why I created my Rhyming Passages.
The goal of this pack is to get students to practice reading words that rhyme on individual word cards, and within stories. These can be done in small groups, one-on-one or sent home. A folder can be created with all the essential materials for a productive rhyming lesson.
Readers will do various activities with the rhyming word cards, like the ideas above. Then they will read through the story. The story can also be read to them, or with them, depending on the ability of each reader. Then readers will circle the three different rhyming pairs, using three colors. After that, they can complete the questions at the bottom of the page.
Check these passages and word cards out here! There are 30 passages, with accompanying word cards, included.
A Few More Ideas
I have another blog post all about rhyming activities that you can check out here. It includes an easy to implement activity and a fun QR code activity you may want to check out to use with your kiddos.
I hope these help your early readers find some success with rhyming!
