Is There a Cat on Your Mat? Has He Caught a Rat?

Last week I introduced phonological awareness and promised a month of skills.  If you missed the discussion, go back 1 post to read it.

First up: Rhyme.  You may have noticed that many books for the preschool crowd use a lot of rhyme.  Dr. Seuss was a master craftsman when it came to rhyming. From “two fish…blue fish..” to “wocket - pocket,” and more his books delight children with their rhyme.

Some children, however, need explicit instruction to notice that the words sound the same at the end.  The similarities need to be pointed out and discussed.  Have students raise their hand - or a small flag - when they hear the rhyme.

“The eensy weensie spider climbed up the water spout

Down came the rain and washed the spider out “

Then instruction focuses on producing rhymes by matching the sounds.

One activity is a cloze procedure, where students can fill in the blanks.  You might begin by providing picture word banks from which they can choose a correct response.

Sally has fun  

playing in the ___. 

On the flower I see

a buzzing bumble ___.

I see the cat

chasing a ___.

Try it with familiar songs (you might not make sense, but that’s ok)

Old MacDonald had a farm. e - i - e - i - o

On that farm he had a ____ (ex.: charm) e - i - e - i - o

Here are some rhyming task cards for you to use to see if students can identify rhyming words.  

If you’d like the whole resource for the cards I’m giving you here, it’s free on my TPT store here:  

What are your favorite rhyming activities?

Next week: counting syllables.

’til then, keep on talking.