Learning to read begins a long time before a child sees their first letter card and names the letter or repeats a sound that answers the question, “What sound is this?”

Babies babble and coo. That’s where it all begins. Along with connecting with

mom, dad, family, and caregivers, a baby’s brain automatically takes notice

of the sounds an infant hears. Humans are wired for making meaning out of

speech and sounds of language.

Knowing the importance of rhyming can help us as parents and teachers to

feel self-confident in teaching reading to little ones. Rhyming words –

distinguishing whether a pair or group of words have the same beginning

sound: cat, cup, can, or the same ending sound: hat, rat, sat, are a part of the

five essential components of reading. Rhyming is part of the essential

component called Phonological Awareness. Phono contains the word

“phone” which is all about listening and speaking. No letters to look at, no

letter patterns to write, not yet. Those are all different skills.

Today, as we teach children to read, sometimes, many skills are thrown

together. Perhaps out of anxiety to see children or students turn into super

readers younger and faster. Or we work from a language arts series that

guides us to go faster and faster. Whatever drives this rush to put multiple skills

in front of early readers, it is worth considering a different approach where we

make time for listening and speaking as a separate skill. One that can be

worked into conversations and taught directly in a phonological awareness

lesson.

Every time you practice rhyming with an early reader, you prepare them for

decoding unfamiliar words, enhancing their memory and retention skills for

recognizing patterns, and make it easier for them to remember these patterns.

Plus, children build their vocabulary of new words by hearing words connect

through rhyming. Also, very important, you are helping your child, or your

students build attentive listening – a superpower for reading readiness.

Resources: Find links for easy, printable downloads of these activities, rhyming

words, nursery rhymes titles, and songs for quick reference to information in this

guide.

Here are 7 tips for teaching phonological awareness of rhyming that can boost the effectiveness of parent and teacher’s toolbox for teaching reading.

• Use Nursery Rhymes with Predictable Rhyme Schemes

Use favorite nursery rhymes like, Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star, and Humpty

Dumpty.

• Explicit Rhyming Instruction

Teach what a rhyme is and guide students to listen, repeat, and create

rhyming pairs. As a teacher of K through 2nd grade students, I saw that

boys and girls do not automatically hear when two words rhyme. They

need prompting to listen to the end of the word or to identify the

beginning sound of alliteration. Use CVC words families, dog, log, frog and

same beginning sound, alliteration, like, rat, run, red.

• Use Songs and Chants

Incorporate nursery rhymes and rhythmic songs to teach rhyming in an

engaging, musical way. This helps to build familiarity with same sound

connections. Use songs like “On Top of Spaghetti” and “Down by the Bay”

• Do a Rhyme Sorting Game

Give students picture cards and have them sort them into "rhyme" or "not

rhyme" categories. I would let students hold cards that they correctly

identified which gave them a sense pride and self-confidence.

• Play a Rhyme or No Rhyme Thumbs Up/Down Game

Say two words aloud and have students show thumbs up if they rhyme,

down if they don’t. Or have them clap twice if they hear the rhyme.

Physical responses help to anchor the memory of hearing the sounds.

• Rhyming Scavenger Hunt

Hide objects or pictures around the room and challenge students to find

two that rhyme (e.g., cat and hat). Have pairs of students work together

at finding the objects. That is always loads of fun.

• Silly Rhymes

Lastly, when I was teaching kindergarten and first grade, I would keep a

list of silly rhymes to throw out during the day, very Dr. Suess-esque. Silliness

was great for engaging students. Before recess I would say, “Is Freddy

ready? How about Betty?’ It didn’t matter that no one in the class was

named Freddy or Betty! Having silly fun made learning automatic and

memorable.

I would love to hear from you. Find me at: www.jlearyauthor.com

Resources