• Onset Rime Bingo
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• Onset Rime Worksheet

As we learn to read, word recognition plays an important part in our literacy journey. Automatic word recognition is essential for fluent reading. We need to be able to recognise words quickly to be able to read quickly. However, word recognition isn’t just taught via whole words. One of the ways we learn to automatically recognise words is by decoding them. Decoding helps us to memorise words so that they become automatically recognised words eventually. Decoding is also an important skill for early readers as it helps them to figure out words they don’t know.

Onset and rime are terms that technically describe the phonological units of a spoken s yllable. Syllables are normally split up into two parts, the onset and the rime. Onset - the initial phonological unit of any word which contains the initial consonant or consonant. (.Updated May, 2017)'Onset' and 'rime' are terms used to describe phonological units of a single-syllable word.The onset is the initial consonant or consonant blend / digraph.The rime is.

Word families or onset rime is a common tool in word level literacy instruction that can help students to learn to decode. Sturm et al (2006) reported that the large majority of first grade teachers in mainstream classrooms do onset rime based activities in their classrooms at least 3 times a week and that in third grade classrooms onset rime still played an important role in teaching text decoding.

By teaching a learner one word from a word family (e.g. cat) and then teaching them how to generate other words in that same word family (e.g. bat, hat, mat) using the original word as a guide we are teaching them some very important skills in word generation.

Onset Rime has also been shown to be one of the most effective ways of improving phonological awareness (Adams, 1990). Phonological awareness is an important skill – it is what we use to hear sounds, syllables and words in speech. Without phonological awareness we cannot break words down and decode them to read unfamiliar words. We also find it extremely hard to re- code words to spell them. Therefore, phonological awareness is a very important skill in learning to read and write.

For learners with complex communication needs (CCN) onset rime can be a really valuable tool in helping them to hear sounds in words, just as it is with all other learners. And sometimes they may need more explicit instruction and practice to understand how useful it can be.

We can do lots of activities with word families. One of my favourite low technology options is just to print cards with one rime (e.g. ill) and all the different onsets. I then ask a learner to make different words for me using the cards. For example, “which letter do I need to add to ill to make pill?”. My simple document I use to make these cards up can be downloaded by clicking here. I use these cards nearly every week with different learners in different ways.

And you can see a video of me using them with a choice of two onsets below (and thanks to Rowan from Acacia Hill School for also being the video)

We also need to make sure that as we teach this skill, we include one word for each word family on our word walls so that students can start to use those words independently to help them spell others. There are 37 common word families that we need to make sure that we include on our word walls and in our activities.

There are lots and lots of available resources for using onset rime as part of literacy instruction and I’ve listed some of my favourites below. I’d love to hear some of yours too.

Onset rime/Word family activities and resources

• Boardmaker Studio has fabulous templates for doing onset rime activities. You can also download some pre-made ones from the Spectronics Activity Exchange Set 1, Set 2 and Set 3. And (continuing the Boardmaker theme) there are a small number of activities available on Boardmaker Achieve – just do a search to find them.
• The fabulous Learning Grids for Clicker 6 and the other Crick applications has some pre-made onset rime activites in the Phonological Awareness category. There are also some Clicker compatible ones on the Spectronics Activity Exchange for the at word family and the eat word family.
• Tar Heel Reader also has a small number of books tagged with onset rime or with word families – but you can also find many more by looking through.
• Many children’s picture books have a focus on onset rime. The Cat in the Hat by Dr Suess or Boo to a Goose by Mem Fox & David Miller are both good examples of this.
• There are lots of resources to be found both through Google and Pinterest. Don’t forget to search for both “onset rime” and “word families” as many resources are saved under one or the other.
• The Accessible Word Reading Intervention site is getting old but is aimed at teaching this skill to adults who are early readers and writers.
• There are also a number of apps that we can use to practice onset rime. For example, Word Wall has some nice onset rime activities for beginning learners to play and experiment with. Or you could make your own onset rime activities in Abilipad or use some of the pre-made ones available in the Abilipad Library.

References
Adams, M. J. (1990). Beginning to Read: Thinking and Learning about Print. Cambridge, MA: The MIT Press.

Sturm, J., Spadorcia, S., Cunningham, J., Cali, K., Staples, A., Erickson, K., et al. (2006). What happens to reading between first and third grade? Implications for students who use AAC. Augmentative and Alternative Communication, 22(1), 21–36.

Wylie, R.E. & Durrell, D.D. (1970). Teaching vowels through phonograms. Elementary English, 47, 787 – 791.

Work on beginning reading skills with a fun building block activity. This free onset and rime activity is perfect for kindergartners to build CVC words using word families and mini Jenga-style building blocks.

To build strong readers in kindergarten, we need to ditch the worksheets. We need to actively learn how to read by:

• reading
• practicing specific phonemic awareness and phonics skills to build up reading habits and
• doing lots of repetition

I’ll be sharing affiliate links so you can get the materials to make this hands-on word building activity yourself.

This onset and rime word building activity helps young readers build up their reading skills. Students blend the onset of a CVC word with the rime. It's age-appropriate and an in-between step before students build CVC words in 3 parts independently.

But it's fun because it involves building and using block manipluatives. Plus, you can add in a construction matchbox truck and you've got 'em hooked.

How does this activity work?

This 'build-a-house' (word building) onset and rime activity would work great as a small group guided reading mini-lesson, center activity or morning work.

When I found these mini-jenga blocks at the Dollar Tree I know I had to stash them away until I came up with an activity for them! This onset and rime activity is just right.

Kindergarten students take a jenga-style block that has a letter written on it. They place it onto one of three houses.

They blend the beginning sound (the onset) of the block they selected with the rest of the word (the rime).

This should definitely be done out-loud since young readers need to hear themselves blending words. That's key.

If they don't need to blend these words out loud, then they are ready for a more difficult set of reading skill activities. [And in that case, they are most likely ready for silent e or building 4 letter words]

They will end up creating word families or rhyming words all in one house.

Sometimes students need more practice building words with just e's, a's or u's as those vowel sounds can be more difficult to differentiate from one another. This onset and rime activity can help.

I've included all of these vowel combinations for students to work with. There are three houses per sheet and they all have the same vowel.

The workmats include: at, am, an, ap, ad, ag, um, ut, ug, ub, un, ig, ip, it, in, id, ob, op, ot, od, og, ed, et, en.

How to make your build a house activity set

Let's go over each piece so you can pull this activity together seamlessly. I've got the download below for you.

1. Prepare your building blocks

First you'll want to get your hands on these mini blocks and a permanent marker.

Write letters of the alphabet on your mini building blocks using a sharpie marker. You can use the other side of the blocks for sight words (for a future activity I've cooked up) written in a different color, or simply write another letter on the back for more word-building flexibility.

This isn't scrabble - we're not trying to limit the letter choices here.

In fact, having more consonants will be key in making this activity successful.

If you have vowels on your blocks, you may want to write them in a different color (not to be used for this activity) or put a dot/marking somewhere in the corner and mention that marking isn't great for this particular activity.

2. Print the free build-a-house workmats

The build-a-house workmats are made in full color but will print out just fine in black and white.

Click here to download your free activity workmats. [terms of use][downloading help]

If you need some color but don't want to sacrifice color ink - simply print them out onto colored construction paper instead!

Before laminating, if needed, color in the 'use this color' circle to indicate which color marker side of the wooden block they should use.

This is in case you have sight words on one side of the blocks written in one color and single letters written in another color to maximize the number of activities you can do with one set of blocks.

Laminate your workmats or slide them into plastic page protectors. You can easily put one in the front and one in the back.

3. Grab a construction vehicle toy

Onset Rime Bingo

Grab a construction vehicle or two from your classroom stash or pick one up the next time you go to the Dollar store or thrift store. It only enhances the fun.

4. Optional: Add recording sheets

Print the recording sheets if you want your students to record the words they blend.

There are two versions.

• One is simply for students to record the words they made. They can make up to 18 CVC words per workmat.
• The other is for students to evaluate whether the word they made is real or nonsense and silly.

5. Print the directions sheets

If you are leaving this activity for a sub, with a parent volunteer or aren't sure if you'll remember the directions next year - then you'll want to print out a set of picture directions.

There are 5 ways to play. Pick the directions that match your goals.

1. Students build, blend aloud, and read each word again when a house is completed.
2. Students build, blend aloud, and read each word again when a house is completed and then knock the house down with a construction vehicle.
3. Students build, blend aloud, and record each word on their recording sheet.
4. Students build, blend aloud, and record each word on their recording sheet. They use color to indicate if it's real or silly.
5. Students build, blend aloud, and record each word on their recording sheet. They use color to indicate if it's real or silly and count up their real words as points at the end of the time allowed or upon completing 18 words.*

*Now, if you choose the last style of gameplay with students who are teetering on higher-level skills - this will get really fun. They can start to use their reading skills to practice blending silently before they add the block to their workmat. They will begin to catch on that they should choose letters in order to make real words (to earn points) and a little more strategy comes into play.

Let's wrap it up

There you have a fun onset and rime activity that can help young readers build up their reading skills. By actively blending the onset and rime of a word aloud with manipulative pieces, they get lots of good practice.

Like the idea of using inexpensive things to teach reading skills? Me too. Check out these 6 Fun Ways to Teach Reading With Dollar Tree Race Cars.

Onset Rime Video

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Onset Rime Worksheet

More Reading Skills in Kindergarten