Curriculum Corner- Rhyming

by Leigh Volkers
Sensitivity to rhyme comes quite easily to most children. For that reason, rhyme is an excellent introduction to phonological awareness. Phonological awareness is the ability to hear and manipulate the sounds in spoken words, and the understanding that spoken words and syllables are made up of sequences of speech sounds. In other words, it is the ability to notice, think about, and work with the individual sounds in spoken words. Basic levels of phonological awareness activities include listening to, recognizing, and completing rhymes; segmenting spoken words in sentences and syllables in words; and recognizing onset and rime in word families (such as rat, pat, chat). Research has shown that children who have mastered phonological awareness activities will have an easier time learning to read. Because rhyme play directs childrens attention to similarities and differences in the sounds of words, it is a useful means of alerting them to the insight that language has not only meaning and message but also physical form. In the classroom during the first trimester we play a variety of rhyme games, including matching rhyme pictures, singing Willoughby, Wallaby, Woo and Banana, Nanna, Bo-Bana, as well as reading many rhyming books and taking notice of the rhymes we hear. At home, you can help your child develop a strong sense of rhyme with the following activities. *Sing Willoughby, Wallaby, Woo with your child using the names of people in your family. Ask your child to provide the tune for you. The lyrics are as follows: Willoughby wallaby wee, an elephant sat on me Willoughby wallaby woo, an elephant sat on you Willoughby wallaby Wustin, an elephant sat on Justin (example) Willoughby wallaby Willy, an elephant sat on Billy (example) * Read stories with rhyme and help your child notice the rhyme. (For example, after reading a page in the book, you could say Oh, I heard a rhyme on that pagecat, bat. They rhyme.) *Ask your child to identify if two words that you provide rhyme or not. For example, say I am going to say two words, tell me if they rhyme: dog, frog (wait for your childs response); Good, they do rhyme. Bat, rake (wait for response) You are right, they do not rhyme. * Create fun rhymes with your child. For example, here is a rhyme we use at school: To market, to market To buy a fat pig Home again, home again Jiggety jig To market, to market To buy a fat hog Home again, home again Jiggety jog Keep the lyrics going by adding in your own words. For example, fish, jish; lemon, jemon; cucumber, jucumber...