4. Video: See Rhyming in the Classroom

Rhyming with Ashley Powell

In this video, Ms. Powell, first introduces the skill, then delivers direct and explicit instruction to teach students how to recognize words that rhyme during whole class instruction.  

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Ashley Powell: Good morning, first graders.

Students: Morning.

Ashley Powell: We're going to work on practicing our awareness of words that rhyme, okay? Now what we want to do is we're going to play a game in here in a little bit that's called "body-part rhyme," okay? And I'm going to explain what that means later. But first, let's remind ourselves what rhyming words are. Okay? Words that rhyme have different beginning sounds, but the middle and ending sounds are the same. That's right. So let me think of these words. Hear these words, okay? The words are cat, hat. What are the words?

Students: Cat. hat.

Ashley Powell: That's right. Cat and hat rhyme. Because the first sound is different, but the middle and ending sounds, /ăt/, are the same: /c/, /ăt/ ... /h/, /ăt/. Okay. Now listen to these two words. Are you listening? Cat, fish. What are the words?

Students: Cat, fish.

Ashley Powell: That's right. Show me what you think. Do Cat and fish rhyme? Those don't rhyme. You guys are all showing me this. Good job. Rebecca. Why do you think that Cat and fish don't rhyme?

Rebecca: Because they don't have the same middle and ending sounds.

Ashley Powell: That's right. They don't have the same ending and middle sounds. What's the rhyme in Cat?

Rebecca: /ăt/

Ashley Powell: Good job. And what's the rhyme in fish?

Rebecca: /ish/

Ashley Powell: /ish/. Good job. Okay, so let's think of some others. Are you ready? Cup, tough.

Students: "Cup," "tough."

Ashley Powell: That's right. What do we think of those? Rhyme or don't rhyme? Cup. Tough. Okay. Some of us are maybe in the middle. Zanaya, what do you think? You said they don't rhyme. Why don't those words rhyme?

Zanaya: Because tough has /f/ sound and cup has a /p/ sound.

Ashley Powell: Okay? That's right. And cup has a /p/ sound at the end. All right, so let's try our game. Are you ready to play a game?

Students: Yeah. Yeah.

Ashley Powell: All right. This game is called the body-part rhyme. Okay? And what we're going to do is I'm going to say a sentence, and in that sentence is a word. And then you're going to touch the part of your body that rhymes with that word. Are you ready? Say pup.

Students: Pup.

Ashley Powell: Now please stand ...

Students: Up.

Ashley Powell: Good job. When I say that sentence say, "Pup. Now please stand up." What are the two words that rhyme? Yes, Ethan?

Students: Pup, up.

Ashley Powell: Pup and up have the same rhyme. And what is the rhyme? Ethan?

Students: /ǔp/

Ashley Powell: Good job. /ǔp/. All right. Are you ready? Say fear.

Students: Fear.

Ashley Powell: Like if I'm have ... if I'm afraid of something, I have fear. I have a fear of heights. Say fear again.

Students: Fear.

Ashley Powell: Now touch your ...

Students: Ear!

Ashley Powell: Ear. Good job. Which two words rhymed? Leenix. Yes, sir.

Students: Fear and ear.

Ashley Powell: Fear and ear rhymed. Good job. Let's do another one. Say hose.

Students: Hose.

Ashley Powell: Like what water comes out of. Say it again, I'm sorry. Say hose.

Students: Hose!

Ashley Powell: Now touch your ...

Students: Now touch your nose! Nose!

Ashley Powell: Nose. Can you think of another body part? That ... ? [gasp] Leenix, can you touch it? Instead of raising your hand, can you touch what other body part rhymes with hose? Your toes! Good job. So we had two on that one, too. Say bear, like a cuddly bear.

Students: Bear.

Ashley Powell: Bear. Say again. Say bear.

Students: Bear!

Ashley Powell: Now touch your ...

Students: Hair!

Ashley Powell: Hair. Good job. Which two words rhyme? Layla? Yes, ma'am.

Students: Bear and hair.

Ashley Powell: Bear and hair. Good. Let's do one more. Say week, like the day of the week.

Students: Week!

Ashley Powell: One more time. Say week.

Students: Week!

Ashley Powell: Now touch your ...

Students: Feet!

Ashley Powell: Okay, now do week and feet have the same middle and ending sound?

Students: No.

Ashley Powell: What's the last sound? Layla, I heard you say "no." What's the last sound in feet?

Students: /t/

Ashley Powell: And then what's the last sound in week? /w/, /ē/, /k/. Are /t/ and /k/ the same sound?

Students: No.

Ashley Powell: Okay, so let's think of a different one because those ones have different last sounds. Say week again.

Students: Week.

Ashley Powell: Now touch your ...

Students: Cheek!

Ashley Powell: Okay, let's say that one again. Say week.

Students: Week!

Ashley Powell: Now touch your ...

Students: cheek!

Ashley Powell: Good job. Which two words rhyme? Cannon? Yes, sir?

Cannon: Week.

Ashley Powell: And my ...

Cannon: cheek.

Ashley Powell: Good job. All right, now we're going to finish this list. Finish this up. Listen to this last one. Are you ready? Say clown.

Students: Clown.

Ashley Powell: Say it one more time. Clown

Students: Clown

Ashley Powell: Now please sit ...

Students: down!

Ashley Powell: Good job. First graders, give yourselves a round of applause. [clapping] Good job.

Announcer: For more information, please visit ReadingUniverse.org. Special thanks to Eisenhower Elementary School, Enid Public Schools, and the Oklahoma State Department of Education. Reading Universe is made possible by generous support from Jim and Donna Barksdale, the Emily Hall Tremaine Foundation, and two anonymous donors. Reading Universe is a service of WETA, Washington D.C, the Barksdale Reading Institute, and First Book.

Ashley Powell: This is Reading Universe.

Recognizing rhyming words is easier than producing them. Therefore, instruction follows a sequence of repetition, recognition, then production.