These refer to the words that appear with the same or similar ending sound. Common examples of rhyming words include coat, float, boat, and goat. Knowledge of rhyming words is an essential component of phonological awareness. It is the ability to differentiate between two words that begin distinctly but have analogous sounds towards the end.
The process of learning rhyming words helps children gain a multitude of benefits. These include:
Reading and writing benefits: If a child knows how to spell ‘goat,’ it becomes much easier for them to spell ‘boat’ correctly. It helps the kid pick up on word families and patterns, which can benefit them when they learn to read and write.
Cultural literacy: Classic rhyming songs and classic nursery rhymes are important parts of the culture. The more a kid is exposed to them, the more comfortable they will be when they encounter other literature in the future in respect of familiar rhymes.
Phonological awareness development: The process of learning rhyming words helps children build phonological awareness. For example, a kid with phonological awareness will know that the ‘all’ sound in ‘mall’ is the same ‘all’ sound in ball, tall, hall, etc.
A playful relationship with language: Rhyming words can be an exciting way to capture and hold a kid’s attention. A kid is likely to engage more and build a playful relationship with language when learning these words.
Rhymes composed of simple rhyming words include different important concepts. Rhyming words help kids more easily remember words. And as these words are fun to learn, children acquire the skills without feeling bored.
When it comes to rhyming, phonemic awareness plays a crucial role. Not all rhyming words have an ending with the same spelling. Therefore, it’s important for children to listen for sounds in words to find out if they rhyme and end with the same spelling.
Teachers should keep the learning fun and provide different activities for children to work with when teaching rhyming words in the classroom. The more opportunities students get to work with rhyming words, the better. Hands-on activities that include rhyming pictures and different words help to keep the students engaged.
Rhyming match-up is one of the basic and effective activities for teaching rhyming words. Teachers need some picture cards or word cards for this. The first option for playing this game is to have children match pictures based on if they rhyme. The second option is to have them match a picture card to a rhyming word card.
