Most people can recognize rhyme, but few truly understand its significance or how it supports early literacy. Explore what rhyme is, why it’s essential for reading development, and effective strategies for teaching rhyme following a Science of Reading approach. What Is Rhyme? Rhyme is the repetition of sounds at the end of words. When words…
Get 5 free printable Rhyming Words Worksheets for preschool and kindergarten students! Kids will practice identifying and generating rhyming words in fun and engaging ways. What Is Rhyme? Rhyme is the repetition of sounds at the end of words. When words rhyme, they share the same ending sounds, starting from the vowel sound through all…
Get a FREE pumpkin-themed magnet letter mat activity to boost multi-sensory learning, support the process of orthographic mapping, and more! Why We Love It Activities that support orthographic mapping are a powerful, research-backed way for children’s brains to learn new words. The goal is for these words to eventually become sight words— words that kids…
Did you know vowels and consonants are sounds, not letters?! Review the definitions, characteristics, examples, and the differences between vowels and consonants to better understand and teach this foundational information. What Are Vowels and Consonants? Let’s start by reviewing some important background information. All words in the English language are made up of a combination…
Get a free printable list of 121 one-syllable words with the short U sound. Read all about teaching the short U sound, get ideas for working with students, and then download a free pdf printable! About the Short U Sound Short /ŭ/ is a vowel sound. The sound is represented by the letter U, and…
Learn about the short O sound and get a FREE printable list that includes 119 short O words, organized by word families. 🐙 All About Short O The written letter O (called a grapheme) can represent different sounds (phonemes). The letter O can be both long or short. But the most common sound the letter O will…
Get three FREE digraph reading practice worksheets for students in Kindergarten. The multi-sensory worksheets are no-prep and great for practice decoding words containing digraphs sh, th, and ch. Teaching Digraphs in Kindergarten Consonant digraphs are TWO consonants that represent ONE sound or phoneme. It’s important to note that digraphs are different from blends, which contain…
Learn all about teaching the short i sound to students, and get a free printable list that includes 125 short i words, organized alphabetically by word family. All About Short I The letter i can represent multiple sounds, including short or long sounds. When the letter I represents it’s short sound, it will spell /ĭ/ – the…
Learn all about the Short E sound following research-backed, Science of Reading-aligned best practices, and get a free printable list of 114 short e words, organized by word family. 🍳 All About Short E The letter E represents a vowel sound. It can be a long or short vowel sound (or schwa). Short vowels are usually taught…
Learn all about what phonemic awareness is, the skills included within phonemic awareness, and why it’s best to practice phonemic awareness with letters. Read the research and get activities to use in your classroom with students. 👂🏼What Is Phonemic Awareness? Phonemic awareness, also called Phomeme Awareness, is the awareness of the sound units that make…