CCSS Reading Foundational Skills {Rhyme Recognition}

For the first week of my break, I have been privileged to attend our District’s Common Core State Standards Summer Institute. While it has been hard to wake up even earlier than a normal school day, I am glad that I will have a head start for the new school year. It will also be my privilege to take what I have learned and instruct my staff. Since I am so excited about this new phase in education, I figured I would share some of my new learning. So here it goes…Summer To Do List: Understanding CCSS Reading Foundational Skills.  

The standards establish a “staircase” of increasing complexity. A great starting point in English Language Arts will be with the Common Core’s “Reading Foundational Skills”. These skills include: Print Concepts, Phonological Awareness, Phonics and Word Recognition, and Fluency. Researchers Lyon and Alexander state that “phonological awareness is the single most important factor in learning to read.” Phonological awareness is an understanding of language at the spoken level. It is the ability to perceive and manipulate sounds of spoken language, such as words, syllables, onset & rimes, and phonemes. In the CCSS, Phonological Awareness standards are only addressed in grades K-1.

To promote the lower levels of phonological awareness, students must be aware of sounds. Here are some rhyme recognition activities called “Draw a Rhyme” and “Rhyme Away Story”. These activities have been floating around for some time. I have used them for the past 9 years, (even with third grade ELL students), and all of my students have loved them!! During training, I was surprised at how many teachers have never heard of them or incorporated them into their own classrooms. So, here is a download for you to use in your own classrooms to cover CCSS RF.K.2a 

Stay tuned for more activities to support the CCSS Reading Foundational Skills.