Explore Onset and Rime with a Game!

Teaching onset and rime becomes child’s play (See what I did there?) with this fun, hands-on dice game! This game is perfect as a whole-class, small group or pair activity during your literacy rotations.

To play, students roll one onset dice and one rime dice. They must then blend the onset and rime together to form a word. The students must then identify if the word they have created is a real word or a nonsense word!

Onset-Rime Dice Game: Assembly and Use

1. Print copies of the onset and rime cubes and assemble them before playing the game with your students. For durability, it is recommended that these be printed on thick card.
2. Print enough copies of the recording sheets for the number of students participating.
3. Students roll both dice simultaneously and record the onset and rime on their recording sheet.
4. Students blend the onset and rime, write the word formed, then decide if the word is a real word or a nonsense word.
5. Students can compete against each other by giving themselves a point for each real word they can make.

Scaffolding & Extension Tips

• Support struggling students by allowing them to access a visual display of letter-sound correspondences to assist them during the game.
• Encourage fast finishers to add their words to a personal word wall or dictionary, to use them in sentences, or to play the game again!

Before You Download

Use the dropdown arrow on the Download button to access the PDF or editable Google Slides resource.

This resource was created by Lindsey Phillips, a Teach Starter Collaborator.