Spin, Blend and Build Phonemic Awareness

This set of simple yet effective worksheets has been created by an early years teacher to help students explore and practise their blending skills of simple onset and rime words. Students can use a pencil and paper clip to create a spinner and then spin both on the onset and then on the rime wheel to create a word. They then need to determine if the word they have blended together is a real word or a nonsense word. This is a fantastic hands-on activity that is perfect for the younger age group.

What are nonsense words?

Nonsense words are exactly that – made up or invented words that don’t have a specific meaning. They are used in the early years setting to help students develop decoding skills and phonemic awareness.

How to Use this Phonics Activity in the Classroom?

The worksheet pack is the perfect versatile set of resources to add to your phonics lesson instruction. Here are some suggested ways of how you could use this worksheet pack in a variety of ways:

1. Laminate the sheets and have students work in small groups with a whiteboard marker to complete each activity. They can then wipe them clean for the next group.
2. Individual practise – a great way to get students practising blending together simple onset and rime words and to check for understanding of this phonics concept.
3. Active whole class game – write Real words and Nonsense Words on the board and split the class into two teams – each team stands in a line and has a different colour whiteboard marker. The first player from each team spins a word and needs to run and write the word they make under the correct heading. Set a timer for 5 minutes and see which group can write the most words on the whiteboard under the correct headings.

Download and Decode Onset and Rime Words Today!

Use the dropdown menu to choose between the easy to print PDF or the editable Google Slide version of this resource.

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

More Onset and Rime Activities

Looking for more resources to add to your phonics lessons? We have you covered…

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Onset and Rime Flower Craft Pack

Explore different onset and rime patterns with these fun and engaging flower craft packs.

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Onset and Rime Mini Books

Practise onset and rime phonemic awareness with this set of mini books that each focus on the short vowel sounds (a,e,i,o,u).

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Onset and Rime Phonics Search Pack

Practise searching for and decoding onset and rime words with this set of search and find worksheets.