Have your students take apart and put together onsets and rimes with a bright and cheery set of Onset-Rime Clip Cards. The onset is the part of a single-syllable word before the vowel. The rime is the part of a word including the vowel and the letters that follow.

Applying this learned reading skill is similar to following a roadmap—following the route one sound (phoneme) at a time until you get to the endpoint. 

Teaching onset and rime becomes playtime with our Onset and Rime Clip Cards, in which students build words using onsets and rimes.

Master Reading Through Play with Onsets and Rimes 

This resource can be used as a reading center activity for fast finishers, with your guided reading group, or as a full class activity to practice forming words by blending onsets and rimes. 

To use, print the cards and place them in a reading station or around the classroom. Students complete the activities by clipping a clothespin onto the rime that completes the word represented on each card.

Turn This Activity into Even More Onset and Rime Games!

We think you’re going to like these extra opportunities for blending onsets and rimes.

Word Families

Students can practice their word families. Have students take out a sheet of paper and write one other word that uses the same rime as a word on the cards.

Onset-Rime Awareness Scaffolding & Extension Tips

Once students have built all of the words, encourage them to add them to a personal word wall or student dictionary, use them in sentences, or reset the slides and play again!

Invite students to use a visual reminder such as an onset & rime anchor chart or an alphabet chart to sound out words they may struggle with. 

Easily Prepare This Resource for Your Students

Print the cards and place them in a reading center, along with 24 clothespins. Then your students are ready to go!

Before You Download

Use the dropdown menu to choose between the full color and blackline versions of this resource.

This resource was created by Lindsey Phillips, a teacher in Michigan and a Teach Starter Collaborator. 

Practice onset and rime, beginning sounds, phonemes, and more with these early reader-approved activities: 

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Onset and Rime Match-Up or Interactive Clip Card Activity

Practice forming words by blending onsets and rimes with this set of 15 rime cards that match their picture/onset card.

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SPLAT! Phoneme Segmentation Game

Practice segmenting one-syllable words into their phonemes with this printable game.

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Beginning Sounds Sorting Activity

Practice identifying beginning sounds of words by sorting this set of 24 picture cards.