Do You Want to Build a Sandcastle? Onset and Rime Matching Activity

This matching activity has been created to provide a hands-on learning experience for students who are building their phonemic awareness with onset and rime knowledge. In this printable teaching resource, students are asked to find the two shells that match the image on each of the sandcastles. 

Being able to recognize and manipulate the onset and rime in words is a key component to a students’ phonological awareness. When they can identify and segment the onset and rime, students improve their ability to hear and break down words into smaller sound units.

How to Use this Matching Activity in the Classroom

Once you’ve printed out the sandcastles and shells, it is best to laminate to ensure its durability. You can provide individual students or groups of students with as many sandcastles and shells to sort through that suit their skill level. For example, you may provide students that may find this activity overwhelming with four sandcastles and eight shells to sort through. Alternatively, you may like to provide them with all of the sandcastles and shells provided if they are ready for that level of knowledge and understanding.

Download and Sort Today!

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

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

More Onset and Rime Activities

Looking for more resources to add to your onset and rime unit planning? We have you covered…

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Onset and Rime Phonics Search Pack

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

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Onset and Rime Word Ladder Worksheet Pack

Climb the virtual ladder of onset and rime knowledge with this set of onset and rime worksheets.

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Onset and Rime Flipbooks

Flip through different short vowel onset and rime words with this set of printable flipbooks.