print add to favorites

by Liana Mahoney
Topics: First Grade, Reading
We did this activity

In first grade, the reading wheels are really turning! First graders develop their reading skills rapidly, applying a range of learned strategies to decode unknown words. Help your child practice reading, and blending them into words, with this fun activity!

One strategy for learning to read is recognizing “onsets” and “rimes.” A rime is a syllable with a vowel, such as –ack, in the word “black.” The onset is the letter, or cluster of letters that come in front of the vowel. In “black,” the onset is bl-. When first graders learn to recognize common rimes and blend them with different onsets, they learn to read many words quickly and accurately. 

Want to help your child get the hang of onsets and rimes? Here's how to make a spinning phonics wheel out of two paper plates, and teach a lot about reading along the way:

What You Need: 
  • two paper plates
  • scissors
  • marker
  • brass fastener
What to Do:
  1. Place the paper plates on top of one another, and poke a small hole straight through the center. Separate the plates.
  2. Use scissors to cut a 2” square in the top plate. The square should be about an inch to the right of the center hole.
  3. Use the marker to write a rime on the right side of the window, such as “at.” (See the list below for some common first grade rimes.) Be sure to write the rime about the same height as the cut-out window, and use lower-case letters.
  4. Attach the two plates with a brass fastener at the center.  The plate with the rime and window should be on top.
  5. Use the marker to write a letter (or a cluster of onsets) on the portion of the bottom plate that appears in the cut-out window, such as “c”. Turn the bottom plate clockwise until the “c” disappears, then write a different letter in the window. Continue in this manner, writing a letter, then turning the plate, until you come back to the letter “c.”
  6. Now it’s time to play! Hand your child the plates, and have him turn the wheel until a letter appears in the window. Assist him in blending the onset with the rime to form a word.

Some common first grade rimes include: 

-ab, -ag, -ack, -at, -ap, -an, -am, -ad, -ake, ate; -ed, -en, -ell,      -eck, -eel, -est; -id, -ill, -ig, -ick, -ip, -ide, -ike; -op, -ot, -ock, -og, -oat; -ug, -uck, -ut.