Books to Teach the 37 Most Common Rimes: The Rime Poetry Book

Children using Elkonin Boxes

Wylie and Durrell in their 1970 article “Teaching VowelsThrough Phonograms” (Elementary English, 47, 787–791),identified 37 rimes that can be found in 500 words commonly used in primary-level texts. In this post I outline a process and a selection of text that can be used to teach these 37 rimes to children.

• onsets All the beginning letters up to the vowel: spend; know; string; band.
• rimes (also called phonograms and word families) The vowel and following consonants within a syllable. 

1. Identify the rime or rimes being studied. Let students see the rime printed.
2. Read aloud the selected text first for enjoyment.
3. Reread the selected text and have the section of text with the rime on chart paper or if using a big book have student nearby so they can see the text. 
4. Have students identify the rime being studied in the text. Using highlighter tape or a highlighter, have students mark the text identifying the rime.
5. Provide copies of the poem for the children to glue into their Rime Poetry Book. The book should be organized alphabetically, beginning with -ack and ending with -unk.
6. Have the children highlight the rime being studied as you read the poem aloud. Encourage the children to read along.
7. This text may become a familiar rereading text for students to read during independent reading.
8. During shared and guided reading, pay attention to how well students use these rimes to problem solve when confronted with an unknown word. Praise such efforts.

A few books you might want to use when teaching rimes.

-ack: Five Little Ducks, Miss Mary Mack, Click, Clack, Splish, Splash, This Old Van, What is Black?from Hailstones and Halibut Bones, In the Small, Small Pond, When a Line Bends . . . A Shape Begins

-ail: What is White? from Hailstones and Halibut Bones, Bath Time Pirate from Switching on the Moon, When a Line Bends . . . A Shape Begins

-ain:  There Once Was a Man Named Michael Finnegan, In the Heart of South Dakota from The Frog Wore Red Suspenders

-ake: Shake My Sillies Out, My Bed is a Boat from  A Child's Garden of Verses, A Visit to William Blake's Inn: Poems for Innocent and Experienced Travelers , Chocolate Cake and I Have Been In Bed for Hours from My Parents Think I'm Sleeping

-ale: The Tale of Rabbit and Coyote, Caps for Sale

-ame: What is Orange? from Hailstones and Halibut Bones, What is Yellow? from Hailstones and Halibut Bones, Fifteen Animals!

-an: Las nanas de abuelita / Grandmother's Nursery Rhymes , Vulture View

-ank: Roses are Pink, Your Feet Really Stink, Bath Time Pirate from Switching on the Moon

-ap: Caps for Sale, Jenny's Pencil from Messing Around the Monkey Bars and Other School Poems for Two Voices

-ash: What is Orange? from Hailstones and Halibut Bones, Breakfast from  Toasting Marshmallows: Camping Poems, Really Fast! from A Stick is an Excellent Things: Poems Celebrating Outdoor Play, In the Small, Small Pond

-at: Jack Sprat from Over the Hills and Far Away: A Treasury of Nursery Rhymes, Breakfast from Toasting Marshmallows: Camping Poems, The Magic Hat, Saucer-Hat Lady from Under the Sunday Tree

-ate: Five Little Pumpkins

-aw: Laughing Time from For Laughing Out Loud: Poems to Tickle Your Funny Bone

-ay: Walter de la Mare's "Dream Song" from Beastly Verse, To Any Reader, and Bed in Summer from A Child's Garden of Verses, Dream Animals: A Bedtime Journey, My Shadow, Wedding Day from Under the Sunday Tree, Little Blue Truck

-eat: ZooZickle, Big Red Barn, Weatherbee's Diner from Flamingos on the Roof, Las nanas de abuelita / Grandmother's Nursery Rhymes 

-ell: There Was an Old Lady Who Swallowed a Bell!, What is Purple? from Hailstones and Halibut Bones, On Beyond Zebra!, Rain from My Parents Think I'm Sleeping, The Secret from Meet Danitra Brown

-est:  Big Red Barn, Snowflakes from Hand Rhymes, The Frog Wore Red Suspenders, The Best Nest, My Nest is Best, You Ought to Meet Danitra Brown from Meet Danitra Brown

-ice: Tasty from Switching on the Moon, The Many Mice of Mr. Brice, The Vulture from Hypnotize a Tiger: Poems About Just About Everything, Purple from Meet Danitra Brown

-ick: Jack Be Nimble from The Cat and the Fiddle: A Treasury of Nursery Rhymes, Hickory Dickory Dock from Mary Had a Little Jam

-ide: Block City from  A Child's Garden of Verses, What is Brown? from Hailstones and Halibut Bones, Recess Rues from Lunch Money and Other Poems about School, The Remarkable Farkle McBride, Donkey from Under the Sunday Tree, Full Moon from A Moon in Your Lunch Box, Little Blue Truck Leads the Way, Little Blue Truck

-ight: Goodnight, Goodnight Construction Site, Walter de la Mare's "Dream Song" from Beastly Verse, "Star light, star bright" from Over the Hills and Far Away: A Treasury of Nursery Rhymes, What is Purple? from  Hailstones and Halibut Bones, I Took the Moon for a Walk, Little Blue Truck

-ill: Two Little Blackbirds ,  Where Goes the Boats? from A Child's Garden of Verses

-in: Dream Animals: A Bedtime Journey, What is Gold from Hailstones and Halibut Bones, Me I Am!, Forty Performing Bananas from For Laughing Out Loud: Poems to Tickle Your Funny Bone, Backboard Rap from Messing Around the Monkey Bars and Other School Poems for Two Voices, Jump Rope Rhyme from Meet Danitra Brown, July from 'Til All the Stars Have Fallen 

-ine: Mr. Pine's Purple House, What is Green? from Hailstones and Halibut Bones, This Jazz Man, A Million Candles from My Parents Think I'm Sleeping, Nine Ducks Nine, Little Blue Truck Leads the Way, When a Line Bends . . . A Shape Begins

-ing: Here Are My Hands, Walter de la Mare's "Dream Song" from Beastly Verse, Sunshine and Snowballs, What is Pink? from Hailstones and Halibut Bones, Listen to the Rain, Susan Laughs, Las nanas de abuelita / Grandmother's Nursery Rhymes , When I'm Very Nearly Sleeping from My Parents Think I'm Sleeping, Panda Bear, Panda Bear, What Do You See?

-ink: What This Story Needs Is a Pig in a Wig, What is Purple? from Hailstones and Halibut Bones, This Jazz Man, Oh, the Thinks You Can Think! , Hydrant from City I Love, The Sneeze from 'Til All the Stars Have Fallen 

-ip: In the Tall, Tall Grass, In the Small, Small Pond

-it: Coke-Bottle Brown from Meet Danitra Brown

-ock: Fox in Socks, Hickory Dickory Dock, Sunshine, Moonshine, Hickory Dickory Dock from Mary Had a Little Jam

-oke: Little Bo-Beep from Black Mother Goose Book

-op: Do Your Ears Hang Low from Neighborhood Sing Along, Hop on Pop, Ten Apples Up on Top. Listen Listen, Song from the Pop-Bottlers from Poem Stew

-ore: Bear Snores On, Las nanas de abuelita / Grandmother's Nursery Rhymes , The Secret from Meet Danitra Brown, If You Give a Moose a Muffin

-ot: ZooZickle, Be Glad Your Nose is On  Your Face from For Laughing Out Loud: Poems to Tickle Your Funny Bone, Fifteen Animals!, Lunch Money from Messing Around the Monkey Bars and Other School Poems for Two Voices

-uck: One Duck Stuck: A Mucky Ducky Counting Book, Little Blue Truck Leads the Way, Little Blue Truck

-ug: Pug from Pug and Other Animal Poems

-ump: Jump Frog, Jump, Me and Joe Lining Up After Recess from Messing Around the Monkey Bars and Other School Poems for Two Voices, Jack and Jill from Mary Had a Little Jam, Little Blue Truck

-unk: What This Story Needs Is a Pig in a Wig, Eletelephony from Beastly Verse, One Duck Stuck: A Mucky Ducky Counting Book, 

Related Posts: 
Early Literacy Series #1: Shared Reading & Writing and CAP
Early Literacy Series #2: Shared Reading Resources for Preschool and Kindergarten
Early Literacy Series #3: Teaching Rhyming and Initial Sound Instruction
Early Literacy Series #4: Teaching Sound and Letter Identification in Kindergarten
Early Literacy Series #5: Teaching Blending & Segmenting through Books and Poetry
Books to Teach the 37 Most Common Rimes: The Rime Poetry Book. 

Early Literacy Series #6: Teaching Word Solving through Shared & Guided Reading
Early Literacy Series #7: Teaching Comprehension & Fluency