creating rhyming words with the montessori alphabet

We are excited to begin reading and creating rhyming words with our Montessori moveable alphabet. This activity has been a great first word activity for my beginning reader who is not yet confident in sounding out words. This post includes a video to show you how simple it can be to use this activity with your own child or student to begin creating phonemic awareness.

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As we continue to learn how to sound out words, we are also creating words using our Monessori moveable alphabet. The best words to begin creating together are CVC words, that is, words that consist of a consonant – vowel – consonant. These are the first words your child can be successful with! And asking your child to make words that rhyme with one another, by only moving the beginning letter, will help your child to have success with their beginning skills. A video is below to show you how you can easily use rhyming words for teaching sounds and creating words!

We begin with our Montessori moveable alphabet and the pink cards: phonics rhyming families. These cards are a wonderful visual for children. They include a beginning words, such as ham above, then include four more words that rhyme. Each word is separated by red consonants and blue vowels. The Montessori distinguishes between these letters visually so a child can grasp their difference while creating words. The “y” has both a blue y and a red y for its multiple uses.

I set this activity up as follows:

Today we are going to make word families. What does this letter say? “a”
What does this letter say? “m”
Put those two sounds together: “a” “m” “am”
Now, let’s create words that rhyme with “am”
Let’s begin with the first word on on chart. What is that first letter? “h” (the sound, not the letter name)
Yes, “h”, now put it together with “am” : “h-am”!
Let’s try the next word! What letter is next? “r”
Yes, “r”, not put it together with “am” “r-am”

Here is a video of my son and I working together to create rhyming words with the Montessori moveable alphabet! He is a very active boy, so you can see how I try to keep him on task. We only work a little bit each day, at his skill level, so he is not overwhelmed and to keep it enjoyable for him.

You can see more of our YouTube videos here.

You can choose to use the one “am” for all of the words, or you can build five new words with multiple “am” on your tray. We have done it both ways. Another alternative method is to have your child find the letters in the Montessori alphabet box themselves. This is more challenging.

I hope you enjoy learning with your child, or student, together!

Children learn best using a multi-sensory approach, and this activity combines tactile, visual, and auditory learning.

Repetition of a skill will help a child retain the information, so continue to work with the alphabet and sounding it out, and your child will excel, at their own pace, as you tweak the lesson according to his/her individual needs!