Grade Levels: K-3

This lesson plan, adaptable for grades K-3, features a game that challenges students to identify words that rhyme.

Lesson Plan Common Core State Standards Alignments

Students will:

  1. Watch BrainPOP movies to learn about rhyming sounds and word families.
  2. Generate rhyming words.
  3. Identify rhyming words playing an interactive, online game.
  4. Explain their rhyming strategies.
  5. Play an offline rhyming game.

Materials:

Preparation:

This lesson plan features the PBS Kids game Jessica’s Joyride, a rhyming game from our partner Sesame Workshop's The Electric Company.  In this game, Jessica is in a high speed chase to catch Danny Rebus who has stolen the Supersonic Flying Mixer. Students collect rhyming words to power Jessica’s flying machine and send her soaring through the sky.  

Preview and play Jessica’s Joyride to plan how you will adapt it to your students’ needs. If students will be working in small groups, review tips on Setting Cooperative Gaming Expectations.

For ideas on how to use SnapThought with this game, read Jessica’s Joyride: SnapThought Prompts for more information and specific SnapThought prompts to provide students during game play.

Build background knowledge or reinforce topics with these BrainPOP Jr. movies: Rhyming Words and Dr. Seuss.

Lesson Procedure:

  1. Play the BrainPOP Jr. phonics movie Rhyming Words on the whiteboard for the whole class. Depending on the level of support your students require, you may choose to pause during the movie to invite students to come up with additional rhyming words. For example, when Annie introduces the rhyming words “book” and “cook,” pause the movie and ask students to think of more words that end with the “ook” sound.
  2. Project the Talk About It activity and prompt students to brainstorm rhymes for each of the words. Record students’ responses by typing directly into the page.
  3. Now invite the class to sit in a circle. Holding the beanbag, say a simple word aloud, such as “hat”. Pass the beanbag to the student on your left. The student says aloud a word that rhymes with hat and passes it to the student on his or her left, and so on. The game keeps going until students can think of no more rhyming words. At that point, the student with the beanbag can start the game again with a new word.
  4. Project the game Jessica’s Joyride on the whiteboard and invite students up to try and figure out the game mechanics, or how to play. You may want to demonstrate for younger students.
  5. Now have students play the game independently or with a partner. You may also play the game with a small group of students while the rest of the class plays it independently. Remind students of cooperative gaming expectations (see Preparation).
  6. If students have individual logins through My BrainPOP, encourage them to use the SnapThought® tool to take snapshots during game play, and reflect on their thinking and strategies. Review Jessica’s Joyride: SnapThought Prompts for suggested prompts.  
  7. Bring the class together to discuss their experience playing the game. Which word families did they find challenging to rhyme? Which did they find easier? What strategies did they use?

Extension Activities:

Activity 1

Invite students to draw pictures of objects, actions or other things that rhyme, or have them cut out pictures from magazines. Compile everyone’s pictures and create a class rhyming book.

Activitiy 2

Play a game like "I Spy." Say something like, "I see something that rhymes with 'look'. What do I see?" (answer: book) The student who answers first gets to give the next clue and so on.

Activitiy 3

Students can play an offline version of Jessica's Joyride by writing rhyming words on index cards and a few that don't rhyme. Then lay out the cards in an obstacle course around the room and challenge each other to collect the rhyming words.