Receptive language, Expressive language
Toddlers participate in a shared reading that emphasizes rhyming words.
Be Prepared: Today’s activity uses a variation of a familiar nursery rhyme to help toddlers notice words that rhyme. The book featured in today’s activity was offered in Block 6. If you gave attention to the book’s sign language in Block 6, you may wish to review the sign vocabulary you emphasized in Block 6. Today’s session focuses on pairs of words that sound alike. Omit the last two pages of the book if the pictures are too small for toddlers to easily see.
[Invite several toddlers to share a book with you. Show the cover of the book.]
Our book is about different ways that children and teddy bears move their bodies. We had fun looking at this book before.
[Read the text and use your own words to describe what the child and teddy bear are doing. Use the following strategies to engage toddlers in the book:
We looked at pictures of children and teddy bears that are doing the same thing! We listened for words that sound alike. Nose and toes sound alike. Around and ground sound alike. High and sky sound alike.
Toddlers who are familiar with the Teddy Bear song or rhyme may say a few of the words with you. Others may want to look at the pictures and listen to the words as you read. Notice and support each toddler’s specific interest in the book. Toddlers are likely to differ in what interests them the most about the book: the different actions, how the child and teddy bear do the same action, the rhyming words, and/or maybe the sign language. (As described in the Block 6 use of this book, you may wish to emphasize none, some, or all of the three sign vocabulary included in the book.)
Extra support
Enrichment
Receptive language, Expressive language
Toddlers participate in a shared reading that emphasizes rhyming words, with opportunities to say “missing” rhyming words.
Be Prepared: This option is for toddlers who participated in Option 1 or seem interested in word sounds. See the Be Prepared section of Option 1 regarding the sign language included in the book and the use of the last two pages.
Invite several toddlers to join you to read a book about teddy bears. Use strategies suggested in Option 1 to share the book. Emphasize rhyming words. Explain that some words in our book sound alike. Words that sound alike are called rhyming words. Let’s listen carefully for words that rhyme.
After reading the book, show and read again the corresponding two pages that share rhyming words, such as touch your nose and touch your toes. Whisper or leave out the second rhyming word. Invite toddlers to say the word you whisper or leave out. After toddlers say the missing word, point out how the word sounds like its rhyme. Example: “Yes, the word is ‘toes.’ Toes and nose sound alike. They are rhyming words!”
Conclude the session by describing what happened. Example: “We listened carefully and said rhyming words. What word in our story rhymed with nose? What word in our story rhymed with high?
Toddlers will differ in their readiness to learn about rhyming words. Some toddlers may readily offer a “missing” rhyming word, whereas others will enjoy listening to your words and the contributions of their peers. Avoid using a strong teaching approach to the activity. It is more important for toddlers to hear how some words sound similar than to learn the concept of a rhyme.
Extra support
Enrichment
Materials Needed: Sign and Sing Along: Teddy Bear, Teddy Bear! by Annie Kubler, several teddy bears or stuffed animals
Invite several toddlers to each hold a teddy bear or stuffed toy and move the toy as you say the text offered in the book. Demonstrate the action with a teddy bear. After saying (and acting out) the pairs of rhyming words, repeat the key words (nose/toes, around/ground, etc.) and encourage toddlers to say and do the rhyming words/actions with you again. Some toddlers may wish to continue playing with a toy bear after participating in this activity with you.
Materials Needed: Sign and Sing Along: Teddy Bear, Teddy Bear! by Annie Kubler, several teddy bears or stuffed animals
Invite preschool-age children to each demonstrate actions with a teddy bear as you read the book text. Show the corresponding picture in the book if it seems a toddler(s) would benefit from another visual example. The preschoolers’ demonstrations are likely to be sufficient. Provide stuffed toys for infants to hold as they watch their older peers. A school-age child in your setting may like to lead this activity by reading the rhyme while you look on.
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