PEFaL Children’s Programme Development

Session: Module 3 Week 5 Focus: Fun with Words Parents / Children: Joint

Session Songs, Rhymes and the Use of Puppets

5.1

General Develop awareness of the importance of rhymes

Objectives Develop word recognition and spelling skills
Promote the use of creativity and games as fun teaching aids

Development Targets Resources

2.25 p.m. Food, toilets, change • Preparation for session • Food
• Sanitary facilities
20 • T-shirt put on
minutes

2.45 p.m. Transition Activity/Activities1:

15 Energiser: Rhythm and Rhymes Oracy: • Open space

minutes • Practicing rhymes
• All the children sit in a large circle with eyes • Practicing alliteration and
closed sounding similar sounds
• Players individually think of a rhythm to clap • Awareness of rhythmical
or beat, and are then asked to begin patterns in sounds
clapping/tapping their rhythms.
• The tutor listens to see if people gradually
begin to move in similar rhythms – from

1
Focus on energiser.
 initial chaos, you may find a growing co- Motor:
ordination about the sound. • Physical movement
• Next the tutor asks everybody to slap their • Body awareness
thighs twice and then click their fingers • Development of rhythm
twice. • Co-ordination
• The tutor and children continue doing this
for a moment to establish a constant PSD / Social:
rhythm. • Predicting sequence of
• Then, going around the circle, players take events
it in turn to play “rhyme chain”. • Turn taking
• The first player slaps his / her thighs twice, • Leadership and group skills
says a word and then clicks his / her fingers • Having fun
twice.
• The person sitting next to this child has to
do the same but instead of repeating the
word, he / she has to think of a rhyming
word.
• The third child does the same, while
choosing to say another rhyming word.
• When the rhyme chain runs out and the
children cannot think of any other rhyming
words, the child whose turn it is starts a
new “rhyme chain” by choosing a new
word.
• The game continues until time runs out.

3.00 p.m. Circle Time • Cooling down activity • Cushions or other

• Introductory discussion seating
• Recalling what was done
 during the previous session
• Instruction giving

3.05 p.m. Big Group Activity2:

35 The Magnetic Fishing Game Oracy:

minutes • Interaction with other children • Handouts of the
NOTE • Describing actions rhyme
• Magnetic fishing does not have to involve • Role playing • Bucket
fish. • Listening to others • Two ‘fishing’ rods
• For the purpose of this session, however, • Sharing / making up rhymes with attached
the explanation takes the fishing game • Joining in saying rhymes magnets
literally and uses the examples of fish and • Distinguishing rhyming words • Fish (or other)
fishing to describe the activity. from non-rhyming words flashcards with
• When carrying out the session, tutors can • Singing rhyme paperclips attached
choose different rhymes with different topics and words and
and different vocabulary and adapt the Motor: points on one side
game accordingly. • Visual aid – chart
• Playing game
• For instance, if the tutor chooses a rhyme with missing
• Role playing
about people, then the flashcards fished rhyming words
• Singing
could be in the form of dolls; if the rhyme is • UHU tac or other
about seasons, the children could fish • Saying rhyme and keeping
affixing material
clouds etc. time by performing rhythmic
movements (clapping,
• The most important thing is that tutors
beating, etc.)
choose a well-known rhyme and then
adapt it to their situation.

2
Step-by-step development
Game Reading:
• Use words from previously
• The tutor explains that during this session, known vocabulary
the children will be singing rhymes. • Spell and attempt to read
• The tutor sees if the children already know new vocabulary
some rhymes of their own and gives chance • Recognise rhyming endings
to the children to share any rhymes they and read rhyming word pairs
know. • Distinguish between rhyming
• The tutor then explains that he /she would words and non-rhyming
like to share a rhyme with the children. words
• The tutor gives out handouts with the rhyme • Understand story and context
to the children and the children read it described in the rhyme
together. • Fill in and complete rhyme
• The tutor explains what the rhyme is about with appropriate words
(for instance, about a fisherman who went • Reading completed rhyme
fishing one day).
• The tutor tells the children that some fish (or Writing:
other animals / objects according to the • None associated with this
rhyme chosen) got away. activity
• The ones that escaped took some words of
the rhyme away with them. PSD / Developmental:
• The tutor explains that during this session, • Listening and sharing
the children have to fish for missing words. • Co-ordination and co-
• The tutor places a bucket (or other operation
container) in the middle of the room. • Developing discussion skills
• Inside the bucket the tutor puts around 10 to • Developing communication
16 flashcards (in the form of fish or and turn taking skills
otherwise). • Developing awareness of
• Each fish-flashcard has a paperclip where rhythm and patterns
the mouth should be. • Predicting sequence of
• On one side, each flashcard has a word events
written on it as well as a number of points • Developing group skills
(according to the difficulty of the word). • Associating learning with fun
• The words on the flashcards are all taken
from the rhyme.
• Some words are rhyming words but others
are not so that children learn to distinguish
the difference.
• The tutor divides the children into two
groups.
• To each group the tutor gives a fishing rod –
a stick with rounded edges with a piece of
string tied to one end of the stick and a
small magnet tied to the other end of the
string.
• Then the tutor explains the rule of the game.
• Each group has a fishing rod and in each
group every child takes a turn to fish a
flashcard.
• If the child manages to read the flashcard
without any help the group is awarded all
the points that are stuck on the fish.
• If the child needs help, the group gets half
the points.
• If the rules of the game are broken no points
are awarded.
• The flashcards are stuck to the board until
 the game finishes and the group with most
points wins.
• At the end of the fame, the tutor takes out a
chart visual aid which is stuck on the board
so that all children can see.
• On this chart there is the rhyme written out,
however some words are missing.
• The missing words are the rhyming words.
• The rhyme is read out and where there is a
blank, the tutor asks the children in turn for
the correct answer.
• The child who gives the correct answer can
take the flashcard from off the board and
stick it onto the chart.
• To make the game more fun and interesting,
children who manage to choose the correct
word can have some design drawn on their
face with face paints(e.g. if the rhyme is
about fishing, they can have cats’ whiskers
painted on their face since they have
managed to ‘catch the fish’).
• Once the activity is complete, all the
children perform the rhyme – they can sing
it or rap it (or meow it) – in any way they
would like.
• It is suggested that children also clap while
they sing the rhyme so they can actually feel
the word patterns as they sing along to the
words.
3.40 p.m. Small Group Activity:

30 Rhyming games Oracy: • Handouts with

minutes • Interaction with other adults / favourite rhymes,
• The tutor prepares 2 different favourite children one rhyme per
rhymes that are well known by the • Listening to others family
families. • Sharing rhymes • Handouts with the
• Each rhyme is on a separate handout so • Joining in saying rhymes domino game for
half of the families are working on one • Distinguishing rhyming words half the families
rhyme and the other half are working on • Singing rhyme • Handout with snap
the other rhyme. • Ability to understand what the game for the other
• Each family is given one particular rhyme / song is about half of the families
rhyme (it does not matter if more than • Drawing materials
one family is working on the same Reading: • Scissors
rhyme). • Read, understand and follow
• The parent keeps the rhyme handout. instructions
• The child is given a handout with • Recognise known vocabulary
instructions on how to make a rhyme • Spell and attempt to read
game. new vocabulary
• Two rhyme games are given out – rhyme • Guessing and matching
dominoes and rhyme snap.
• Recognise rhyming endings
• The children have handouts with pictures and read rhyming word pairs
that they must colour and cut out.
• Reading completed rhyme
• Afterwards they play the game with their
parents or with other families. Writing: (if children are to create
• During the game, the parents should see their own cards)
whether the child recognizes the rhyme • Recalling rhyming endings
and after the game, the parent and child and pair rhyming words
 can sing the rhyme together. • Recalling and write
• Families can sing different rhymes to previously known vocabulary
other families. • Spelling and attempting to
write new vocabulary
Note:
If the children’s vocabulary and skills are advanced PSD / Developmental:
enough, they may be encouraged to create more • Following instructions
‘dominoes’ or ‘playing cards’ by thinking of other • Practicing listening, sharing
rhyming pairs of words and co-operation skills
They can write each word and draw pictures on • Developing communication
separate bits of card to include their own words in and turn taking skills
the game. • Developing awareness of
rhythm and patterns
• Developing manipulation
The rules for the two games created during this
skills
activity are as follows:
• Developing guessing and
matching skills
Rhyme Dominoes
• Developing independent and
• On this handout there are 12 small
autonomous learning skills
rectangles which children colour and cut
out. • Developing group skills
• Each rectangle is called a domino. • Associating learning with fun
• Each domino is divided in half.
• Some rectangles have a picture on the right
and a word on the left and some others
have a picture on the left and a word on the
right.
• The picture and the word on the same
domino do not match.
 • The children put the dominoes face down;
they mix them up and divide them equally
between themselves and their parent.
• The child and parent take turns to take a
domino from their pack and put it face up in
the center.
• The aim of the fame is to match the picture
on one domino to the word on another
domino.
• If the player whose turn it is to play does not
have a matching domino, they lose their
turn.
• The winner of the game is the person who
manages to use up all the dominoes
correctly first.

Rhyme Snap
• On this handout there are 24 squares which
the children must colour and cut out.
• 12 squares have words written on them and
the other 12 have words written on them.
• The children take the cut squares which are
like cards and shuffle them.
• Then they spread them out face down in the
center.
• The parent and the child take turns to
uncover the cards and try to find matching
words and pictures.
• When the child knows how to read the
 words well, the pictures can be left out and
the game is repeated with just the words.
• The child competes with the parent to find
the most rhyming pairs of words.

4.10 p.m. Closure:

5 minutes Distributing the home link-up activity

• Concluding activity • Cushions or other
• The tutor tells the parents that they are • Review of things learnt during seating
to create the other game they did not do the session • Rhyme handouts
during the session at home. • Establishing the session’s • Game handouts
• The tutor gives those families who home link-up activity
created the domino game during the
session the rhyme and snap game
handouts.
• The tutor then gives those families who
created the snap game during the
session the domino game handouts.
• Parents are to create the game and play
it with their children and then report their
observations to the other families during
the next session

In Portfolio:

The rhyme sung during the fishing game, the rhymes sung with the parents together with one snap game and one domino game
(one created during the session and the other created at home.