---
title: "Onsets & Rimes"
description: "Blend and segment onsets and rimes in single-syllable words; identify individual first, middle and last sounds in CVC words; substitute one sound to make a new word"
canonical: https://lightmysky.com/learn/english/onsets-and-rimes-mt_PvU3eoikev
source: https://lightmysky.com/learn/english/onsets-and-rimes-mt_PvU3eoikev.md
retrieved: 2026-11-12
---

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# Onsets & Rimes

Blend and segment onsets and rimes in single-syllable words; identify individual first, middle and last sounds in CVC words; substitute one sound to make a new word

Subject: English · Area: Phonics & Word Reading · Ages 4 to 7
Page: https://lightmysky.com/learn/english/onsets-and-rimes-mt_PvU3eoikev

## Ready when they can

- Blend onset and rime to say a word (e.g. /k/ + 'at' makes 'cat')
- Identify the first, middle, or last sound in a CVC word
- Change one sound to make a new word (e.g. change /k/ in 'cat' to /b/ to make 'bat')

## Lesson: Onset and Rime

Say words aloud. Ask someone to read unfamiliar words with you. A syllable is a spoken beat. A one-beat word has one syllable. Its onset is the consonant sound or sounds before the vowel. The rime starts with the vowel sound and includes the sounds after it. Frog has /f/ and /r/ before its vowel. At has no onset. Words with the same rime have matching endings.

*(drawing: In jam, j spells the onset /j/. The rime is 'am'.)*

**Example.** Leo splits vet into its onset /v/ and rime 'et'. Say those parts without a gap to blend vet. To split a word, find the consonant sound or sounds before the vowel. Keep the vowel and the sounds after it together as the rime. An onset and rime are two parts; each part may hold more than one sound.

Change one sound and keep the others. Log becomes fog when /l/ changes to /f/. Ten becomes tan when short e changes to short a. Rug becomes rub when /g/ changes to /b/. To find a change, compare the first, middle and last sounds. Some swaps make real words; others do not.

Some words have three sounds. Say net slowly: /n/, short e, /t/. The first sound is /n/. Short e is the middle sound. The last sound is /t/. To compare words, listen to the same sound position in each one. Listen to the sounds, not the names of the letters.

**Recap.** Blend the onset and rime together to build a word.

*Original teaching and practice about onsets, rimes and changing sounds, written for this dataset.*

## Practice

24 questions on this page, each with its working shown.

## Optional connections

- [Rhyming words](https://lightmysky.com/learn/english/rhyming-words-mt_4GiE83rJF_)
- [Syllables](https://lightmysky.com/learn/english/syllables-mt_UvNrOXny1i)

## Opens up

- [Blending Sounds to Read Words](https://lightmysky.com/learn/english/blending-sounds-to-read-words-mt__KHQttMde3)
- [Consonant Digraphs](https://lightmysky.com/learn/english/consonant-digraphs-mt_9-OHslmt1g)
- [Segmenting words into sounds](https://lightmysky.com/learn/english/segmenting-words-into-sounds-mt_BhYJZUsErp)
- [Vowel Digraphs](https://lightmysky.com/learn/english/vowel-digraphs-mt_BtMbZibZUj)