At which stage of phonological awareness do students begin to develop rhyme awareness?

The correct answer identifies the stage where students begin to develop rhyme awareness. Rhyme awareness is a crucial component of phonological awareness that involves recognizing and producing words that have similar ending sounds. This skill is foundational for reading and writing, as it helps children understand the relationships between sounds.

At the stage of rhyme awareness, children start to notice patterns in sounds, which can enhance their ability to decode and spell words later. They may engage in activities that involve clapping to the rhythm of rhymes, identifying rhyming pairs, or creating their own rhymes, all of which support their overall literacy development. This specific focus on rhyme distinguishes it from earlier stages such as listening and speaking, which are more general skills, and phonemic awareness, which entails recognizing and manipulating individual sounds within words, rather than their rhyming properties.

By honing in on rhyme awareness, educators can effectively support children's journey towards becoming proficient readers, as rhyme plays a significant role in phonological processing, vocabulary acquisition, and comprehension.