Down By the Bay Rhyming Lesson1. Show children the rhyming cards which are pairs or 3 word pictures that rhyme like cat, bat, mat. Explain that words that rhyme sound the same at the end of the word.
2. Give out a card to each student and then have them find their rhyming partner and sit with them.
Go over the matches together and put them up together on a pocket chart.
3. Teach the children the song "Down By the Bay" by Raffi, clapping the song with them. Then try to add verses to the song by looking at the rhyming card pairs the class made earlier. Such as "Did you ever see a bone talking on a phone?" "Did you ever see a clown sitting on a crown?" etc. They should be silly rhymes, the sillier the better. (You'll find that they want to put "kissing" in most of the rhymes because the one verse on the song has that.)
4. Write out the made up verses on the board or chart paper. You can also include the original ones from Raffi. The children can then illustrate a big book page for that rhyme and write or dictate the verse that goes with the illustration.
5. Put together the big book (you can make it watermelon shaped if you wish) and use it for the next time that you sing "Down By the Bay."
