What is "onset and rime" in early literacy?

• A. Onset is the final consonant(s) and the rime is the beginning
• B. Onset is the initial consonant or consonant cluster; the rime is the vowel and following consonants
• C. Onset and rime are types of sentences
• D. Onset and rime refer to punctuation

Answer: (B)

Onset and rime are ways to break a syllable into two parts to help kids notice how words are built. The onset is the initial sound or sounds in a syllable—usually a consonant or a cluster of consonants that come before the vowel. The rime is what comes after the onset: the vowel sound plus any following consonants.

For example, in the word cat, the onset is the /k/ sound and the rime is the /æt/ part (the vowel sound and the final consonant). In a word like street, the onset is the cluster /str/ and the rime is /iːt/ (the long vowel sound plus the final /t/). This idea also helps explain rhyming: words like hat, bat, and sat share the same rime, "at," while each has a different onset.

The other statements don’t fit because they describe unrelated ideas (final consonants as onset, or concepts like sentences or punctuation).