State and Model the Objective
Tell the children that they will get to sail a snail and a whale in a pail as they recognize and produce words that rhyme with sail, such as whale, gale, rail, and snail. 

Literacy Activities    
Sail the whale and snail

• Tell the children that they will sail a snail and a whale, and point out that sail, snail and whale rhyme.
• Explain that when something sails, it is pushed across the water by the wind.
• Divide the children into two teams, have each team line up near the pail, and give one team the snail graphic and the other the whale graphic.
• Have the first person in each line kneel next to the pail, put their picture near them in the water, and give them each a straw.
• When you say "go," have the children kneeling blow through their straws to move the snail and the whale forward through the water. 
• Encourage each team to cheer for their teammate by saying, "Sail the whale!" or "Sail the snail!"
• Have the children continue blowing until either the whale or the snail reaches the other side of the pail.
• Repeat the activity until all of the children have had a turn to sail the whale or the snail.

Produce words that rhyme with sail

• Remind the children of the words they played with (sail, whale, snail, pail).
• Ask each child to think of a word that rhymes with sail (support as needed).

Recognize rhyming words 

• Have the children repeat a set of two words (e.g. sail, snail)
• Ask the children to show you thumbs up if the words rhyme and thumbs down if the words do not rhyme, supporting as needed. 
• Repeat with other sets of words: (e.g., tail, whale; hail, kale; sail, cat; stale, trail; pail, nail; mail, truck; rail, gale).