Using the Six Syllable Types

to Help Students Unlock Words

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Reading Research Blocks Series

Phonemic

awareness

Vocabulary

Comprehension Phonics

Spelling

Irregular

words

Decoding

Fluency Multisyllabic Words

Word derivation

Syllable division

Morphology

Syntax

Encoding

Phonological

Awareness

DecodingRhym

e

Onset & Rime

Did you know?

• 50% of English is rule governed and completely regular

• 37% of words have only one irregularity

• 13% irregular87%

What’s this session about?

This session will address helping those kids who have splinter reading skills, but have few skills to unlock unknown words.

They guess based on the first letter or two.

They use pictures (not many pictures at this level) and what they know, or think they know, of the content.

Instruction must be cumulative, sequential, and systematic, so that students overcome the bad habit of relying on context and guessing to decode unknown words.

Louisa Moats

In this session, you will learn

• The 6 syllable types• How to identify syllable types in a word• How to divide words into syllables and

identify what the vowel says based on the syllable pattern

• Gain confidence in your ability to present vocabulary so that students become more able and empowered in unlocking unknown words.

Pretest

Let’s see what we know first

Hang in there…Here we go!

Closed Syllable

lip

stampdrill whizplod

Yes? No?

1

2

3

4

bat coat try

stamp grim grime

no pick shut

ask chip dream

Closed? Yes or No

1

bat coat try

stamp grim grime

no pick shut

ask chip dream

Closed? Yes or No

c a t n pi

f a n t a s t i c

3 vowels

3 syllables

fan tas tic

hundred

n dr

hun dred

shadplit

shad plit

Blend to the end

swashblam

swash blam

sh = digraphbl = blend

Divide these words into syllablesCount the consonants between the vowels and

group them together – Remember blend to the end when possibleBritishcomplex transmitclupnetchinfrobhandshakevambithcontrastbrethren

1

consonant

2

consonants

3 4

tim id con test

mim ic van quish

liv id

2

Brit ish com plex

trans mit

chin frob

con trast

breth ren

clup net

vam bith

handshake

Open Syllable

notry she

tradru

Open? Yes or No

hi I she

fee flu will

Kate pry belt

3

Open? Yes or No

hi I she

fee flu will

Kate pry belt

silo

si lo

o o

zero

ze ro O O

silent protest erupt

si lent pro test e rupt

o c o c o c

tulip open humid

even frequent menu

result began defrost

4

How’d You Do?

tu lip o pen hu mid o c o c o c

e ven fre quent men u o c o c c o

re sult be gan de frost o c o c o c

Vowel – Consonant e Syllable

cake

bridestove flute

tribe

Silent e Syllable

e

e

Silent e? Yes or No

quite chive slip

squish eke glare

dim dime camp

5

quite chive slip

squish eke glare

dim dime camp

Silent e? Yes or No

Let’s Do These Together

apron think pr between the 2 vowels

blend to the end if possible

a pronә

distribute

Think:4 vowels, but the e on the end is silentSo I will have 3 syllablesDivide between the 2 “i’s str (3 letter blend) I’ll try putting s with the 1st syllable and blend to

the end with tr – dis trNow I have to divide between the i and the u.I’ll flex the b – dis tri bute dis trib ute Distribute is a word I know.

Closed – Open – Silent e (v-e)

athlete inflate

romantic economize

stipulate replenish

microscope amnesty rejuvenate navy

6

Closed – Open – Silent e

ath lete in flate c v-e c v-e

ro man tic e con o mize

o c c o c o v-e

stip u late re plen ish

c o v-e o c c

Closed – Open – Silent e

mi cro scope am nes ty

o o v-e c c o

re ju ven ate na vy

o o c v-e o o

Consonant le

bubblekettle

cycle giggleriffle

-le

• Always the last syllable

• “e”s only job is to make it a vowel

ble fle

tle ple

gle zle

cle dle

Watch the spelling

ta ble

sim ple

drib ble

cra dle

ket tle

What do you notice?

table ta ble o -lekettle ket tle c -ledrizzle driz zle c -lerifle ri fle o -lesimple sim ple c -lecycle cy cle o -leriddle rid dle c -legiggle gig gle c -le

Your Turn

grumble huddle maple

able tackle crumble

bugle dangle tumble

7

How did you do?

grum ble hud dle ma ple

c -le c -le o -le

a ble tac kle crum ble

o -le c -le c -le

bu gle dan gle tum ble

o -le c -le c -le

R Controlled Syllable

star

thornthird spurn

herd

ar or er ir ursmart for bird turn

curve skirt short farm

stork fern third storm

particle

ә

par ti cle

r o -le

Ә = schwa

scarlet circus tribute

survive thirsty organize

interrupt paragraph internalize

candle tremble final

Afganistan photosynthesis

Putting it together

c l o e r

8

scar let cir cus trib ute r c r c c e

sur vive thir sty or gan ize r e r o r c e

ә әin ter rupt par a graph in ter na lize c r c r o c c r o e

ә can dle trem ble fi nal c -le c -le o c ә

Af gan i stan c c o c әpho to syn the sis o o c o c

Vowel Team Syllable

slow

steaksew roast

stain

First Vowel Says Its Name

ai ay

ee ea (eat, bread, steak)

ey

igh

oa ow

oe

eigh (eight) ei (vein)

ie (piece)

ue ui oo ew eu (Sue, suit, moo, blew, Europe)

oi oy (boil, toy)

ou ow (trout, brow, brown, trowel, power)

au aw (August, flaw, brawl)

flower

flow er

VT r

Try these

freedom lighter cruiser

crucify May triple

eighteen frontier majority

defeat remember fraternity

9

Try these әfree dom light er crui ser VT c r VT r

ә ә cru ci fy May tri ple o o o VT o -le

ә ә

eigh teen fron tier ma jor i tyVT c VT o r o o

ә ә de feat re mem ber fra ter ni ty

o VT o c r o r o o

Syl la

ble

Di vi

sion

Syl la ble Di vi sion

Takes the guess work out of syllable

division

www.trcabc.com/media/syllables.gif

Syllable Division Rules

• Step One: Find and underline all the single vowel sounds. umbrella

• Step Two: Count the number of consonants between the vowels. umbrella

3 2

• Step Three: Divide the syllables according to the number of consonants between the vowels. um brel la

c c o

Count the Syllables

lady

See Syllable(s)

2 2

rain

See Syllable(s)

____ ________

Try These

grape sleeve

pillow thief

crocodile umbrella

cry porcupine

10

How Did You Do?

grape 1 sleeve 1

pillow 2 thief 1

Crocodile 3 umbrella 3

cry 1 porcupine 3

Dividing Words Into Syllables

Rule Share Fair

When there are 2 consonants between 2 vowels, each syllable usually gets a vowel

muffin

balloon

signal

Which word(s) have a schwa sound in them?

Dividing Words Into Syllables

Rule Share Fair

When there are 2 consonants between 2 vowels, each syllable usually gets a vowel

muffin muf fin

balloon bal loon

signal sig nal

Which word(s) have a schwa sound in them?

e

e

Rules for dividing the syllables between the consonants

• Two or 4 consonants between vowels

– Usually divide the consonants evenly

ad mit

c c

swing shift c c

rab bitc c

Rules for dividing the syllables between the consonants

• Four consonants between vowels:

– in general, divide them evenly

– may experiment with other ways

• diph thong (keep digraphs together)

• sub scribe (keep 3 letter blends together)

• seam stress

• marsh mal low

Dividing Words Into Syllables with One Consonant Between Vowels

Rule Flexing

When there is one consonants between 2 vowels, the vowel can go either way. Flex the vowel – try it with both syllables to find the real word

bacon

bacon

polish Brazilbaconcrazy camel

• Mark the syllable types.• Which word can be read 2 ways?• Which syllables have a schwa sound? (Hint: there are 3)

bac onba con

11

How Did You Do?

Po lish or pol ish o c c c

Bra zil o c

ba con o c

cra zy o o

cam el c c

e

e

e

Rules for dividing the syllables between the consonants

• One consonant between vowels:– Usually divide before

the consonant• first vowel will be

long• if it sounds like a

real word you know – GOOD

tu na o c

i ris o c

hu man o c

Rules for dividing the syllables between the consonants (continued)

– If dividing after the vowel doesn’t make aword you know. . .

try dividing after the consonant

cab in c c

hab it c c

trav el c c

Rules for dividing the syllables between the consonants

• Three consonant between vowels:

– Generally put the first consonant with the first vowel, and the other two with the second vowel

– Try to keep blends together

BLEND TO THE END

• sim ply• mis chief• um brella• mon ster• al phabet• con tract• ex treme

When there are 3 consonants between 2 vowels, divide the syllables and keep digraphs and blends together if possible

• purchase

• anthem

• engrave

• electric

• orphanage

• chemistry

• comprehend

12

With a partner pronounce the verb form of each of these words. What do you notice?

approximate articulate associate deliberate duplicate laminate graduate intimate moderate predicate

Verbs ending in the letters "ate" pronounce the letter "a" of the last syllable with the "long a" sound (the name of the letter "a", the sound of

the words steak and make).

Practice• suspect

• suspense

• suspension

• accept

• acceptable

opportunity

encouraged

polish

melodramatic

crocodile

Try These

13

op por tu ni ty c r o o o

en cour ag c d c s (suffix)

Pol ish or Po lish c c o c

mel o dra ma tic c o o o c

croc o dile c o v-e

ed

How did you do?

For which child. . . ?Discuss how you would use teaching syllable division to your level students.

• Elementary

• Middle School

• High School

How Would You Divide These?

vygotsky

foutblin

satistrix

squilam

rishglizim

vy got sky o c o

fout blin d c

sat is trix c c c

squil am c c

rish gliz im c c c

Did you do it differently?

Suffixes

• Depends on syllable type of word & number of syllables in the word

• Depends on the ending being added– Suffix begins with a vowel– Suffix begins with an “i”– Suffix begins with a consonant

Sample Vowel Suffixes

• -ed• -en• -able• -er• -ent • -ar• -ation• -ous• -or

• -itis• -ive• -ing• -ist• -ical• -ible• -ibility

Consonant suffixes

• -ly tra gic ly

• -ment in cre ment

• -ship pen man ship

• -less clue less

• -ness hap pi ness

• -ful cup ful

• -tion tran si tion

• -sion ses sion

• -cian mu si cian

Vowel suffixes beginning with “i”

• -itis

• -ive

• -ing

• -ist

• -ical

• -ible

• -ibility

The Schwa Sound

Sound is often determined by placement of the accent within a word.

Any vowel can become a schwa sound in an unaccented syllable

Incredible compliment beckon Alaska

Determining Accent

• Easier once students recognize the root in polysyllabic words

• Accent is most likely to be on the word root

Patterns of Accent

• Primary Accent:– Stress (syllable pronounced the loudest) is on

one syllable

• Secondary or tertiary Accent:– Weaker stress on another syllable

Accent Generalizations

• Accented syllables are pronounced according to their syllable type.

A las ka c

• Unaccented syllables are pronounced as a schwa sound.

A las ka

Accent Generalizations

• Accent the first syllable in two or three syllable words and pronounce according to syllable type

– If word does not sound like a word you know, move the accent

• Accent the second syllable vowel and pronounce according to syllable type

Accent – Two syllable wordscontinued . . .

• When a word can be either a noun or a verb . . .– The prefix is accented if it is a noun . . .

– com J bine

– The root is accented if it is a verb . . .– com bine

Accent in Three Syllable Words

• The first syllable is usually accented while the vowel in the second syllable is a schwa.– min is ter

• When the word consists of a prefix, root and a suffix, the accent is usually on the second syllable.– in dent J ed

Accent in Four Syllable Words

• The accent is generally on the second syllable in a four syllable word.

– in ves ti gate– mag netJ ic ly

Accents controlled by suffixes

• Suffixes beginning with “i”– -ic

• Accent on syllable before this suffix

– -ity• Accent on syllable before this suffix

– -ion ( pronounced as /e un/ or /yun/ )• Accent on syllable before this suffix

– -tion, -sion, -cian• Accent is on syllable before these suffixes

Great Job!!

Now let’s see what you learned

closed

open

silent e

-le

r controlled vowel team

syl

la

ble

di

vi

sion

Thanks for coming

Don’t forget to evaluate workshop

for credit