Dividing written words into syllables can be a complex, dauting journey. Teach the skill in baby steps or small pieces at a time. There are many different ways to teach students about dividing words into syllables. Teaching them in a manner that builds upon prior teaching or knowledge will increase student accusation of the skill.
Learning syllabication usually begins in pre-school through orally instruction. Educators teach students how to verbally separate words into syllables, using a clapping, tapping or stomping action to indicate each syllable. Typically, students learn how to divide written words into syllables as they begin to learn how to decode and encode written words. Students learn the more complex “rules” to divide written words into syllables as the words become more complex.
There are six major or more common word syllables in the English language. I have found the task of teaching students easier if the syllables types are taught in the following order: a) closed-CVC, b) final e, c) open, d) vowel diagraph, e) r-controlled, f) constant -le. Students tend to first learn about closed syllables through instruction of CVC words. These syllables have a short vowel sound and are always closed in by a consonant, like bat or sit. Instruction in the final e syllable usually follows instruction of closed syllables. The syllabication rules of closed and final e syllables are more stable, recognizable, and easier to retain. The third syllable type to be taught is the open syllable. Open syllables always have a long vowel sound and are not closed in by a constant, like the first syllable of mu/sic. Instruction of closed and open syllables will cover 70% of written words in the English language (Hennesy, 2022; White, 2022).
There are other stable syllable norms or rules that may help students in dividing written words into syllables. The first norm is compound words that may be divided between the two words, like camp/fire. The second norm is words with double constants of the same letter can be divided between the two double consonants, like bb (rab/bit). The third norm that may be followed is a syllable break may occur in a word that contains two different constants side-by-side, like nc (con/cept). This rule may be tricky to learn, as some double constants are letter blends or diagraphs that should not be separated, such as ch, th, fl, or str (constriction, authoritative, sunflower). The fourth norm is diphthongs or vowel teams that cannot be separated, like oa, ea in boatman or teacher. The fifth norm of syllabication is putting a syllable break just before or after an affix in a word, like pre/sort or read/ed. Affixes are morphemes that may be easier for students to spot. The sixth norm is that each syllable must include a vowel phoneme.
The following steps usually increase the retention of syllabication skills and decrease possible student anxiety in learning how to read.
- Find and underline all vowel phonemes of a word. Explain that words may have a single vowel or vowel teams that are pronounced with only one phoneme.
- Count the underlined vowel phonemes of the word. This is the number of syllables present in the word.
- Look for double constants. Are the double constants a constant diagraph or letter blend (spr, fl, sh) that cannot be separated? If not place a separation line through the two constants to show a syllable break.
- Look at the current syllables and what syllable breaks should still be made? Are there parts of the word that still have more than one vowel phoneme? Are there affixes that may help with where the next syllable break may need to be placed?
- Pronounce/encode the word – sound out each syllable, then blend the syllables together, and then fluently pronounce the word.
- Allow time for student(s) to practice and model the process.
Syllable breaks may be confirmed by reviewing the six syllable types and other general syllable break norms, such as compound words and affixes.
References
Hennesy, N. (2021). Making meaning of text: a structured framework for informed instruction. 2021 Annual IDA Reading, Literacy & Learning Conference.
White, N. (2021). Continuum of decoding strategies: explicit__systematic—cumulative. 2021 Annual IDA Reading, Literacy & Learning Conference.
