Syllabication

The one skill that I teach that I have found reaches the farthest beyond the four walls of my classroom is instruction students on how to syllabitize words. By teaching students to divide words into smaller parts, or syllables, they add a tool to their toolbox when it comes to decoding unknown words (Johns & Lenski, 2010). Once students begin to learn the 7 types of syllables in-depth, they begin to carry these skills to help them encode words as well. By using the rules to syllabitize a word, students can determine the sounds some letters, especially vowel sounds, represent in a word (Palumbo, Kramer-Vide, & Hunt, 2015, p. 110). "Leong’s (1989) finding that when recognizing long words, students used morphemes as units to aid in decoding. Students more skilled at word recognition relied more heavily on morpheme recognition" (Palumbo, Kramer-Vide, & Hunt, 2015, p. 112). Moreover, by using these rules and shortcuts, students are able to attack words in a different manner which improves their self-confidence, reading comprehension, and I have found that students utilize this strategy the most beyond my classroom. 

In order to determine where to divide a word based on syllables, students use the "Animal Division" rules found below. The slash shows where to divide the pattern 

Rabbit (VC/CV) 
Monster (VC/CCV) 
Tiger (V/CV) 
Camel (VC/V) 
Lion (V/V) 
Egret (V/CCV) 

After locating the animal pattern, students apply the following types of syllables: 

There are 7 types of syllables that are always displayed in my classroom. 

1. Closed - A syllable in which a single vowel is followed by a consonant. This vowel typically makes its short vowel sound. (cat/nip) 
2. Open- A syllable in which a vowel is at the end of the syllable. This vowel typically makes its long vowel sound. (she) 
3. Magic E- A syllable with a silent e that makes the vowel before it say its long name. (Vowel-Consontant-E pattern) (kite) 
4. Vowel Teams- A syllable containing two vowels (or letters) that are next to each other and make one vowel sound. (Bread, Sail) 
5. Dipthongs- A syllable containing two vowels or letters where an atypical vowel sound is created. (Oil, Soy) 
6. R-Controlled (Bossy R)- A syllable where the vowel that is followed the letter r is "controlled" by the r and makes different sound.  (Car, Her) 
7. Consonant -le- An unaccented final syllable where a consonant is followed by the letters -le. (Stable) 



Johns, J., & Lenski, S. (2010). Improving reading: Interventions, strategies, and resources. Dubuque, IA: Kendall/Hunt. 

Palumbo, A., Kramer-Vide, L., & Hunt C. (2015). Teaching vocabulary and morphology in intermediate grades. Preventing School Failure, 59(2), 109–115. 



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