The Importance of Teaching Syllable Types

I was not familiar with syllable types until recently. Reading came naturally to me, so I never really thought about words and word parts having a finite amount of combinations that can be taught. After beginning training in LETRS (Language Essentials for Teachers of Reading and Spelling) last year, I was introduced to the 6 syllable types.

Teaching the 6 syllable types to students helps students to gain an understanding of how words work. They are gaining knowledge of how words and letters are put together in the English language. When students are able to break apart words and identify the syllables, it makes it easier for students to be able to pronounce and read words correctly. This is especially true for students who struggle with reading.

This year I have had the pleasure of working with a group of 3rd graders who greatly benefitted from my teaching of the 6 syllable types. Since they could already read many basic words, I did not have to spend much time on each type. I would say when it comes to teaching the syllable types: the less reading skills the student has, the more time that you will spend teaching each syllable type.

Also when teaching syllable types, you want to teach them in order from the simplest to most complex. However, I have seen curriculums differ on the exact order. Typically, the first type taught is closed syllables. Closed syllables end with a consonant letter and the vowel is usually short. I like to tell my students, “Consonant means closed. They both start with c. That will make it easier to remember.”

The next type to teach varies between either open syllables or silent e syllables. Open syllables end with a vowel, which usually makes the vowel long in the syllable. In the silent e syllable, the syllable ends with an e usually making the vowel long. I have done it both ways. And when I teach, I always give 1 syllable word examples of each type before moving on to multisyllabic words. Throwing in nonsense words helps, too, by solidifying the rule for each syllable type as you teach it. The words I select vary by grade level and ability of the students in the group. However, syllable types can be taught as early as kindergarten.

After those 2 types, I would teach vowel team syllables, followed by r-controlled syllables. These 2 types can be flip-flopped as well, based on your students’ needs. The last syllable type taught would be consonant +le. This is the hardest syllable to teach because of the schwa sound.

There are many creative ways I have seen out there for how to teach the syllable types. One way I’ve seen is by using a closed and open door with word parts on each side of the door to teach the difference between open and closed syllables. If your ELA curriculum includes teaching of the syllable types, you could choose to use what is already there for you. I like to include entertaining videos from YouTube to show examples of the phonics patterns used in syllable types. I have, also, saved some free worksheets on Pinterest.

Here are a couple I have used this year:

Now back to this wonderful group of 3rd graders. Along with explicit teaching and practice with individual words, we continued to read texts at their reading level each day. When students got stuck on a word while reading a text, I helped them to use what they have learned about syllable types to decode the word. Furthermore, this group loved it when I tried to stump them with a multisyllabic unfamiliar word where they had to use what they learned to read it correctly. (I may have gotten excited, too!) Once all the syllable types had been taught, we played a fun review game that included words of all types.

At the end of the semester, I benchmark tested this group of students. I knew their reading had improved based on weekly progress monitoring results, but I was blown away by their scores! In fact, 2 of those students were released from reading intervention back into the classroom, 1 was moved to an A/B schedule, and the other 1 student remained in intervention (but not too far behind). This was clear evidence to me that teaching syllable types is important!

This is just one success story of how teaching students the 6 syllable types helped them to become better readers. But as I continue to teach more students the 6 syllable types, I know I will have many more!

Now don’t start thinking, I’m going to teach all my students the syllable types and they’ll be able to read. That won’t work. Teaching syllable types is only one piece of the puzzle when teaching students how to read. When done at the right time, with other pieces of the puzzle in place, teaching the syllable types is what will, hopefully, give your students the knowledge they need to break the reading code. If you’re interested in learning more about LETRS or about my LETRS journey, check out my posts LETRS: What is it? What does it entail? and LETRS Training Update. I finish LETRS training at the end of this year and I’ll post a final update then. Stay tuned!

With the Easter holiday next weekend, I’m going to take some time off to spend with family. I hope you will, too. But I’ll be back in a couple weeks to share about increasing reading fluency in your students.