# data[].attributes.body
Turn-in Activity

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
My students have had some experience with both closed and open syllables during the course of our daily phonics lesson but I wanted to state my objective so the student would know exactly why it's important to learn about syllables. I said, " Today we are going to learn how to look at a word with more than one syllable and learn how to break it apart. The reason why we are doing this is because I want you to be able to have word attack strategies so you can read and write longer words. We are starting to experience these words more and more each day. We've reached the big time guys so let's learn how to attack these words!"

I brought up my Smartboard file. Instead of having a prepared lesson, I used the board like a regular whiteboard today. I wrote the word "absent" on the board. I said, " This is the word absent. Let's do our duck lips and see how many syllables absent has." If you don't know what duck lips are, it's a great strategy for kids to use to determine how many syllables are in a word. Check out my duck lips video: Duck Lips.

Then I said, " I am going to model how to divide this word.When you are learning how to divide syllables its all about the vowels. We've done this before but let's review. I put my left pointer on the vowel a. I put my right pointer on the vowel e. I see 2 consonants between my fingers. When I have 2 consonants between my fingers I split the word between the 2 consonants." Then we examined each syllable, talking about how the b's job in the first syllable was to close in the a an make it a short vowel sound. We also talked about how the n and t closed in the vowel e in the 2nd syllable to make that a short vowel sound as well. This word has 2 closed syllables.

Then I modeled a word that had an open syllable as the first syllable. I wrote the word "began" on the board. I put each of my pointer fingers on the vowels and modeled how to cut the word after the first vowel. This made the first syllable an open syllable. We then looked at the 2nd syllable and saw that the n closed off the syllable making the a a short vowel sound. My students were able to decode the word then.

Then I purposely wanted to try a word that was a "rule breaker". I wrote the word "apron" on the board. I put my fingers on the vowels. Since there are 2 consonants between the vowels I divided it between the consonants and marked each vowel as a short vowel. When we decoded the word it didn't make sense. I said, " Could this be a rule breaker? What do you think we should do? I told my students to do their duck lips and talk about where they think we should divide the syllable. We dividing the syllable after the a this time, marking the a as long and they were delighted when they decoded the word and it made sense.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Syllable Dividing Rules For Multisyllabic Words

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
My students have had some experience with both closed and open syllables during the course of our daily phonics lesson but I wanted to state my objective so the student would know exactly why it's important to learn about syllables.

# data[].attributes.body
Syllable Techniques

# data[].attributes.body
Games

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
Learning to read and write open and closed syllables is a foundational skill for multisyllabic decoding. Learning to read part of a word helps students break down longer words into more manageable chunks and assists students in discovering patterns in spelling words. Teaching and giving students practice working with open and closed syllables is a must for creating successful readers.

Open syllables happen when there is a vowel at the end of the syllable. The vowel makes a long vowel sound, like the word robot. The first syllable, ro, has a long o. Here are a few more examples

Closed syllables happen when there is a consonant at the end of the syllable. The vowel sound in the syllable makes a short vowel sound, like habit. The first syllable, hab, has a short a. A few more examples include:

There are exceptions to these rules, but they occur often enough that it is beneficial to explicitly teach the concept to students. I don't necessarily teach my younger learners the names open and closed syllables, but instead, teach and give practice about the concept.

There are six different syllable types, but open and closed syllables are the easiest to teach and learn. Hundreds of words can be read and written with a basic understanding of open and closed syllables. Knowing these syllable types will help students be a better speller, but also better readers.

It is also a foundation for multisyllabic reading. Larger words are built off the smaller chunks of two-syllable words. When reading and spelling multisyllabic words, students should be able to break the word apart into syllables and then decipher each syllable independently to build the word.

Like reading, teaching open and closed syllables is great for spelling. Words that have a double consonant are often difficult to spell. Students only hear one of the consonants when spelling. However, if students are taught that a short vowel is followed by a consonant, they will learn that mit/ten must have two "t's" in the word.

I created a product to help my students master reading two-syllable words and then created a complimentary product for open and closed irregular syllables. The Open and Closed Syllables sets have over 12 different activities and games to use during small group reading or for independent reading activities. All the games and activities focus on students reading and breaking apart words into syllables.

Irregular syllables don't follow standard decoding practices. Examples include able, ible, tion, ance, etc.

The two sets of syllable work have similar components and include the following resources and activities:

Anchor Charts

Syllable Cards and Word Cards

Sorts

Read Words by Syllables

Fluency Strips

Break Apart into Syllables

Puzzles

Cut & Paste

Roll & Spin

Match Missing Syllable

Flip Books (great for Interactive Notebooks!)

Board Games

Coloring Sheets

Answer Keys are included for all worksheets. Below are a few descriptions and photos from the Open and Closed Syllables packet.

Open and Closed Syllables: Missing Syllables

In this activity, students match the missing part of the syllable to create a complete word. You can laminate the cards, cut them apart, and put then them on a ring to make it all a bit more organized. Color coding the cards and missing syllable would help, too. Print the missing syllable on colored paper and add the same colored mark to the picture card.

The missing syllable cards are designs so that, when possible, the text is justified based on whether it is the first or second syllable of the word. This will also help students see patterns in the syllables.

Open and Closed Syllables: Puzzles

My students love working with puzzles. There's just something about then that makes an activity ten times more engaging. The pieces are such that it is easy to see which is the first and second syllable based on the type of puzzle piece.

Open and Closed Syllables: Roll & Spin

Since there are two parts to the words, this roll and spin game is a perfect addition to any reading station. Students spin the spinner for the first syllable and roll the dice for the second syllable. Put the two together and figure out if it is a real word! This is a great activity to help with spelling as students are expected to write down each syllable then put the word together.

Open and Closed Syllables: Syllable or Not Syllable

This worksheet is a great way for your learners to discover patterns within syllables, namely that a syllable has to have a vowel. It also helps students familiarize themselves with common syllable chunks.

Open and Closed Syllables: Match the Syllables

Like the above worksheet, this one deals with syllable chunks. Students match the missing part of the word to the given part then write the whole word on the blank space. Not only does this focus on becoming familiar with a variety of chunks of words, but it also helps students put the two parts together into the word.

You can purchase either set of the syllable games and activities on my website or on Teachers Pay Teachers.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Open and Closed Syllables Games and Activities

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Learning to read and write open and closed syllables is a foundational skill for multisyllabic decoding. Learning to read part of a word helps students break down longer words into more manageable chunks and assists students in discovering patterns in spelling words.

# data[].attributes.body
Example

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
Learning to read and write open and closed syllables is a foundational skill for multisyllabic decoding. Learning to read part of a word helps students break down longer words into more manageable chunks and assists students in discovering patterns in spelling words. Teaching and giving students practice working with open and closed syllables is a must for creating successful readers.

Open syllables happen when there is a vowel at the end of the syllable. The vowel makes a long vowel sound, like the word robot. The first syllable, ro, has a long o. Here are a few more examples

Closed syllables happen when there is a consonant at the end of the syllable. The vowel sound in the syllable makes a short vowel sound, like habit. The first syllable, hab, has a short a. A few more examples include:

There are exceptions to these rules, but they occur often enough that it is beneficial to explicitly teach the concept to students. I don't necessarily teach my younger learners the names open and closed syllables, but instead, teach and give practice about the concept.

There are six different syllable types, but open and closed syllables are the easiest to teach and learn. Hundreds of words can be read and written with a basic understanding of open and closed syllables. Knowing these syllable types will help students be a better speller, but also better readers.

It is also a foundation for multisyllabic reading. Larger words are built off the smaller chunks of two-syllable words. When reading and spelling multisyllabic words, students should be able to break the word apart into syllables and then decipher each syllable independently to build the word.

Like reading, teaching open and closed syllables is great for spelling. Words that have a double consonant are often difficult to spell. Students only hear one of the consonants when spelling. However, if students are taught that a short vowel is followed by a consonant, they will learn that mit/ten must have two "t's" in the word.

I created a product to help my students master reading two-syllable words and then created a complimentary product for open and closed irregular syllables. The Open and Closed Syllables sets have over 12 different activities and games to use during small group reading or for independent reading activities. All the games and activities focus on students reading and breaking apart words into syllables.

Irregular syllables don't follow standard decoding practices. Examples include able, ible, tion, ance, etc.

The two sets of syllable work have similar components and include the following resources and activities:

Anchor Charts

Syllable Cards and Word Cards

Sorts

Read Words by Syllables

Fluency Strips

Break Apart into Syllables

Puzzles

Cut & Paste

Roll & Spin

Match Missing Syllable

Flip Books (great for Interactive Notebooks!)

Board Games

Coloring Sheets

Answer Keys are included for all worksheets. Below are a few descriptions and photos from the Open and Closed Syllables packet.

Open and Closed Syllables: Missing Syllables

In this activity, students match the missing part of the syllable to create a complete word. You can laminate the cards, cut them apart, and put then them on a ring to make it all a bit more organized. Color coding the cards and missing syllable would help, too. Print the missing syllable on colored paper and add the same colored mark to the picture card.

The missing syllable cards are designs so that, when possible, the text is justified based on whether it is the first or second syllable of the word. This will also help students see patterns in the syllables.

Open and Closed Syllables: Puzzles

My students love working with puzzles. There's just something about then that makes an activity ten times more engaging. The pieces are such that it is easy to see which is the first and second syllable based on the type of puzzle piece.

Open and Closed Syllables: Roll & Spin

Since there are two parts to the words, this roll and spin game is a perfect addition to any reading station. Students spin the spinner for the first syllable and roll the dice for the second syllable. Put the two together and figure out if it is a real word! This is a great activity to help with spelling as students are expected to write down each syllable then put the word together.

Open and Closed Syllables: Syllable or Not Syllable

This worksheet is a great way for your learners to discover patterns within syllables, namely that a syllable has to have a vowel. It also helps students familiarize themselves with common syllable chunks.

Open and Closed Syllables: Match the Syllables

Like the above worksheet, this one deals with syllable chunks. Students match the missing part of the word to the given part then write the whole word on the blank space. Not only does this focus on becoming familiar with a variety of chunks of words, but it also helps students put the two parts together into the word.

You can purchase either set of the syllable games and activities on my website or on Teachers Pay Teachers.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Open and Closed Syllables Games and Activities

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Learning to read and write open and closed syllables is a foundational skill for multisyllabic decoding. Learning to read part of a word helps students break down longer words into more manageable chunks and assists students in discovering patterns in spelling words.

# data[].attributes.body
Visual Learners/ELL

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
Improving fluency is something we are always looking to do. I have the students do a number of activities with connected text to achieve this. But most of the time, students need some background skills to really get the fluency going. Learning to chunk and break words is a big piece of what students need to be able to do to read with more fluency.

For my students, word study with multisyllabic words is something they need a lot of extra practice in doing. They sometimes get hung up on wanting to "stretch it out" or "sound it out" for every word they have difficulty with reading. I explicitly teach my students that stretching out a word works for those cvc words and other short words, but I don't want them using that strategy for longer words or words that don't follow the rules.

To build fluency, students need to be efficient at solving unknown words. And be able to do it fast. Chunky Monkey is a great way to do this! Students need to figure out how to chunk words: on-set & rime, root word and endings, multisyllabic words, etc...

So as soon as my little readers are ready, I like them to learn to problem solve in chunks rather than sound by sound.

Here is where several of my groups are now. Putting into practice what they learned at the lower levels now when reading longer, multisyllabic words. We practice word sorting, like in the first picture at the top of the page. They need to be able to tell what kind of word it is and practice breaking it. These are open syllable word puzzles for practicing.

But I don't want students only practicing breaking words in isolation. They need/have to be able to do it in connected text. Short task cards help them get in some quick practice doing that. With all that practice the students can apply Chunky Monkey to longer pieces of text and practice doing it quickly so their fluency improves.

My younger groups practice with closed syllables. If they need a bit of guidance with the syllables, coding them by copying on different colored paper is a good scaffold.

As they get better at this, the colored paper isn't needed as much.

Sorting words in pocket charts, practicing where to divide or chunk words, working with word puzzles, etc...all these activities give students the practice they need to become more efficient at seeing and reading the chunks in words in text. Being able to break and read longer words will help your readers to be more fluent as they read, which leaves more brain power for comprehension.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Build Fluency with Multisyllabic Word Study - Conversations in Literacy

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Sorting multisyllabic words activities Improving fluency is something we are always looking to do. I have the students do a number of activities with connected text to achieve this. But most of the time, students need some background skills to really get the fluency going.

# data[].attributes.body
Hands-on Activities

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Hands-on Activities For Teaching Word Syllables

# data[].attributes.body
Worksheet idea

# data[].attributes.body
Visual

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
Here is a Free Poster to hang on your reading wall or to keep handy when you need a refresher on syllables and the rules. This little kid-friendly poster displays the 6 types of syllables. It also comes in a black and white copy. Just click the picture on the left to download the freebie!
Thanks for stopping by!
See you soon,

Click the picture on the left to find more resources using Foundational Skills and Phonics.

To be notified of my next blog post,

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Here is a Free Poster to hang on your reading wall or to keep handy when you need a refresher on syllables and the rules. This little kid-friendly poster displays the 6 types of syllables. It also comes in a black and white copy. Just click the picture on the left to download the freebie!

# data[].attributes.body
Visual

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
It's always so much fun listening and watching our young readers figure out those "longer" words. Many of our little ones are pretty solid decoding one-syllabe words and are now ready to learn strategies for decoding multisyllabic words. So, really, what is a syllable? Simply put, a syllable is a unit of pronunciation containing a single vowel sound. "Syllabication" is the process of analyzing the pattern of vowels and consonants in a word to determine where a word is broken into its syllables. The ability to break a word into syllables helps students decode those longer words as well as helps the student remember spelling patterns. Understanding the 7 syllable types helps students to become better readers and writers.

There are 7 types of syllables that occur in all words of the English language. Every word can be broken down into these syllables. These 7 syllables include: closed, open, magic e, vowel teams, r-controlled, dipthongs and consonant le. After teaching each syllable type, having these posters readily available for reference in your classroom can help your students. The Make, Take & Teach 7 Syllables Types Classroom Posters can be downloaded for free in my TpT store.

Just click the following link to download this poster 7 Syllable Types

The 7 Syllable Types Classroom Posters are available for FREE in my online Teachers Pay Teachers Store.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
7 Syllable Types Resources - Make Take & Teach

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
It's always so much fun listening and watching our young readers figure out those "longer" words. Many of our little ones are pretty solid decoding one-syllabe words and are now ready to learn strategies for decoding multisyllabic words. So, really, what is a syllable? Simply put, a syllable is a unit of pronunciation containing a [...]

# data[].attributes.body
Activities

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
The ability to decode more complex text requires not only a working knowledge of the phonemes and graphemes of English and the 6 syllable types, but also an ability to divide multisyllabic words. How the words are divided affects the syllable types and pronunciation. At its most basic, syllables are units of speech. We hear or feel the beats, impulses or breaths in a word. We can put our hand under our chin and feel our chin drop for each syllable. But, when tasked with decoding an unknown word, locating and dividing syllables changes from an auditory task, to a task of visual detective work. It is not unusual to find the same word divided differently in different dictionaries depending on whether the word is divided according to morphemic or sound boundaries. Despite the possibility for differences, teaching students to divide words into syllable provides them with an important strategy for word analysis.

During an Orton-Gillingham lesson, I like to have students start tackling a longer unknown word by underlining the vowels, putting one finger on each one, and looking between them. Depending on the number of consonants he or she sees, the word will divide slightly differently. After making a tentative choice, the student pronounces the word by syllables. Sometimes there is trial and error involved. If the pronounced word is not recognized, it may be necessary to try a different syllable division pattern or a different accented syllable. Fortunately, there are some guidelines as to frequency of division and accenting patterns.

1. The simplest and most straight forward type of syllable division pattern is VCCV. When there are two consonants between the vowels, the syllable break falls in the middle. This is how we divide words such as cac/tus, cup/cake, rab/bit, bet/ter, and ex/cuse. Most commonly the accent is on the first syllable as in nap'/kin. Less commonly, the 2nd syllable is accented as in un/til'. The least common situation in the VCCV pattern is to divide before both consonants as in se'/cret or fra'/grant.

2. The next syllable division typically taught is VCCCV pattern, when there are three consonants between the vowels. In this case, the reader has to make a decision. The most common way to divide is after the first consonant, but a rule of thumb is that common blends and digraphs should be kept together. This is how we divide words such as gum/drops, ten/dril, hun/dred, pump/kin, sand/wich, and bank/rupt. Most commonly the word is divided after the first consonant with an accent on the first syllable such as pil'/grim. The second most common situation is to divide after the first consonant with the accent on the 2nd syllable as in com/plete'. Less commonly the word is divided after the second consonant with the first syllable accented as in pump'/kin.

3. For words with 4 consonants, typically the division is in the middle, again with attention to common three letter blends and trigraphs. Words that are divided in this way would include: back/ground, gang/ster, egg/plant, ab/stract, and ham/string. Very often these are compound words or words with a prefix or suffix.

4. Compound words are divided between the two words that make up the compound word. In most cases, this follows one of the patterns above, but for compound words where the first word part is a vowel-consonant-e syllable, this becomes important. In this way, we would divide base/ball, mole/hill, fire/man, life/line or even line/up.

5. When just one consonant falls between two vowels in a VCV pattern, the reader once again must do some detective work. In this situation approximately 60-75% of words divide before the consonant. This makes the first syllable an open syllable and the vowel would have a long sound. This is true in words such as ti/ger, po/ny, Da/vid, hu/man and be/have. The long vowel sound should be tried first. Most frequently, the accent is on the first syllable. Less often, it is the 2nd syllable that is accented, often in verbs. If the long vowel sound does not make sense, there is a good possibility that the word in question falls into the smaller percentage of words that divide after the consonant, making the first syllable closed and the vowel sound short. This is the case in words such as: cam/el, rob/in, cred/it, pun/ish and lim/it. Once again the reader must rely on his or her judgment and some trial and error. In this case, the accent is typically on the first syllable as in riv/er.

6. Perhaps the most complex and challenging syllable division scenario is the VV pattern. Fortunately, this is not a very common syllable division pattern. Most often, this type of syllable division occurs with vowels that do not form a vowel team, as in the word Ohio or Oreo; "io"" and "eo" are not vowel teams, therefore indicating that the word is divided between the vowels. Each of the vowels makes its own sound. Typically, the accent falls on the first syllable. Sometimes, a word will look like a vowel team as in the ue in fluent or the ie in client. In this case, reading the vowels as a vowel team does not make a real word. The syllables are divided between the vowels and are not a vowel team in this situation.

A knowledge of syllable division patterns and a routine of divisions to try if the solution is not obvious are invaluable for helping the Orton-Gillingham student deal with complex multisyllabic words. Having a roadmap to guide them gives students a sense of control and agency, sometimes giving students with dyslexia a chance to shine as they apply their knowledge to activities in the regular education classroom. It should be noted that expanding the student's listening vocabulary is extremely valuable as they must rely on their ability to recognize a real word to guide them. As always, it is important to make syllable division instruction multisensory and hands on.

Thank you so much for stopping my my blog today!

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Helpful Strategies For Teaching Syllable Division - The Literacy Nest

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
The ability to decode more complex text requires not only a working knowledge of the phonemes and graphemes of English and the 6 syllable types, but also an ability to divide multisyllabic words. How the words are divided affects the syllable types and pronunciation. At its most basic, syllables are units of speech.

# data[].attributes.body
Visual cues ideas

# data[].attributes.body
Worksheet

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Separating Syllables: V/CV Pattern | Worksheet | Education.com

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Practice dividing up V/CV words by syllables in this spelling and grammar worksheet!

# data[].attributes.body
Video

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Two-Syllable Words  | ELA for 1st Grade | Kids Academy

# data[].attributes.body
Clapping Syllables

# data[].attributes.body
Kinesthetic

# data[].attributes.body
Review- Syllables in your name

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
Now I show the students the book which we are about to read. I tell the students, "The title of this book is called Tiki Tiki Tembo. It is written by Arlene Mosel which means she wrote the words and that makes her the author of the story. It was illustrated by Blair Lent which means she drew the pictures which makes her the illustrator."

"This book is about a two little boys and one of the boys has a very long name. Who in this classroom has a very long name?"

I take responses from the students who think they have long names. I have the student tell me his or her name and how many letters it has.

"The other little boy has a very short name. Who in this classroom has a short name?"

Repeat same process as above.

"Thank you for sharing your names with me. Let us see what happens to the boys in this story all because of their names."

I read the story to the students. As the students become familiar with Tiki tiki tembo no sa rembo chari bari ruche pip peri pembo's name, I encourage them to say it along with me. I make it into a bouncy rhythm to make it easier for them to remember and so we can have fun with it.

Whilst reading I ask the students to predict what they think will happen when the boys are playing on the well.

Once the book is over I ask the students' if they know what a syllable is. "Who knows what a syllable is?"

Most of the time I do not get any responses.

"Well a syllable is a part of a word. Syllables make up a word. For example, /cat/ has one syllable, but all/i/ga/tor has four. Let's watch a short video on the SMARTBoard to see how we can check for syllables."

I show the students the previously loaded youtube clip - Syllable Lesson
When the clip is over I ask the students to focus back on me and let them know that we are going to practice a few words together as a group. "First let's try clapping a few words. Get your hands ready by putting them out in front of you in the open position. I will say the word and then we will say it together as a group clapping our hands as we say the word. After we clap out the word we will call out how many times we clapped which will tell us how many syllables the word is made up of. Ready?" Next I proceed to say a variety of words from the story - well, rice, ladder, mountain, "Good. Now let's try robot speak. . I will say the word and then we will say it together like a robot. After we say the word we will call out how many syllables we heard." Next I proceed to say a variety of words from the story - stream, old, inside, listen, "Great work team. Finally let's try the last technique, putting our hand under our chin. I will say a word and then we will say it together. Each time our hand drops down is a syllable. After we have said the word as a group call out how many times your hand went down and that will tell us how many syllables were in the word. Ready?" Next I proceed to say a variety of words from the story - man, Chang, Mother, Tiki tiki tembo no sar rembo chari bari ruche pip pari pembo (saying this name usually makes the students laugh) Now I praise the students for their efforts and I ask them to think about the technique they found the easiest to use. I tell the students that I am going to use the fair sticks to select the order in which I will have the students tell me their preferred method. Occasionally I will ask a student why they liked that method.
The Importance of Syllables

After students understand that sentences are made of words and words are different lengths, the next important concept for students to understand is that words are divided into syllables, or word parts. Syllable awareness is one component of phonological awareness. Students gain the ability to hear phonemes that comprise words and to explore speech sounds as syllables.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Now I show the students the book which we are about to read. I tell the students, "The title of this book is called Tiki Tiki Tembo. It is written by Arlene Mosel which means she wrote the words and that makes her the author of the story.

# data[].attributes.body
Open and Closed Syllables

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
Ever heard of open and closed syllables? If not keep reading. If so, these open and closed syllable pages are a great way to practice them...and sneak in a little drawing, too!

*This post contains affiliate links.
**The free download can be found at the END of this post. Click on the teal download button to snag the PDF.

Why Open and Closed Syllables?

Understanding the concept of open and closed syllables can help learners become better readers AND better spellers of words with more than one syllable.

When learners come to a longer word and get stuck, one thing you can say is, "The first syllable is an open syllable." If learners know about open and closed syllables, this can help them start to break apart the word to read it.

When learners need to spell longer words, we teach them to break the word into syllables. Knowing how to listen for open and closed syllables helps them spell out each syllable. You can read more about this kind of spelling in my Finger Tap Spelling post.

Open and Closed Syllable Pages

I've shared some open and closed syllable games and a fun "Cut the Cheese" activity that's part of an entire 6 Syllable Types Interactive Pack before.

But today, I'm sharing some open and closed syllable pages that my 2nd grader has been working on recently. It was right up her alley because she LOVES to express herself through drawing! I loved how the drawings helped me to know if she was actually reading the words.

These free pages have two levels of learning. Level 1 compares the VCCV closed pattern with the VCV open pattern. Level 2 is more difficult and has learners comparing VCV words for open AND closed syllables.

Is it Open or Closed?

These are the steps I teach my learners to follow to discover open and closed patterns. It's inspired by All About Reading. This information is also included in the free PDF.

1. Find the two vowels in the words. (example: in basket, the a and e are the vowels.)

2. Look BETWEEN the vowels.

3. If there are two consonants, split the word in between the two consonants. (bas - ket) This makes the first syllable CLOSED. (It ends with a consonant and the vowel makes its short sound.)

4. If there is one consonant, the consonant typically likes to hang out with the second syllable (ro-bot). This makes the first syllable OPEN. (It ends with a vowel and the vowel makes its long sound.)

5. In some cases, the one consonant in between the vowels likes to hang out with the first syllable. When this happens, the vowel makes its short sound because it's a closed syllable, as in the word wag-on.

*I encourage my learners to try words that have one middle consonant with an open, long vowel sound first (WAY-gon). If it doesn't make sense, they should try it with the closed, short vowel sound (WAG-on).

You Might Like

Grab the freebie by clicking below!

Enjoy!
~Becky

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Open and Closed Syllable Pages - Read & Draw - This Reading Mama

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Ever heard of open and closed syllables? If not keep reading. If so, these open and closed syllable pages are a great way to practice them...and sneak in a little drawing, too! *This post contains affiliate links. **The free download can be found at the END of this post.

# data[].attributes.body
Reading Foundational Skills

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
English Language Arts Standards " Reading: Foundational Skills " Grade 1 " 3 " e

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Decode two-syllable words following basic patterns by breaking the words into syllables.

# data[].attributes.body
Decoding 2-syllables words

# data[].attributes.body
Drawing

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
My class absolutely LOVED making this book today. We learned how to draw simple animals and objects to create a syllable book. When we were done drawing we put stickers on the page to show how many syllables were in the word. We added a cover page and stapled them all together to create a "Counting Syllables" book.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
My class absolutely LOVED making this book today. We learned how to draw simple animals and objects to create a syllable book. When we were done drawing we put stickers on the page to show how many syllables were in the word. We added a cover page and stapled them all together to create a "Counting Syllables" book.

# data[].attributes.body
I will make observations as students are working on their activities. I will also collect any worksheets used to help with assessments.