Learning Syllables Helps Early Readers
Syllables are fantastic for helping children with recognizing important language sound patterns that help with learning to read and write. Learn all you need to know to help your child or student excel.
Words like rhinoceros, temperature, explanation, binoculars, barbeque, and other longer words can be incredibly intimidating for children to read. They may skip over or shrug their shoulders at simple compound words like firetruck, cupcake, and piggybank just based on their length alone.
Syllables to the rescue!
After whole words, syllables are the next largest unit of unbroken sound in spoken language. They are a means of breaking down longer words into smaller chunks. Most words in English are multisyllabic, meaning they contain more than one syllable. When children learn how to break words into their syllables, it makes words much easier to sound and spell out, as well as easier to pronounce. Learning syllable division can have a lasting impact on children’s literacy development.
Higher education introduces particularly challenging vocabulary, especially the sciences. Having strong syllable recognition skills is one of many useful skills to help make reading about these subjects and pronouncing challenging words easier down the road.
To learn to read is to light a spark; every syllable that is spelled out is a spark.
– Victor Hugo
What Is a Syllable?
Syllables are units of unbroken sound, making up parts within words. They are formed when pronouncing vowel sounds: A, E, I, O, U, and sometimes Y. The letter ‘Y’ is not a vowel but can behave as one in some English words, so in some cases, syllables may also be formed using ‘Y’.
Words can have one, two, three, or even more syllables.
Each syllable will only have one vowel sound. However, some syllables contain two vowel letters when one of the vowels is silent.
Note that vowels making up syllables may or may not be surrounded by consonants.
As children learn to count how many syllables make up different words, they learn that words follow different sound patterns, that longer words tend to have more syllables, and they begin to start saying words with greater confidence.
5 Ways To Help Children Count Syllables
The best way to teach children syllables is to keep activities oral and to encourage children to play around with sounds, especially younger children. Children typically start learning syllable division around ages 3-4. There are different methods and tools you can use to help children learn the concept of syllables and how to count them properly.
1. The Chin Method
When we pronounce vowels in the English language, it causes our jaws to drop open. Children can place one hand under their chin and count syllables by counting how many times they feel their chin drop down as they say a word. This makes it a very effective way to help children recognize the pattern of syllables. Children also benefit from watching you do this method and counting how many times your chin drops for each word.
2. The Clapping Method
Clapping out syllables is the most familiar method to most people. You and your child can clap out each syllable as you say different words, words in a sentence, or recite a nursery rhyme.
Use repetition to help your child master the pattern and rhythm. Try clapping 4-5 words at different points throughout the day. Small bursts of practice with higher frequency is what you want to aim for.
Snapping or stomping out syllables are other alternatives.
3. The Drumming Method
This method is like the clapping method. Instead of clapping though, you and your child can practice drumming out the syllables. Start with words at first.
Then slowly recite/sing a favourite nursery rhyme song, such as Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star, and have your child drum out the syllables at the same time as you.
4. The Humming Method
This method is fun to use with words containing three or more syllables.
Start by using picture cards. Say what the picture is, emphasizing each syllable.
Then, hum the first syllable but say the remaining syllables. Next, hum out the first two syllables and say the remaining syllables. Continue replacing each syllable with a humming sound until all the syllables in the word are being hummed.
Finally, repeat what the picture is again, this time saying the syllables (no humming).
5. The Marble Drop Method
Here is a fun one. For every syllable your child hears, have them drop a marble or token into a container.
For this method to be most effective, your child should be able to drop them in quickly. For very young children, it often works better to have you, as the parent or teacher, drop the marbles or tokens in so that the sound of the marble or token dropping occurs more quickly together, which better mimics natural speech.
Other Fun Prop Ideas: popping bubble wrap; tossing bean bags; counting out mini treats for each syllable and then getting to eat them (such as mini M&Ms or chocolate chips, or raisins).
Why Teach Children Syllable Division?
Learning syllables supplies children with some hefty benefits on their literacy journey. Also, syllable games and activities are fun and engaging, helping children develop a positive attitude toward learning and language development.
Here we explore four main areas that strong syllable recognition can significantly impact.
1. Syllable Recognition Helps Reading
Syllable recognition is one of the phonological awareness skills. Phonological awareness is the ability to recognize patterns of sound in spoken language and the ability to manipulate these sounds. These prereading-listening skills are highly correlated to future reading and writing proficiency.
The ability to break words into smaller chunks helps children learn to decode words because it’s much easier to decode smaller groups of letters than it is to decode an entire word. Decoding is the ability to apply letter-sound knowledge to pronounce written text and is a cognitively demanding task for children learning to read. Children become more engaged readers and can work at reading for meaning when they can decode words with greater ease.
Breaking words apart by their syllables provides children with a strategy they can implement when they are met with more challenging words. Strategies like syllable recognition help children persist with trying to sound out longer or unfamiliar words and show them that these challenges don’t need to derail their efforts with reading.
2. Syllable Recognition Helps with Spelling
The ability to break words into smaller chunks also helps with learning to spell words correctly. Children are better at identifying spelling patterns and grouping words into word ‘families’ when they are good at syllable recognition.
Spelling becomes much less taxing when every word does not need to be memorized by each letter. Instead, armed with ways to break words apart and to group or categorize text by common general rules, spelling becomes more manageable. Children then have more strategies to draw on when they need to make educated guesses on how to spell a word that they are unsure of.
Vocabulary Quest
Word: Snuggle
Meaning: to get cozy with someone or something you love, like giving a big, warm hug or cuddling up with a soft blanket or stuffed animal.
Ex: All the penguins waddled into a group huddle, declaring it a “snuggle shuffle” to stay warm on the ice.
Curious Queries Corner?
Stir up your learner’s imagination and create some conversation and connection by asking an unusual question.
Would you rather have spaghetti hair you can eat anytime or rainbow fingers that change colors when you wiggle them?
3. Syllable Recognition Assists in Pronunciation
Breaking words into more manageable sections also can help with pronouncing words correctly and expanding one’s vocabulary repertoire.
Have you ever noticed how helpful it is when someone breaks an unfamiliar word down into sections when trying to learn another language? The same principle applies to children learning a language in general. They will have greater confidence in attempting to say words when they hear them broken down into sections.
4. Syllable Recognition Improves Comprehension
The more accurate and fluid children become in their ability to decode, the more attention their brains can give to cognitive processes involved with reading comprehension. If a child is struggling with decoding many words in a single sentence, it’s nearly impossible for him/her to also make sense of what the sentence is trying to communicate.
As children become more proficient in recognizing language patterns, such as syllables, they become more adept at gaining meaning from the language they are exposed to. They develop metacognitive skills that promote self-monitoring of their understanding and that allow them to think more deeply about what they are reading. Children can then better identify when they don’t understand something and ask questions, along with applying other comprehension strategies to help improve their understanding.
Discover Fun Early Literacy Activities for Little Learners
General Rules Syllables Follow in The English Language
The following general rules make up the six different types of syllables. If you’re ever questioning where the syllable division should be, check the dictionary for the syllable breaks which are indicated by a dot.
6 Different Types of Syllables
- Closed syllables
- Open syllables
- Vowel-consonant-e (silent e) syllables
- Diphthong syllables (paired/teamed vowels)
- R-controlled syllables
- Consonant-le syllables
1. A syllable is formed from the sound of one vowel, with or without surrounding consonants.
Exceptions:
- Words with a silent e at the end
Ex. Love; ice; ad/ven/ture; cos/tume; neck/lace; tooth/ache - Words containing a diphthong (paired/teamed vowels). These vowels do not get divided
Ex. Brain; pear; beau/ti/ful; touch; book; laugh/ing; au/to/mo/bile; ed/u/ca/tion
NOTE: the consonant ‘y’ is not strictly a vowel but behaves like one. Ex. Butterfly has three syllables but/ter/fly.
2. Divide syllables according to whether they have a long or short vowel sound.
Syllables that end with a consonant tend to have short vowel sounds. These are called closed syllables. Divide after the consonant when the vowel is short.
Ex. red; want; hab/it; rob/in; tak/en; liv/ing; clos/et; cam/era; hon/ey; bak/er/y
Syllables ending with a vowel, have long vowel sounds. These are called open syllables. Long vowel sounds say the name of the letter. Divide before the consonant when the vowel is long. Ex. e/ven; la/ter; ti/ming; to/tal; fi/nal; tu/ning; fu/ming; i/tem; do/nate; yo/gurt
3. Split words with two middle consonants between the two consonants.
Ex. rab/bit; bas/ket; pac/ket; car/rot; hop/ping; pat/ter; blan/ket; prac/tice; par/ka; mar/king; gar/den; car/pet
Exceptions: /sh/; /th/; /ph/; /ch/; /gh/; and /wh/ digraph phonemes (two consonants that make one sound when put together).
4. For syllables with /le/, divide just before the consonant in front of /le/.
Use this rule when /le/ comes at the end of a word and sounds like /el/.
Ex. this/tle; tum/ble; can/dle; trou/ble; a/ble; cas/tle; mar/bles; pur/ple; lit/tle; trem/ble; de/pend/a/ble; un/bear/a/ble; cap/a/ble; a/dor/a/ble; sta/ble
Exceptions: Words with /ckle/, such as pick/le; fick/le, and tick/le.
5. Use prefixes, suffixes, and root words that have vowel sounds to separate the syllables. Generally, divide after a short prefix.
Prefixes are clumps of letters at the beginning of a word that relay meaning. Ex. /sub/ in the word submarine means below or under.
Prefix Examples: Un/tie; re/move; pre/tend; co/work/er; non/fic/tion; un/done; an-ti-cli-mat-ic (note anti does not stay together).
Root Word Examples: hope/less; joy/ous; free/dom; act/ing; play/ing
Suffix Examples: re/cit/al; king/dom; train/er; ar/gue/ment; care/ful (note: many suffixes are divided in different ways and do not use consistent rules)
6. Divide compound words between the two words.
Ex. cup/cake; horse/shoe; any/time; sea/shell; base/ball; bed/room
7. Don’t Divide R- Controlled syllables (aka Bossy R syllables), consonant blends, consonant digraphs, and diphthongs (teamed vowels).
R-controlled syllables are when the r “controls” the sound of the vowel in front of it, causing it to no longer sound like a short or long vowel.
Ex. chart; pa/per; spi/der; third; burst; tur/tle; teach/er; tend/er
Consonant Blends are when two consonants are commonly paired together but each letter makes a separate sound.
Ex. Bl; br, cl, cr, dr, fr, tr, fl, gl, gr, pl, pr, sl, sm, sp, sw, and st
Ex. Black; chick/en; swing/ing; fast/er; ex/tra; a/cross; grasp/ing
Diphthongs are also known as teamed/paired vowels that only make one sound (one vowel remains silent), such as ai; ea; ee; ie; oa; oe; oo; ou; ay; oy
Ex. kan/ga/roo; sham/poo; breath; au/thor; noise; cook/ie; coin; a/loud
NOTE: In the English language, it is easy to find words that do not follow these general rules, as there are many exceptions. Check the dictionary if you are ever stuck on where to break the word apart into its respective syllables.
You can find more information about the six types of syllables at readingrockets.org.
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Hi, I’m Julie, the passionate creator of Ox & Owl Literacy. I enjoy empowering families and educators with wonderful resources to inspire fun, imaginative, and joyful learning opportunities for young kiddos. You’ll find lots of recommended books, reading resources, and creative learning activities on this site aiming to help children fall in love with language, books, reading, and the transformational power of stories.
