SYLLABICATION INSTRUCTION: THE SOLUTION TO DECODING PROBLEMS
Jennifer A. Diliberto, Ph.D. Greensboro College Session Outcomes •  Define syllabica:on. •  State the importance of teaching syllabica:on. •  Explain how to embed decoding instruc:on in the content area. •  Describe specific decoding strategies for empowering middle and high school struggling readers. Decoding in the Content Area
Taken from What Content-Area Teachers Should Know About Adolescent Literacy, NICHHD, 2007
•  Preteach challenging content-area words
•  Articulate each syllable slowly and repeat pronunciation when
introducing the new word
•  Point out patterns in the pronunciation and spellings of prefixes,
suffixes, and vowels in segmented words
•  Point out similarities and differences among words that belong to
“word families” (e.g., define, definitely, definition)
•  Model using new and difficult words in various contexts
•  Provide opportunities for practice and reinforce correct
pronunciation and usage
•  Ask open-ended questions requiring students to respond using new
or difficult words
Overall instruction should… •  Emphasize syllable patterns and morphology.
•  Integrate phonics instruction within the context
of the content area to develop and support
reading comprehension.
•  Focus on one or two decoding strategies at a
time.
What is syllabication? “the act, process, or method of forming or dividing words into syllables.” hFp://www.merriam-­‐webster.com/dic:onary/
syllabica:on Why teach syllabication?
•  Are these word parts or syllables easy to read? How many
multisyllabic words can you make from the word parts?
pub
stant
or
doc
ance
in
din
chant
ly
main
ing
de
ary
ed
port
er
port
can
im
trans
lic
re
ent
cy
Why teach syllabication?
•  Syllabication teaches students to read unknown
words, increases their sight-word vocabulary, and
aids in learning how to spell words (Torgesen,
2004; Moats, 2001; Curtis & Longo, 1999).
•  Instruction in syllable skills helps remediate and
increase achievement in word attack, word
identification, reading comprehension, and
increases fluency at a faster rate (Diliberto,
Beattie, Flowers, & Algozzine, 2009).
Practical Reasons for Teaching Syllabication It’s a tool for attacking large intimidating words that
many struggling readers would pass over or shut down
without a strategy for chunking the larger word into
decodable parts and less intimidating parts.
It’s a chunking strategy that is consistent with English
language spelling and used in dictionaries.
What is a syllable?
Characteristics:
•  A syllable may be one vowel sound per syllable.
•  A syllable may be one small word.
•  A syllable may be part of a larger word.
•  The number of vowel sounds in a word usually
equals the number of syllables in a word.
•  The letter u is not counted as a vowel when it
appears after the letter q.
•  The schwa vowel is present in an unaccented
syllable.
Six Syllable Types
• Closed (cvc)
• Open
• Silent e (magic e)
• Vowel team (vowel digraph)
• Vowel r (bossy r, r controlled, crazy r)
• Consonant-l-e (c-l-e) – Final Stable
CVC, or Closed Syllables
Definition: has one vowel, ends in a
consonant, the vowel is short, we mark it
with a breve
căt
stĕp
sĭt
pŏp
ŭp
Silent e Syllables
Definition: has one vowel, one consonant,
one e. The e is silent and makes the vowel
long.
cāke
Pēte
mīne
hōme
flūme
cūte
Open
Definition: ends in one vowel, the vowel is
long, we mark it with a macron.
mā (cron)
mē
mī (crophone)
mō (tion)
mū (sic)
dū (ty)
Vowel Teams
(short sounds not shown)
Definition: two vowels that say one sound (vowel digraph)
ā
ai
ay
ea
ey
ei
eigh
ē
ee
ey
ea
i
ie/ei
y
ī
ie
igh
y
ō
oa
oe
ow
ū
ue
eu
ew
ǖ
ue
ou
eu
ew
oe
ui
other
oo
oo
Vowel R
•  Definition: one vowel, followed by an r. The r makes the vowel
say an unexpected sound.
•  ar ____
____
____
•  er ____
•  ir ____
•  or ____
____
•  ur ____
Consonant l-e
Definition: one consonant, one l, one e. Usually comes at the end
of a two syllable word.
•  bub[ble] (count back 3)
•  cir[cle]
•  i[dle]
•  truf[fle]
•  gig[gle]
Activities to Embed in Content
Area Instruction to Promote
Literacy Across the Curriculum
Remember…We are all teachers of reading.
Dividing Words into Syllables
•  Separate the prefix and suffix
•  Label the vowels and consonants in the word.
(ALWAYS start labeling with the 1st vowel.)
•  Look for patterns.
•  VC/CV
•  V/CV or VC/V
•  VC/CCV or VCC/CV
•  V/V
•  /cle
•  Prefix/
•  /Suffix
HOW TO USE: teach students to divide multisyllabic
words into smaller decodable parts
Kansas University Word IdentiLication Strategy Lenz & Hughes (1990) •  DISSECT •  Discover the context. •  Isolate the prefix. •  Separate the suffix. •  Say the stem. •  Examine the stem. •  Check with someone. •  Try the dic:onary. HOW TO USE: students can prac:ce the strategy while reading relevant texts at their instruc:onal level. Syllable IdentiLication •  Closed Word Sort •  Labeling HOW TO USE: use when introducing new
vocabulary, connect to meeting by finding and
defining meaningful parts
Closed Word Sort
• Organize into groups of 4
• Categorize vocabulary words by syllable type
More practice:
label each syllable type
___ in
___ pro
___ -ple
___ treme
___ en
___ lost
___ turb
___ fork
___ sky
___ vote
___ poach
___ ite
___ seem
___ mass
___ -zle
___ re
More practice:
label each syllable type
CL
O
CLE
SE
CL
CL
VR
VR
in
pro
-ple
treme
en
lost
turb
fork
O
SE
VT
SE
VT
CL
CLE
O
sky
vote
poach
ite
seem
mass
-zle
re
Word Making
•  List syllables and
make multisyllabic
words
HOW TO USE: use
when introducing new
vocabulary, break new
vocabulary into syllables
and have students turn
syllables into words,
include prefixes and
suffixes for more word
play and instruction in
prefixes and suffixes
• ly
• port
• im
• cycle
• bi
• ing
• air
• plant
Vocabulary Development
•  Choose prefix or suffix –
brainstorm words and
define
•  Figure out definitions
from pre/suffix or figure
out meaning of pre/suffix
from word meanings
HOW TO USE: use when
introducing teaching prefixes
and suffixes, provide
students with prefixes and/
or suffixes, then have
students make words
• bi• bicycle
• binoculars
• bicentennial
Review O
utcomes • How should decoding instruction be
taught in the content areas?
• What is syllabication?
• Why is it important to teach syllabication?
• What does the research say about
instruction in syllabication?
• What are some activities to do to promote
literacy in the content areas and aid with
increasing reading achievement?
Questions??? Contact Information Jennifer A. Diliberto, Ph.D.
Associate Professor of Special Education
Greensboro College
jdiliberto@greensboro.edu