Solve the Mystery of Words and Syllables Syllable types and cutting patterns are the clues I need to decode unfamiliar words. They are great for spelling too! Joan Condren All words are made up of syllables. Some words are just one syllable, and some have many syllables. The syllable types and cutting patterns give you the tools you need to break up unfamiliar words into parts that you can easily pronounce. Then you can put the parts together to say the word. Every syllable has just one vowel sound even though sometimes you have more than one vowel. A syllable is a word or part of a word with one vowel sound. On the following pages you will find all the syllable types and cutting patterns. Follow these steps to break words into syllables. Bracket off any prefixes and suffixes Find and mark all the talking vowels Loop to join the vowels Mark the consonants in between the vowels Break the word into syllables using the cutting patterns Mark the vowel sound for each syllable type Closed syllable - A closed syllable has only one vowel and ends in a consonant. cat, lish, ment Open syllable – An open syllable ends in one vowel. The vowel is usually long. she, glo, I, ta/ble Silent-e syllable - A silent-e syllable has one vowel followed by a consonant followed by an e. The e is silent and the vowel that precedes it is long. time, plete, stroke, Vowel Team syllable - A vowel team syllable contains a vowel team. The first vowel often makes a long sound while the second is silent. team, rain, play Sometimes the vowels working together make a new sound. boot book ouch R – controlled syllable – An r controlled syllable is one with an r – controlled vowel. A vowel followed by an r has a distorted sound. It is not short or long. star, for, her, sir Consonant le syllable – The consonant le syllable is at the end of a word. You count back three from the end. It could begin with b, g, z, f, p, or c all followed by le. The sound is always similar to the short u sound. simple, dazzle puzzle, jungle, Syllable Types Magic e Open r control Closed Vowel Team Cle Syllable Cutting Patterns VC/CV VCCCV V/CV VC/V v/v Closed Syllable A word or part of a word Has one vowel The vowel is short The vowel is followed by a consonant sit himself up Open Syllable Has one vowel Followed by a consonant The vowel is usually long . me si/lent hi Magic e Syllable silent VCe The final silent e At the end of the syllable Makes the vowel before it long time made complete Vowel Syllable Two vowels work together to make one sound Often the sound is the long sound of the first vowel. team pie raincoat Sometimes they make a new sound. ray boot found new boil R Controlled Syllable When an r follows a vowel It controls the sound of the vowel. The vowel sound is not short or long. star winter girl curl Consonant le Syllable A Cle syllable is a final syllable Go to the end of the word, and count back three to find the start. It can start with many letters. ble, cle, gle, ple, sle, zle It has a slurred vowel sound called a schwa. mumble jungle bicycle people hassle puzzle