Syllable Division Strategies
You have heard us talk about syllable types before. The English language is broken up into 6 different types of “word parts” - Closed, Magic E, Bossy R, Open, Vowel Teams & Stable Final Syllables.
We teach the six different syllable types in a systematic and cumulative manner, meaning that we begin with the easiest concepts and progress to more complex concepts. We teach specific phonogram rules within each syllable type.
Knowledge of syllable types helps students anticipate what sound vowels will make in different words or word parts. Thus, they can approach that word confidently for reading or spelling.
But what about when words are multisyllabic? What do we do then?
An integral part of this instruction…
…is teaching students how to correctly divide unknown words into syllables to break the word down into decodable chunks. We refer to this as syllable division.
We use animal names as anchors to help teach students these rules. We know that students with dyslexia benefit from having anchors to their learned information. Assigning animal names to the different syllable division rules helps students remember and differentiate between the rules, but the animal names themselves also refer to the specific strategy that is used to break the syllables.
We teach the following animal anchors for syllable division rules: Rabbit, Reptile, Tiger, Camel, and Hornet.
This is helpful when students approach an unfamiliar word or a nonsense word. For even the most experienced reader, unfamiliar words can become a reading pitfall – unless you know how to syllabicate the word into decodable chunks.
Rabbit Division: rab / bit
When you have two or more consonants stuck between two vowels, divide between the consonants so that each vowel has its own consonant.
Examples: sunset, cobweb, index
Reptile Division: rep / tile
Always divide syllables in a way that will keep your VCE syllables together as one unit. We hear one talking vowel and therefore you must keep that syllable together.
Examples: devise, expose, sunrise
Tiger Division: ti / ger
Whenever you have two vowels with only one consonant stuck between them you need to try tiger syllable division. Your first choice is to divide after the first vowel to make the vowel open so that it makes its long sound.
Examples: spider, even, super
Camel Division: cam / el
Whenever you have two vowels with only one consonant stuck between them you need to try two-syllable division strategies. Your first choice is Tiger Division, your second choice is Camel or keep the first vowel closed by the consonant so that it makes its short sound.
Examples: finish, robin, model
Hornet Division: hor / net
Whenever you have two or more consonants stuck between two vowels you want to divide between the consonants so that each vowel has its own consonant. But remember that the r-controlled vowel makes a different sound or no sound at all.
Examples: order, garlic, harvest
When we break up our words, the student can more easily identify the syllable type patterns they have learned, therefore making decoding much easier for them.
For an activity to support syllable division, check out our Match It card game. It is a fun practice activity as you introduce new syllable types or as a review.