“I am already behind!” This is how my teaching partners and I greeted each other this morning when we dropped our kids off for specials. It wasn’t even ten o’clock in the morning, and we were already short on time. Let’s face it; there is always too much to teach and not enough time in the classroom. So, why should we spend time teaching our students about syllables?
It is all about vocabulary. Creating this common vocabulary with our students not only makes our teaching more explicit but it saves time in the future. Without a common vocabulary, it is extremely difficult to explain mistakes to our students. What part of a word is tricky for your student? How could your student break a word apart to read it in smaller chunks? Why is the vowel short? It is extremely difficult to answer these questions without understanding syllables. You will get frustrated, and your students won’t have the tools they need to attack words independently.
Teaching students syllables is teaching them so much more than the types of syllables. You are teaching them the rules of English in an organized manner. When you teach closed syllables, you are teaching short vowel rules, including the FLOSS rule, or when we need “ck” to make the /k/ sound. Teaching VCE syllables prepared students to learn about the spelling changes that can happen when adding “-ing” to the end of words. Syllables create a framework in your students’ minds that they can use to build both their reading and spelling skills.
There are two main reasons to teach syllables to your students. First, it makes your life easier because you have a guide for what to teach your students and when to teach it. Second, it makes learning to read and spell easier for your students.
Unsure of how to get started teaching syllables? Check out our blog post on our scope and sequence for teaching phonics in second grade!