Syllable Division with Suffixes

Erin Russo: So we've learned how to read two syllable words that either have two consonants between the vowels or just one consonant.

Narrator: At the Windward School in Westchester, New York, Erin Russo's class has been reading multi-syllabic words by splitting them into syllables. Today, she takes it a step further practicing what to do when a word has a suffix.

Erin Russo: So if a word has a suffix, which strategy do we use first?

Mia: We chop off the suffix.

Erin Russo: You got it? We chop off the suffix. And Mia, what is the suffix?

Mia: E-D.

Erin Russo: E-D. So I'm going to chop it off. Now we can focus on the root word. Mia, can you help me underline and divide this word?

Mia: Underline the 'i' and the 'e'.

Erin Russo: How many constants do we see?

Mia: Two.

Erin Russo: Two. So where do we divide?

Mia: We divide between the 'n' and the 'v'.

Erin Russo: You got it? So can you help me read just the root word first?

Mia: invid.

Erin Russo: Let's carefully look at the sounds in this syllable. Ready?

Ms. Russo and Mia: /v/, /ĕ/, /n/, /t/.

Mia: Invent.

Erin Russo: Excellent. So the root word is invent. And now add the suffix

Mia: Invented.

Erin Russo: You got it. Beautiful. Invented. Let's do another one. Ooh. Who can tell me what strategies we can use to read this long word? Bell?

Belle: First we have to chop off the suffix.

Erin Russo: You got it, Bell. And what's the suffix in this word?

Belle: The doing suffix.

Erin Russo: Right. So it's '-ing', the doing suffix. Okay. Now we can use our strategies to underline and divide the root word. Can you help me do that?

Belle: First we underline the 'o' and the 'e'.

Erin Russo: Okay.

Belle: And then we divide it after the 'o'.

Erin Russo: You got it. One constant. So we're going to divide before it. Okay. Belle, can you help me read this word now?

Belle: Opening.

Erin Russo: You got it. The root word is open. And then you added our suffix '-ing' to read opening.

Narrator: Reading Universe is made possible by generous support from Jim and Donna Barksdale, the Hastings/Quillin Fund, an advised fund of the Silicon Valley Community Foundation, the AFT, the Emily Hall Tremaine Foundation, and anonymous donors. Special thanks to the Windward School and the Windward Institute. If you enjoyed this video, please subscribe to our YouTube channel @RUteaching. Reading Universe is a service of WETA Washington D.C., the Barksdale Reading Institute, and First Book.