1. An Overview of Multisyllabic Words
Multisyllabic Words Skill Explainer
Unlocking Big Words, One Syllable at a Time
As students grow as readers and begin working with more complex texts, they will undoubtedly encounter multisyllabic words … muffin, after, responsible. Did you know that researchers Devin Kearns and Elfrieda Hiebert found that 48% of words in first-grade texts are multisyllabic words? If students don't have strategies to decode these words, they're missing out on almost half of the words they could be reading! In third-grade texts, 65% of the words are multisyllabic.
Just like with decoding one-syllable words, students need explicit instruction in how to decode multisyllabic words. And it's pretty straightforward. They need to be able to:
Divide words into syllables (syllabication)
Decode one-syllable words with different syllable types (open, closed, r-controlled)
Once they're proficient in these two skills, students can use this knowledge to unlock multisyllabic word decoding!
Six Syllable Types
Print this 6 syllable types poster as a reference for you and your students.
Print this 6 syllable types poster as a reference for you and your students.
We'll start with a focus on words that contain closed syllables. Words that follow the vowel-consonant-consonant-vowel pattern (VCCV), like nap-kin and sub-ject, are highly regular and predictable for determining the vowel sound.
Later, we'll highlight other syllable division patterns:
VCCCV or vowel-consonant-consonant-consonant-vowel words — sometimes called closed-closed or complex syllable division (con-flict)
VCV or vowel-consonant-vowel words (tu-lip or cam-el)
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VV or vowel-vowel words (li-on)
