Teaching Multisyllabic Words with Other Syllable…

Multisyllabic words may have been intimidating at first, but students now have a powerful tool to break them down with confidence. Once they know how to divide multisyllabic words with closed syllables, they are able to use similar steps for other types of multisyllabic words that include open syllables, magic 'e', r-controlled vowels, vowel teams, and consonant '-le'. Why? Because the syllable type unlocks the vowel sound.

The key is to teach multisyllabic words containing those syllable types only once you've taught that phonics pattern in one-syllable words — and students have had enough practice to work toward mastery. For example:

Don't teach the word actor if you haven't taught r-controlled vowels.
Don't teach the word subway if you haven't taught vowel teams.

Word choice for decoding multisyllabic word instruction is very important!

Here's a quick refresher on the six syllable types:

The six syllable types with images - closed, open, magic 'e', r-controlled, vowel teams, and consonant -le.

Next, we'll give you a few pointers on teaching multisyllabic words beyond VCCV words with closed syllables. Just like with two closed syllables each time, the syllables break between the two consonants, just like with closed syllables.

Open Syllables

Once you teach open syllables, you can then teach a lesson with VCCV words that have a closed syllable and an open syllable. Students will follow the steps for syllable division to read each syllable in isolation and then blend the syllables together.

For example, in the word jumbo (VCCV), the first syllable, jum-, is closed, and the second syllable, -bo, is open. Knowing -bo is an open syllable lets students know that the 'o' is a long vowel.

The word "jumbo" divided into syllables with consonants and vowels marked, as well as "open" and "closed" syllables.

Magic 'e' Syllables

After teaching magic 'e' syllables, you can do lessons with VCCV words that have a closed syllable and a magic 'e' syllable. You can use words like mistake and inside. Knowing -take and -side are magic 'e' syllables lets students know that the 'a' and 'i' are long vowels.

The word "mistake" with open and closed syllables, vowels, and consonants marked.

R-Controlled Vowel Syllables

Then, once students learn r-controlled syllables, you can do lessons with VCCV words that contain an r-controlled syllable. You can start with a word like border. Knowing that -der is an r-controlled syllable lets students know that the 'er' is pronounced /er/.

The word "border" with open and closed syllables, vowels, and consonants marked.

Teacher Tip

Remember, Word Choice Matters!

It's important to only use multisyllabic words with syllable types that students have already learned. For example, we would not want to use a word like harvest if students have only been taught closed syllables. To decode this word, they need to know r-controlled vowels, too: har- is an r-controlled syllable. Students may be able to determine where to divide the syllables, but reading the word would still be difficult because they have not learned the /ar/ in har-.

Consonant '-le' Syllables

The consonant '-le' syllable is typically the last of the six syllable types that you'll teach. It appears only in multisyllabic words and makes its own syllable. This syllable is made up of a consonant followed by '-le', like in table, purple, and marble. Even though the final syllable does not contain a traditional vowel sound, the '-le' pattern is the sign that the last three letters stand as their own syllable (like '-ble' in table).

To divide a word with the consonant '-le' pattern, we teach students to start at the 'e', count back three letters from the end of the word, and then divide the word into syllables. For example, in marble: count back three letters from the 'e' and divide between the 'r' and 'b', mar-ble.

VCCCV Pattern with Closed Syllables

Once students have learned how to divide multisyllabic words with the VCCV pattern, we can teach them how to divide words with the VCCV pattern (vowel-consonant-consonant-consonant-vowel). Words like pumpkin, athlete, and conflict follow this pattern.

Three consonants in a row are a signal that students will have to make a decision about where to split the syllable, and we cannot split a digraph or a blend. We teach students to look at the three consonants to see if they recognize any blends or digraphs and to keep these letters together.

For example, in the word athlete, we keep the digraph 'th' together (ath-lete) because if you divide it, it would not be possible to decode the word correctly (at-hlete).

Similarly, we keep common blends together, such as 'mp' in pumpkin and 'fl' in conflict. Although students can still decode the word if it's divided between the blend, it's best to keep the blend together to support accurate syllable division and reinforce common patterns in English spelling.

VCV Pattern

VCV (vowel-consonant-vowel) is another syllable division pattern. This pattern can be tricky because there are two different ways to divide these syllables. Most of the time, the division occurs immediately after the first vowel, creating an open syllable with a long vowel, as in ho-tel. But sometimes, the division happens after the consonant, resulting in a closed syllable with a short vowel, as in lem-on.

The words "hotel" and "lemon" marked with open and closed syllables, consonants, and vowels.

When students encounter a VCV word, teach them to first try dividing it after the first vowel (sō-lǐd). If that doesn't result in a word they recognize, they can try dividing it after the consonant (sǒl-ǐd). This strategy is only effective if the student is already familiar with the meaning of the word. Because meaning is important, avoid using nonsense words when teaching the VCV pattern.

Building Vocabulary

What if my student has never encountered this word before? VCV syllable division can be challenging for English Learners or students who are still building their vocabulary. If you have students who aren't familiar with the word, tell them what the word is or use scaffolds to help them figure out where to divide the word.

You might say, "Try dividing the word after the first vowel," or "Try dividing the word so that the first syllable is closed."

After the student reads the word, provide the meaning and use it in context to support vocabulary development and comprehension.

Schwa

We include schwa (/ə/) here — and teachers need to provide explicit instruction on it — because many multisyllabic words have the schwa sound. And it's not tied to any specific letter or spelling pattern, making it hard to read and spell.

Schwa is a vowel sound that is making an unexpected sound, not the pure vowel sound. And it's the most common vowel sound in English! It is also the most difficult one to teach and for students to recognize.

Let's look a few examples:

Say the word dental aloud. Listen to the sound of the letter 'a' in the second syllable. We don't say it as a short 'a'. The -tal in dental does not rhyme with pal. It sounds closer to a short 'u' … dĕn-tŭl. Schwa often makes a sound similar to /ŭ/ or /ĭ/, and can be represented by any vowel.
Take a look at the word problem. The vowel 'o' in the first syllable makes that expected vowel sound, /ŏ/, for a closed syllable. However, the second vowel 'e' does not make the expected vowel sound /ĕ/, it sounds more like /ŭ/.
Or in the word, across. We do not pronounce it /ā/, /cross/ like we would expect it to be in an open syllable, we say /ŭ/, /cross/.

The process of syllable division gets students to an approximation of the word, but they will need additional support to get to the correct pronunciation. Students will need lots of exposure to spoken language to recognize when a vowel sound doesn't "sound right."

When students are decoding multisyllabic words, like bottom or complete, they will follow the steps to divide the syllables and read each one with the expected vowel sound. For example, they may read bottom as /bŏt/, /tŏm/ and struggle due to not knowing the vowel in the second syllable has a schwa sound.

We can support students in reading the word by explaining that the 'o' in the second syllable is a schwa, making the /ŭ/ sound, and asking them to try reading it again that way. Having a large vocabulary will help students so that they can recognize when a word they are trying to decode might have a schwa and not the pure vowel sound.

VV Pattern

We can also teach students how to divide multisyllabic words that follow the VV pattern (vowel-vowel). This pattern can be tricky because students need a solid understanding of vowel teams and diphthongs first. For example, the words food, foil, and read have vowel teams, so they would not be divided because they are one-syllable words.

When there is a multisyllabic word with the VV pattern, the syllable break comes between the vowels. For example, in diet, lion, and chaos, we divide between the two vowels. You may need to explicitly teach them to divide between the vowels so they can decode and read the word correctly. However, this is the least frequent syllable division pattern, so it does not need the same amount of instructional time as previous patterns, and many readers are able to learn words like sci-ence and po-em through their exposure to content areas.

Prefixes and Suffixes

Prefixes and suffixes are word parts added to the beginning or end of a base word to change its meaning or how it's used. A prefix comes at the beginning, like 're-' in rewrite; and a suffix comes at the end, like '-ing' in playing.

To divide a word with a prefix or suffix, look for the base word first. Then draw a line to separate the prefixes or suffixes. If the base word is multisyllabic, move through the steps to divide the word and unlock the vowel. For example:

rewrite (prefix 're-' + base word write), re-write
playing (base word play + suffix '-ing'), play-ing
unexpected (prefix 'un-' + base word expect + suffix '-ed'), un-expect-ed

The words "rewrite" and "playing" divided into syllables and the vowels are underlined.

Words can also have both a prefix and a suffix like in the word unexpected. When students start to read words with three or four syllables, these words will often have a prefix, suffix, or both. Words can even have more than one prefix or suffix, like un-re-liable or environment-al-ly. These word parts can be one or two syllables and should be separated from the base word during syllabication. For example, the prefix 'super-' has two syllables su-per, and the suffix '-able' also has two syllables, a-ble.

Most times we do not need to break up each syllable of prefixes or suffixes because simply separating the prefixes and suffixes from the base word provides the smaller meaningful chunks, making it easier for students to read a word. For example, in the word superconductive, breaking it into super-conduct-ive would make it much easier for most students to read, knowing that this is a more advanced term that wouldn't be encountered until upper elementary or middle school.

The word "unexpected" divided into syllables.

Syllable Division Rules Poster

Pattern	Where Should I Divide the Word?	Example
VCCV	When two consonants are between two vowels, divide between the consonants.	shel-ter
VCCCV	When three or more consonants are between two vowels, keep the digraphs and blends together.	hun-dred
VCV	When one consonant is between two vowels, first divide after the first vowel and sound out the syllables. If that does not make a recognizable word, divide after the consonant.	ro-bot, cab-in
Consonant '-le'	Count back three letters from the 'e' and divide.	can-dle
VV	When two vowels are together (and each has its own sound — they are not a vowel team or diphthong), divide between the vowels.	ne-on, li-on
Prefixes and Suffixes	Look for the base word. Separate the prefix and/or suffix from the base word. Now, decide if the base word needs to be divided.	un-load-ed

Multisyllabic Words Skill Explainer

Open Syllables

Magic 'e' Syllables