3.2 Explicitly Teach Closed Syllables

Telling the Alphabet Queen story (opens in new window) is a great way to kick off this new material. The story (based on The Alphabet King, (opens in new window) an original story by dyslexia therapist Jennings Miller) often quickly becomes a favorite with young students! And you’ll tell new versions of the story when teaching other syllable types.

However, you can also introduce closed syllables without it. Below is a step-by-step lesson for explicitly teaching closed syllables.

To begin the lesson, you might say,

As you know, the vowels have short sounds and long sounds. Vowels say their short sounds when they are closed in by — or followed by — a consonant. If a vowel has a consonant after it, we call that a closed syllable. You can think about it like the consonant is protecting the vowel so it can say its short sound.

Model for students a few sample syllables that end in consonants, like cup and af. Write them on the board and point out that the consonant is at the end, protecting the vowel. 

Then show students the step-by-step procedures for coding and labeling a syllable, which helps them identify the syllable type and determine what the vowel says. Pick a word or syllable that’s closed and have students do the following:

Steps for Identifying a Syllable Type

1. Look through the word/syllable from left to right and find the vowel. Underline the vowel and write a ‘v’ for vowel underneath it.
2. Touch the vowel and look “next door” (right after the vowel).
3. Is there a consonant next door? If yes, then the syllable is closed in.
4. If the syllable is closed in, then it will make its short sound.
5. Label the vowel as short with a breve (˘) and mark the syllable as closed (with a capital ‘C’ and a circle).
6. Review what the vowel will say in the word.
7. Read the syllable.

Here’s some language you might use when introducing coding and labeling. You can also use this during the syllable work portion of subsequent lessons, which is when you practice coding and labeling:

I am going to spell a syllable for you. Please do not blurt out the syllable! We are going to move through the syllable — both coding and labeling. Here we go.

Write ‘b’, ‘u’, ‘p’ on the whiteboard, and say,

Now, look all the way through the syllable and touch the vowel. Underline the vowel and mark it with a ‘v’ for vowel.

Now look next door, immediately after the vowel. Is the vowel closed in by a consonant?

Students should say “yes.”

If the vowel is closed in by the consonant then the syllable is closed and the vowel is short.

Mark the vowel with a breve and code the syllable as closed with a ‘C’ and a circle around it. 

What’s the vowel sound?

Students give the vowel sound, /ŭ/.

Now let’s tap and read the syllable together.

/b/, /ŭ/, /p/. /bŭp/.

As soon as students are confident with this process, you should fade out the marking and labeling. Those are scaffolds and not the skill itself, so stop when students can decode without them.

However, each time students are learning a new syllable type, they’ll go back to using all the steps for identifying a syllable until that new skill is generally mastered.