The 7 Syllable Types

It's a joy listening and watching our beginning readers figure out those “longer” words.  Many of our little ones are pretty solid decoding one-syllabe words or CVC words and are now ready to learn strategies for decoding multisyllabic words.  So, what is a syllable? And why is knowing what it is important?

Simply put, a syllable is a unit of pronunciation containing a single vowel sound. “Syllabication” is the process of analyzing the pattern of vowels and consonants in a word to determine where a word is broken into its syllables. The ability to break a word into syllables helps students decode those longer words as well as helps the student remember spelling patterns.  Understanding the 7 syllable types helps students to become better readers and writers.

There are 7 types of syllables that occur in all words of the English language.  Every word can be broken down into these syllables.  These 7 syllables include: closed, open, magic e, vowel teams, r-controlled, dipthongs and consonant- le.  

Can you read these words???

1. hom or glick

2. ru

3. pake

4. bort

5. binderly

6. tumpastic

7. vanowinder

What syllable type(s) do they fit in?

After teaching each syllable type, having these posters readily available for reference in your classroom can help your students.