Glossary · Syllables and longer words
What are the six syllable types?
Definition
The six syllable types are closed, open, silent e, vowel team, r-controlled and consonant-le, each named for the spelling that tells you how its vowel sounds.
Each type is a clue to the vowel. Closed (cat): short. Open (go): long. Silent e (cake): long. Vowel team (rain): the team's sound. R-controlled (car): the vowel plus r makes a new sound. Consonant-le (table): a final unstressed syllable.
Some teachers add a seventh, the diphthong syllable (coin, cloud), or fold it into vowel teams. The names matter less than the habit: look at how the syllable is spelled, then predict the vowel.
Syllable types are most useful in longer words. A student who can split napkin into nap and kin, see two closed syllables, and read short vowels in both has a method for thousands of words.
In a lesson
Write sunset, robot, cupcake, rainbow, garden and bubble on cards. The student splits each and names the syllable types, then reads the word.
Examples
Each word with its spelling units, one per sound.
- cupcakec·u·p·c·a_e·k
- rainbowr·ai·n·b·ow
- hotelh·o·t·e·l
- bubbleb·u·bb·le
Words come from our lexicon, checked against a pronouncing dictionary. Words a student sees in our assessments are left out.
Why does this matter for the record?
Rate each type separately. A student can be Secure on closed and silent e while still Developing on vowel teams, and one overall rating hides it.
Rate each skill as you teach it
Needs support, Developing, Secure. The rating schedules the review and builds the report.