Glossary · Syllables and longer words
What is a VCCV pattern?
Definition
The VCCV pattern is a vowel, two consonants and a vowel in a row, as in napkin; the word usually splits between the two consonants.
Split between the consonants and you usually get two closed syllables with short vowels: nap-kin, rab-bit, sun-set, pic-nic. That makes VCCV words the easiest two-syllable words to teach, and they often come first.
The exception is when the two consonants form a digraph or a blend that belongs together. Ath-lete keeps th together, and some words keep a blend with the second syllable, as in se-cret. Those are rarer and can be taught as they come.
Compound words are a large, friendly group of VCCV words. Sunset, catnip and cobweb split between their two smaller words, which also happens to be between the consonants.
In a lesson
Write tennis on the board. The student marks e and i, finds the two n's between them, splits ten-nis and reads both closed syllables with short vowels.
Examples
Each word with its spelling units, one per sound.
- tennist·e·nn·i·s
- trumpett·r·u·m·p·e·t
- upsetu·p·s·e·t
- indexi·n·d·e·x
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?
VCCV is usually the first division pattern taught. Rate it before moving to VCV, which needs flexing.
Rate each skill as you teach it
Needs support, Developing, Secure. The rating schedules the review and builds the report.