Routine · Longer words
Open and closed syllables
Tell whether a syllable ends with its vowel or with a consonant, and read the vowel to match.
- Time
- 4 to 6 minutes
- Skill
- Longer words
- In a session plan
- Word reading
When to use it
When open syllables are taught, or when a student reads every vowel short.
Materials
- Syllable cards such as go, got, me, met, hi, hit
- The word list
Steps
Shown with example words: word robot.
Get ready
Show two cards side by side, such as me and met.
I do
Read each one. Show that in met a consonant closes the door on the vowel, so it is short, and in me the door is open, so the vowel says its name.
Say: Met. The t closes the vowel in, so it is short. Me. Nothing after the vowel. It is open, so it says its name.
We do
Read three more pairs together. Ask open or closed before reading each card.
You do
Show two-syllable words such as robot. The student finds the syllables, says open or closed for each, then reads the word.
Student: Labels each syllable and reads the word.
Check
Read a mix of single syllable cards quickly. The student says the vowel sound to match.
If the student...
Reads an open syllable with a short vowel.
Cover everything after the vowel. Ask if anything closes it in. Say the long sound together, then read the syllable and the whole word again.
Say: Is there a door after the vowel? No. So it says its name. Read it again.
Tips
- A hand gesture helps: a flat hand closes after the vowel for closed, an open hand for open.
- One to one, let the student make the cards: add a consonant to an open syllable and read the change.
Example words
- Word
- robot
Original routines written by Literacy Trail. In the app, every routine is filled with your student's lesson.
Related routines
- One consonant between vowels: try long, then shortSplit before the middle consonant and try the first vowel long; if it does not make a word, split after it and try it short.4 to 6 minutes · Word reading
- Split between two consonantsFind the two vowels, split between the consonants in the middle, read each part, then the word.4 to 6 minutes · Word reading
- Sound-by-sound blendingRead a new word one sound at a time, joining each sound to the ones before it.3 to 6 minutes · Word reading
- Stretch and readHold each sound and slide into the next without a break, then say the word.2 to 5 minutes · Word reading
Have this routine filled in for every lesson
In Literacy Trail, the session plan picks a routine for each block and fills it with the words, sounds and sentence from your student's lesson. Every plan starts with a 15-day free trial.