Word Attack: Syllable Division Rules

General Word Knowledge Strategies

Eagle Eye reminds a reader to look at the pictures or illustrations.

Lips the Fish reminds a reader to use their mouth muscles and get ready to say the word aloud.

Skippy the Frog reminds a reader to skip the word, continue to read the next sentence or two, then go back to re-read.

Tryin’ Lion reminds a reader try again and re-read.

Meaning Bird reminds the reader to ask themselves if what they read makes sense.

Helpful Kangaroo reminds a reader to ask for help if they have tried some of the above strategies.

Specific Work Attack Strategies

Each of the following Word Attack Strategies have a separate blog with step-by-step instructions.

Chunky Monkey reminds a reader to break the word into smaller pieces or chunking.

Flippy the Dolphin reminds a reader to flip the vowel sound from long to short or short to long.

Sliding Seal reminds a reader to cover the word, then slowly slide hand from left to right.

Spot ‘n Dot reminds a reader to Spot ‘n Dot vowels. This assists with finding syllables. See Syllable Division Rules for helpful tips.

Stretchy Snake reminds a reader to stretch out a word.

Click on above image for pdf

Word Attack: Syllable Division Rules

For Decoding through Expert Readers

GOAL: To break a word into syllables then put back together.

Materials:

• Index cards; 5x7 will offer a bit more room than 3x5

• Word Box OR Ring

  • if using a Ring, punch a hole in upper corner or center of card

• Select words that represent each Syllable Division Rule. These may come from:

  • Coxhead Academic Words

  • Reading Vocabulary

  • Word Lists

• A pdf form for Syllable Division is available - just click on the above image.

Syllable Division Rules

• Every syllable contains only ONE vowel sound; vowels = a, e, i, o, u, and sometimes y. This includes:

  • R-controlled vowels stay together;

    • ar, er, ir, or, ur

  • Vowel teams stay together;

    • ai, ay, ea, ee, ei, ie, etc.

• Split double consonants

  • muf / fin

  • pup / pet

• Split compound words:

  • sun / shine

  • snow / flake

• Split VCCV (vowel-consonant-consonant-vowel)

  • el / bow

  • doc / tor

• Split C-le (consonant followed by -le)

  • cra / dle

  • tur / tle

• Split affixes (prefixes & suffixes)

  • kind / ness

  • pre / view

Helpful Hints:

• Open Syllable = break after a vowel = Long Vowel sound: ti / ger

• Closed Syllable = break after a vowel+consonant = Short Vowel sound: in / sect

• Digraphs (ch, sh, th, wh, ck, etc.) AND Blends (bl, br, dr, spl, spr, etc.) stay together;

• If “ng” or “nk” appears between two vowels with another consonant, treat “ng” or “nk” as one consonant: trink / et

Word Attack Activity:

• Select 3 to 5 words from each category

• Look for affixes (prefixes & suffixes) and “chunk” together:

  • PREFIX: re / read

  • SUFFIX: sing / ing

• Look for beginning blends or digraphs and “chunk” together:

  • BLEND: str / ipe

  • DIGRAPH: sh / ip

• Look for double consonants in the middle of the word and split to “chunk”:

  • DOUBLE CONSONANTS: rab / bit pump / kin

• Look for Greek or Latin roots:

  • GREEK ROOT: photo / graph

  • LATIN ROOT: audi / ence

• Look for a word within the larger word and “chunk”:

  • WORD WITHIN a WORD: be / come