Are You a Book Whisperer? A Book Review

Welcome!  It's Lauren from Teacher Mom of 3 with you today to share some highlights and applications for one of my favorite professional books of all times, The Book Whisperer, by Donalyn Miller.  

 

 Many times over my career, teachers and administrators have viewed independent reading (read to self) as not "teaching" and something that students can do at home.  If an administrator walked into a classroom and students were reading silently, many  teachers would feel guilty.  Some admins expected that the students should be actively involved and engaged in a project or lesson; or they expected the teacher to be delivering whole or small group explicit instruction.  However, I have always felt as a teacher and literacy coach, that if I did not observe students reading independently during a 90-120 minute literacy block then something needed to change.  Like Miller, I suggest 20-30 minutes of uninterrupted independent reading daily in addition to other literacy frameworks you may use such as Daily 5, Guided Reading, etc.

Now, I am far, very far from being "Polly the perfect teacher".  When I was in the classroom if something had to give because of time restraints, I admit that it was usually my D.E.A.R. (Drop Everything And Read) time.  Although I felt guilty for doing so, I also felt that I needed to give my students time for direct instruction and small group time.  After reading The Book Whisperer, I know now more than ever that something that looks so simple is very, very important. And besides, I have always held the philosophy that students should be doing most of the work and talking in the classroom.  Independent reading fosters a student-centered climate, allows students to practice and apply reading skills and strategies, and promotes reading for enjoyment.

 

I'll begin with an overview of the book if you haven't read it and offer a review for those that have.  Then, I'll move on to some authentic applications for the classroom.

 

 The premise of this book is that to create passionate, life-long readers, teachers must create a learning environment that stimulates and nurtures independent reading. Independent reading is more than the ten or so minutes of D.E.A.R. time we try to squeeze into our literacy block. It is a restructuring of our literacy instruction to intentionally carve out as much time as possible to let kids read. As a side note, if you are a Reader’s Workshop fan or if your teaching has been inspired by the research of Nancie Atwell (In the Middle), you will adore this book!



For years, I have been using the research of Atwell, Allington, Wilhelm, Routman, et al, to support my plea for teachers to stop the barrage of worksheets, journal entries, quizzes, tests, and book reports for every.single.book kids read. We don’t need to work kids to death when reading a book. We don’t need to develop a beautiful book or novel unit that is crammed with pages and pages of written work for students to complete. And, with the reading of The Book Whisperer, I have found yet another researcher and classroom teacher who begs us to change our ways, if in fact our goal is to motivate and create life-long readers and not just effective test-takers.  And that is the gist of this brilliant book- that our job as literacy teachers is not only to teach students how to read and how to read to learn, but to instill a love of reading in them that will last a lifetime.

Highlights and Take-Aways

• Although this book is geared toward middle-level teachers (the author is a sixth grade ELA and Social Studies teacher), much  can be adapted for early and intermediate elementary grades.    
• Miller explains and details how her students achieve her expectation that they read *40* books a year.  
•  Miller cites researcher Stephen Krashen who identified fifty-one studies that “…prove that students in free-reading programs perform better than or equal to students in any other type of reading program” (p.3).

• Students’ goal: read for pleasure, not to complete endless activities.  Let me clarify:  this does not mean that students never respond to their reading, complete vocabulary tasks, or are not held accountable for their reading, comprehension, and learning.  Miller delves deeply into this topic later on in the book including preparing students for state tests.

• Implement a workshop approach to reading and writing that works for you and the needs of your students. 

• Allow for individual choice of reading selections with expectations.

• The classroom library is paramount and powerful if we are to guide our students toward developing and internalizing a love for reading. As for me, although I loved having a Smart Board in my classroom, I would rather have an extensive classroom library!  Miller suggests that schools invest in classroom libraries rather than expensive reading programs and professional development sessions.

•  Listen to what students need instead of us teachers telling them what they need. Offer students choice in what they read and you have instant buy-in. Miller shares that self-selected books empower and encourage students, it develops self-confidence, and gives control- all in the name of independent learners.  Reading choices should not always be dictated by the teacher.  Gone are the days of everyone reading the same novel at the same time throughout the year.

• Choosing not to read isn’t discussed and it is not an option.

• View each student as a reader no matter their reading level.

•   Students need to learn how to select books for themselves instead of being a passive learner and relying on the teacher.   

Classroom Applications

Fonts by KG Fonts

• On the first day of school have a “Book Frenzy”.  Let students select books from the classroom library for in-class and for reading at home.  Have an array of varying genres and themes and allow students to choose the books they are interested in reading.  And then, let them read!  As a result, you will set the tone that reading is prominent and this activity allows you to interact with students and get to know a little about them.  I can think of no other important activity such as this.  Discussing classroom rules and procedures can wait! 
• Research shows that student choice is not only the number one motivator for reluctant male readers, but for all students. When students have the freedom to choose their own books, it empowers them, strengthens their self-confidence, rewards their interests, gives them control, and promotes a positive attitude about reading.  Miller mentions that she does not “micromanage” their reading choices and allows students to choose books that are too hard or too easy.  Why?  Because if readers have an invested interest in a book they will read it, and isn’t that the ultimate goal?  There will be plenty of time during the remainder of the school year to nudge students toward reading material that is more on their level or that you think they need to read to meet curricular standards.  However, Miller states, “Listen to what your students need- don’t tell them what you think they need to hear.”

•  Show students that reading is fun and engaging. To accomplish this, allow students to make choices, to abandon books that are not appealing or that are too difficult.  Show them that reading is often done for pleasure, not just for work.  The goal of reading is not to complete a book report, take a quiz, complete worksheets, or vocabulary activities.  The goal is to read, enjoy it, and learn from it. Administer reading interest surveys, multiple intelligence assessments, informal and formal reading assessments to allow you to successfully match readers to books.

• Snatch every spare minute you have to allow students to read independently.  This includes having students read at the beginning of class instead of having them complete morning work, a warm up, or “bell ringer” work- worksheets, DOL, etc.  For students who finish their work early, instead of having them complete “fast finisher” work- again worksheet or centers type activities- let them read!  If your class is interrupted by a phone call or visitor, teach students that they are to pull out their books and read until you are able to resume teaching.  Condition students to carry a book wherever they go.  At my previous school, we had this expectation for our middle school students.  If they were finished with their work in a content class, they were expected to pull out their book and read.  The Principal rewarded students he "caught" reading as he made his rounds throughout the school.

 

Are you a book whisperer?  How do you create a culture of readers in your classroom?  Which of the ideas in Miller's book have you had success with over the years?

Next time, I will share a review of Miller's follow-up book, Reading in the Wild, which by the way, did not disappoint!
 

Graphics:  Bunting and section separators by Ashley Hughes

Incorporating More Fluency

Happy Wednesday Literacy Land friends! It is Em from Curious Firsties to talk about some quick tips to boost reading fluency in our students---at any age!

Working with first graders that are currently reading at a lower level than peers, I am always searching for more ways to get print into their lives.  I am always looking for more ways to incorporate more "time on text" for them.

After attending a Literacy Conference this winter, I walked away with some fluency tips that I wanted to explore and implement.  Here are some of them:

1. Closed Captions at home
I don't think this is a new tip.  There is research to support the benefits that closed captions do have on reading.  I found many research articles listed on Zane Education.  In the fall, we asked our parents to start turning on the closed captions (with child-appropriate TV shows); however, my own little preschoolers watch PBS without the closed captions on because I never remember to turn them on.  It made me wonder...if I'm not doing it, how many other families are not doing it?

My school had conferences last week and we decided that we would make the closed captioning suggestion again, but this time we would use magnets.  My hope is that families will go home and remember this tip when they put their magnet on the fridge!

Thanks to 3AM Teacher for frame and KG fonts.

You can grab these magnets for free, print them off, cut them out, laminate them (if you would like), and stick a little magnet on the back.

2. Neurological Impress Method
Tim Rasinski introduced me to this type of paired reading when I saw him speak at the Ohio Literacy Conference in December.  Since then I have done some more reading and research on the method.  It is very similar to paired reading but there are some slight differences.

*Choose a book at the student's instructional level (for the first few sessions, I would use an independent text until the student understands the technique).
*Sit next to and slightly behind the student.  In "The Fluent Reader," Rasinski suggests that you try to read into the student's left ear.
*The more proficient reader points to the text (or both readers point).
*Both readers begin reading the text; however, the more proficient partner readers slightly faster and louder.

This is a more intense method to paired reading because the student will need to keep up with the proficient reader.  Due to this, Rasinski suggests that these sessions would last no longer than 15 minutes (and even less time when you first begin).  But that over the course of the week 3 of these sessions should occur.

ReadStrong provides some additional information on this type of paired reading.  I also watched quite a few videos that demonstrate how neurological impress method should look.  Here are two videos that my vertical team watched together to get a better idea of how to implement:

3. Purpose to Repeated Readings
Repeated readings also assist in reading fluency.  As Rasinski discussed repeated readings at the Ohio Literacy Conference he said that you should always set up your lesson with a purpose behind the repeated readings.  I was thinking, "Yes, yes, of course.  I do this."  But do I?  I always set up my lessons with why we need to do this or that.  But when it comes to reading  a text more than once, do I really give my students the necessary motivation to become more proficient and fluent?

It got me thinking....and I made some changes.

I started doing my daily fluency practice a little different this year in my small groups.  You can read more about that here.  One major difference is the purpose I establish.  Each Friday I will be audio recording each small group reading a particular text.  I use the free Evernote app to record them chorally reading.  Then they will each get a CD filled with these recordings.  They were so excited to hear about the CD.  YES!  Purpose was established!

Have you found that any of these tips have worked in your classroom?
What are some fluency tips that you use in your classroom or ask your families to try to incorporate?

The Gradual Release of Responsibility Model

Hello Everyone! It is Amy from Eclectic Educating. Today I am blogging about something very near and dear to my heart - the gradual release of responsibility model. All of my instruction centers around this very philosophy. I was first exposed to the concept in college while studying the work of the amazing Debbie Miller.



The graphic above is a great visual representation of the gradual release of responsibility model. At the beginning of the lesson, the teacher has a high amount of control. Slowly, the teacher begins to release the control over to the student, allowing them to take responsibility for the learning. Let me break the process down for you. It can be divided into three distinct phases.

1. Modeling
The teacher begins by modeling the concept for the students. This is often done through read alouds and anchor charts. The teacher will demonstrate the skill for the students and if applicable, present a finished product.

2. Guided Practice
Now, the teacher begins to release the responsibility to the students. At this point, the teacher prompts students and asks questions to guide students. In the beginning, the teacher asks more direct questions and provides explicit prompts. Over time, the student requires less support and guidance.

3. Independent Practice
During this phase, the student demonstrates his or her independent abilities. At this point, the teacher wants to see what the student can do without any support from the teacher.

Let me demonstrate with one of my lessons.

Modeling

I introduced the concept of summarizing using an anchor chart and explicitly explained the elements of a summary.Then, I provided students with a model of a summary I had already written. We labeled the parts of the summary together.

Guided Practice

Next, the students and I constructed a summary together. I prompted students to help guide them and make sure they included all the key elements of a summary.

Independent Practice

Lastly, students wrote an independent summary of a text they had read. I did not prompt or guide students at all with this summary. It was a true picture of what the students were able to do on their own. I often think that we as teachers focus too much on the guided practice portion of the lesson. We need to see what students are able to do independently. Only then can we know if students have mastered the material. We should not be afraid of seeing students fail. If we see that they need more instruction, we can certainly go back and reteach, (and should!) but we will never know if we don't test their limits!

If you would like more information on the gradual release of responsibility, I highly recommend Debbie Miller's Reading with Meaning: Teaching Comprehension in the Primary Grades. She is the master!

How do you incorporate the gradual release of responsibility model into your lessons?

Digging Deeper Into Data: Finding Your Reader's Story!

As a reading specialist, sometimes I am up to my eyes in data. (Anyone else?)

I’ve taught at three schools now in multiple grades, and I’ve worked with DIBELS, AIMSweb, EasyCBM, mClass Reading TRC, mClass Math, NWEA MAP, NWEA MPG, TerraNova, Fountas & Pinnell running records, STAR Math and Reading, ISTEP, OEA, and two different series of district assessments. I think that’s all, but to be honest, I’m probably missing some. Let’s just say that I’m pretty used to using data.

A few weeks ago I had the chance to attend the National Reading Recovery Conference and listen to a talk given by Clare Landrigan and Tammy Mulligan.

When I walked into a session about triangulating data, I was expecting some useful, but likely dry information about how to analyze data- and I was pleasantly surprised to instead, come into a session that talked about really seeing students as more than numbers.
One presenter at the conference gave a metaphor:





Think about it- does your doctor take your temperature, and then give you a diagnosis? Well, no! Your doctor asks you about your symptoms, when they started, etc.- the doctor asks for your story, and then does tests to confirm- but 80% of the time, the diagnosis is in the story.

With students, we need to use the screeners as just that- a thermometer to let us know something is wrong. Then, we need to dig deeper into the symptoms to really find the story of that reader so we can figure out how to treat what ails them in reading!

So, how do we find out our readers’ stories?

• Think about what the assessment is really assessing.
  • Accuracy? Fluency? Comprehension? Vocabulary? Phonics? Remember that it could be more than one. (A comprehension assessment usually requires a basic level of fluency, which requires some phonics, which requires phonemic awareness, etc…)
• Consider the language hierarchy to determine next step. Some skills usually must occur before others.
  • Reading with meaning takes 2 levels of skills:
    • Perceptual: seeing, recognizing, storing, retrieving
    • Cognitive: thinking about comprehension, message
    • If kids can’t do perception skills on “autopilot,” they don’t have much attention left for meaning.
  • Did they fail at a “higher” level skill because they don’t have the lower level one? Consider assessing other needed skills.
    • Work backwards to find the issue.
• What might be affecting our results BESIDES that reading skill?
  • Is the test read to them?
  • Focus
  • Nonsense words- are they trying to guess real words?
  • ESL students- must have knowledge of that vocabulary
  • Background knowledge
  • Familiarity with academic language
  • Text anxiety
• Analyze what kind of errors they are making.
  • A running record without analyzing (M, S, V) is just a number. We need that qualitative side to know WHY.
  • Sometimes you may need to give them a level that’s too hard. What is holding them back from that level?
  • If in doubt, try something different and see how they do.
  • When CAN they do it? (listening comp? oral response? Context?)
• What else do I need to assess to decide the right intervention?
  • So they got a 23 in Letter ID- but which letters do they know? They struggle with comprehension- but is it comprehension within, beyond, or about the text?

We have to remember that standardized test data is only ONE piece. Tests are just to help us make the diagnosis. We need to see them as what happens before and during instruction, not just after.

We have to consider everything we know about a child. Our anecdotal notes from conferences and small group lessons with kids count for a lot!  Don’t forget to ASK kids about their thinking, too- sometimes we try to infer when just asking them will tell us so much!

Of course, once we know more about where the student is, we can use that information to plan instruction and intervention. THAT is why finding the story is so important- because otherwise, the scores can lead us in the wrong direction.



Two kids at level F may not belong in the same small group if one of them needs help with comprehension and the other needs help with decoding. Two kids with the same score may need entirely different things to improve- and that’s why looking beyond the number of one assessment is so vital.

One of the things I loved about this session is that it really validated my beliefs about data as one piece of the bigger picture, and my own professional knowledge of that kid still being every bit as important as the data in the spreadsheet. If medical tests could make a diagnosis on their own all the time, we wouldn’t need doctors. And if tests could make a diagnosis on their own in education, we wouldn’t need teachers.

Stay strong- and do what you know is best for kids. The assessments are a tool- but we are still the experts!



If you’re interested in more about using assessment in the context of your instruction, you can check out Claire and Tammy’s book Assessment in Perspective or their website at Teachers for Teachers. They were really great speakers and I could tell they still spend time in classrooms alongside teachers, working with kids, on a regular basis.

In the coming weeks, I’ll be sharing more of my conference thoughts on my blog. I love professional learning! Thanks for letting me share with you today.

Shedding Light On Dyslexia: An Overview by The Reading Tutor/OG

Greetings from Literacy Land everyone! Emily, from The Reading Tutor/OG here. Today I'm going to shed light on a misunderstood topic in education: dyslexia. Before I begin, I would like to say I have not and will not diagnose dyslexia. Rather, I will dispel some myths, share my knowledge, the red flags to watch for in a reader, and provide helpful resources for you to educate yourself.

I became very interested in learning more about how to help the students in my classroom who were clearly dyslexic back in 2003. That year, a groundbreaking book came out called Overcoming Dyslexia by Dr. Sally Shaywitz, a developmental pediatrician at Yale University. I joined a book group at the school I was teaching at with about 15 other teachers. We were committed to figuring out the best way to help these students. I also took training in Project Read Phonology that same year to learn how to use a multisensory phonics approach in my own classroom.

Several years later, I knew I needed more training in how to accommodate these children. Even with my Master's degree in Literacy, we never received any formal training on how to provide best teaching practices for the dyslexic reader. Unfortunately, I realize this has been fairly common, but colleges and universities are beginning to take steps to educate their teachers about dyslexia in new and promising ways. I made the personal decision to become Orton-Gillingham certified. This training made me better equipped to work with my students in ways I hadn't realized before. My journey as an educator learning about dyslexia is ever-changing, exciting, and even a little sad sometimes, but a necessary one if I am to work with all kinds of readers to help them succeed.

First, let me share some myths about dyslexia.

Myth #1. Dyslexia is uncommon 

Truth: Of all the language-based disabilities, dyslexia is the most common, affecting about 15% of the U.S. population.

Myth #2. Dyslexia is when you see words backwards or reverse letters, so it's a visual problem.
Truth: Lots of early readers reverse letters, but this is not a sign that they are dyslexic. Dyslexic readers have difficulty at the phonological level. They may not have a hard time seeing the words, but they have trouble manipulating the sounds in the words. Although many dyslexic readers state letters may appear to look strangely on a page when presented in certain fonts and font sizes.

Myth #3. Dyslexic readers can't be taught how to read.
Truth: Provided that proper identification and intervention is provided (as early as possible in a child's school career) dyslexic readers absolutely can be taught how to read.

Myth #4. If you are smart and perform well in school, you can't be dyslexic.
Truth: Dyslexia affects students from all levels of intelligence, backgrounds and genders equally.
Source and for more myths

Here are more important facts to keep in mind:

1. Dyslexia is hereditary. If you, your spouse or close relative have dyslexia, your child has a higher chance of having it too.
2. About 1 in 5 people have dyslexia, but only about 1 in 10 people will qualify to receive proper intervention for it.
3. Early detection and intervention is key.
4. Thanks to MRIs, we now know that the dyslexic brain processes information in a different part of the brain than a non-dyslexic.

So what is dyslexia? Here is the formal definition:

Dyslexia is a specific learning disability that is neurobiological in origin. It is characterized by difficulties with accurate and/or fluent word recognition and by poor spelling and decoding abilities. These difficulties typically result in the phonological component of language that is often unexpected in relation to other cognitive abilities and the provision of classroom instruction. Secondary consequences may include problems in reading comprehension, and reduced reading experience can impede growth of vocabulary and background knowledge. (Annals of Dyslexia, Vol. 53, 2003)

 *I actually had to memorize this definition in my Orton-Gillingham training, and was glad they made us. I can still rattle it off. :)

Watch this short, but powerful video from my Dyslexia Support Board on Pinterest.

What are some red flags for dyslexia?

(Note: This is a small list, but it has some common symptoms you may be seeing in a student you suspect that has dyslexia. See the link below for more characteristics.)

1. Extremely slow reading, poor reading fluency, which affects overall comprehension

2. Weak spelling and decoding

3. Poor phonemic awareness and phonological awareness 

4. Difficulty with word retrieval, letter name and sound recognition

5. Difficulty with recognizing rhymes

*For a comprehensive list of symptoms

What are some strengths people with dyslexia may have?

• Most dyslexic readers have average to above average intelligence.
• They are creative, think outside the box thinkers.
• Strong visual-spatial abilities
• They have the ability to link abstract ideas together.
• Read more on strengths.
• Successful dyslexics 

Where can I go to learn more?

I highly recommend the following books and websites to educate yourself about dyslexia.

• Overcoming Dyslexia by: Sally Shaywitz
• The Dyslexia Advantage: Unlocking The Hidden Potential of The Dyslexic Brain by: Brock L. Eide
• The Gift of Dyslexia by: Ronald Davis
• The Dyslexia Checklist by: Sandra F. Rief
• Proust and the Squid: The Story and Science of the Reading Brain by: Maryanne Wolf
• The Dyslexia Empowerment Plan: A Blueprint for Renewing Your Child's Confidence and Love of Learning by: Ben Foss
• Dyslexia Wonders: Understanding The Daily Life Of A Dyslexic From A Child's Perspective by: Jennifer Smith
• The International Dyslexia Association
• The Yale Center for Dyslexia and Creativity
• Dyslexia Training Institute
• Dyslexia Help
• Learning Ally
• National Center For Learning Disabilities
• Dyslexia.com
• Decoding Dyslexia
• Information on Dyslexia Simulation: Dyslexic For A Day
• 1 in 5 Initiative

We know more about dyslexia than ever thanks to research, and the books and websites above. Reading is not an innate ability for humans like walking. There are aspects that have to be explicitly taught. How do we go about helping these unique readers? Here are a few things to keep in mind.

• Use a structured, systematic, multi-sensory approach to teaching phonemic awareness, phonics, reading, spelling, writing, and handwriting. This is good teaching for all readers, not just for dyslexic learners. There is a large volume of research to support this as best practice. Orton Gillingham is one well respected approach that has been used effectively for years. Here is a link to one O-G informational site.
• Provide consistent fluency intervention. I wrote a post on my blog about specific fluency programs if you're interested.  
• Keep audio text readily available in a variety of formats. (listening centers, a computer station, on a mobile tablet)  Many dyslexic readers are ear readers. When they hear the text and follow along in order they'll gain the most benefits.
• Expose children to all kinds of text such as magazines, graphic novels, and comics. They may enjoy a different format other than the traditional chapter book, which can seem daunting.
• As parents, continue reading aloud to your child at night so they hear a proficient reader. These children may have strong listening comprehension, so choose books that are above their reading level to read to them, and foster a love of lifelong reading and learning.
• Use assistive technologies. Check this Pinterest link to apps that may help a dyslexic reader.

Please remember:

• Every dyslexia reader is different.
• Some reading disabilities are more severe than others.
• Certain instructional approaches will work better than others. Find out what is research based and works well, and use it consistently.
• Your dyslexic students have real strengths! Take time to find out what they are help your students or child to embrace them. 

I'm happy to answer your questions and welcome your feedback. I hope this brief overview provided some insight into helping your most challenged readers. I post information about dyslexia regularly on my Facebook page it you're interested. I hope you'll check it out soon. You can also visit and follow my blog. Thank you for reading my post today!

photo source: www.morguefile.com

Fact and Opinion: Not as Easy as it Seems

 Hi, it's Melissa from Don't Let the Teacher Stay Up Late here to share some tips and a little tool for teaching Fact and Opinion!

I don't know about you, but this is a skill that my students really struggle with all of a sudden when they reach 4th or 5th grade. They can tell me the difference between the two and even give me examples. They even THINK they are really good at it and will sometimes say it's easy. But don't be so quick to take their word! I'm going to walk you through some quick steps to teach and review fact and opinion so that your students can be more successful, even when the examples go past, "Yellow is the best color." and "The sky is blue."

First, make sure they have a STRONG understanding of what fact and opinion looks like. This means you need to go beyond definitions and help them identify traits and clue words.

Amber Polk has a great freebie on TPT that I love to use for this. It includes definitions and characteristics that students can sort under correct categories. Then they can also put everything into an interactive notebook to refer back to later on! Click on the picture to find her freebie.

After students understand characteristics, have them begin to identify examples from text they are reading. But don't stop there! Students need to be able to explain why to reinforce their understanding. Have students highlight key words and/or write what traits are present in the sentence (specific event, date, etc). For facts, I ask my students to tell me how they could prove it is true. If the fact says, "More Olympic events take place in the summer than winter", students could say that they would look for a list of Olympic events sorted by the seasons.

To help students practice proving fact and opinion, I created this simple graphic organizer to share with you. There are two versions: one includes clipart with Si from Duck Dynasty, and the other is plain. I will keep this as a freebie forever, so don't worry about it disappearing on you!

Fact and Opinion Graphic Organizer

What other comprehension skills do you notice students struggle to master?

The Importance of Syllables and Freebies !



My "AHA" moment around Syllables

     As I glide through this year, I began noticing a relationship between playing with syllables in the younger grades and understanding how to chunk words into syllables at the upper grades. I have noticed that as teachers explicitly teach phonemic segmentation  and nonsense words, the students gain a greater understanding about syllables. Gradually over time, first and second grade students seem more confident in their abilities to segment words into syllables as they begin to read words with multiple syllables.

   My "AHA" moment came as I was getting ready to write this post! When students in grades 2-5 realize that the clapping syllables and separating them into categories in younger grades supports them into breaking words into syllable types at the older grades... decoding may become easier for our older struggling readers.  

   An older student may benefit from explicit instruction in different types of syllables if he/she is only paying attention to the beginning or ending of words in oral reading. In addition, if their substitutions don't make sense within the sentence, it may be that the student is only attending to part of the visual cue.

   So, let's start off this post by looking and learning about the 6 syllable types...

The 6 Types of Syllables

1. Closed Syllable-- a syllable with 1 vowel followed by 1 or more consonants. A consonant, consonant blend, or consonant blend may be in front of the vowel or not. The vowel makes it's short sound and is marked with a breve.

  

Examples include: cat, hog, ask, chip, flop

After students learn the CVC rule and the basic closed syllable, they are introduced to consonant digraphs, consonant blends, and the exceptions to the closed syllable rule.

2. Vowel-Consonant-E Syllable-- a syllable that has one vowel followed by a consonant then an "e". The final "e" makes the vowel say its name, or it's long sound, and the "e" s silent. The vowel is marked with a macron.

Examples include: ride, throne, jute, shine, grade, smile

3. Open Syllables-a syllable that ends with 1 vowel. The vowel is long and is marked with a macron. This is the stage where students learn that "y" at the end of a word acts as a vowel sound. In a one    syllable word, a final "y" at the end of a word usually makes the long "i" sound.

Examples include: hi, me, shy, flu, she, cry

In a 2 syllable word, such as funny, baby, candy, the final "y" usually makes the long "e" sound.

  

4. Consonant -Le Syllable-- This syllable has a consonant followed by "le"  and it's the last syllable in the word. There are only 3 letters in this syllable. The final "e" is silent and syllable sounds like a blend as in the word, "muzzle".

Examples include: dribble, cable, puzzle, apple, tremble

5. Vowel-R Syllable: This syllable has a vowel followed by an "r". These are also known as "r-controlled vowels" and they don't have a short or long sound. The "r" controls the vowel so it makes a different sound. The sounds of "er" ,"ir" and "ur" sound similar. This set of words can be difficult for students to learn to spell.

Examples include: star, turn, bird, fern, short

It is common for students to try to read these syllables as a closed syllable. A prompt to look at the consonant after the vowel to see the "r": "It could be a closed syllable, but look at the letter after the vowel."

6. Vowel Team or Double Vowel Syllables--This syllable has two vowels that make one sound within the word. It is important to teach these sounds separately  as not all of the pairs follow the "When two vowels go walking the first ones does the talking" rule. Actually, only 40% of the vowel teams follow the "walking and talking" rule.

Examples include: foot, seed, sauce, tail, coin

 Two Freebies to support you in teaching syllables:

  1. The Six Syllable Types- Mini Poster

http://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/The-Six-Syllable-Types-CLOVER-399924

2. A Sweet Treat for sorting open and closed syllables with the Long Vowel Sound of "y" -- Head on over to our Facebook page and download this fan freebie until February 14, 2014

 https://www.facebook.com/adventuresinliteracyland


What types of Word Work or Syllable Activities do you do in your teaching? Please comment below!