Syllable Type Symbol Visual Description Examples
up, sit, stack, end, sob
A single vowel is followed by one or more consonants. The
Closed Syllable Cl vowel sound is short. un-pack, rab-bit, so
d-den
he, she, we, be, so, hi
A word or syllable ends with a single vowel (including y).
Open Syllable O The vowel sound is long.
re-run, mu-sic, bra-
zen, la-tent, fo-ment, l
a-zy
name, range,
A single vowel is followed by one consonant (or Pete, ice, hope, dune
VCe (Vowel-
Consonant-e) VCe occasionally more) and a silent e. That e is dropped when
adding a suffix beginning with a vowel. re-buke, con-fuse, in-
voke, com-pet-ing
sport, perk, scar, first,
R-controlled A single vowel is followed by an r and pronounced with the church
Syllable BR sound /ar/, /er/, or /or/. or-der, bur-den, arc-
tic, fer-vent, dir-ty
taint, glean, spoil,
Two vowels (including w and y) together represent one pound, cow, zoo,
Vowel Team
Syllable VT sound. The sound can be long or short or ambiguous. Note bread
that we include diphthongs here. or-deal, con-tain, re-
coil, vow-el, re-cruit
A final syllable, or the end syllable in a base word, contains
Consonant-l-e bi-ble, un-cle, buc-kl-
Syllable Cle a single consonant followed by an l and an e, and is
pronounced C/ul/.
ing, pur-ple, gam-ble
After the first 6 weeks of Grade 3, spelling and Vocabulary instruction are merged in Word Study, and this practice
continues through the end of Grade 5. The words are selected for their importance to the day’s reading. They are
presented explicitly for their syllable-type characteristics and their meaning. Typically, in a 5-day sequence, there are two
words each day for the first 3 days. Teachers usually display the language from the lesson plans for these words as they
introduce each word. Because the syllable types we identify are not exactly the same as dictionary syllabication, we
provide a Teaching Tip on day 1 as a reminder. On the day 4, teachers review the week’s words. Day 5 is used for
assessment. This time, though, teachers are assessing both spelling and meaning. Let’s take a look at Vocabulary
instruction from Grade 3.
Multisyllabic Word Study Decoding Procedure
1 Start from the left and find the vowel sounds.
2 Look at the consonants between the vowels.
3 Find a pattern and divide the word into syllables.
4 Label syllable types (Cl, O, VCe, BR, VT, CLe).
5 Read each syllable, then blend into a word.
6 Check for comprehension. If it doesn't sound right, divide a different way!
