Teaching Phonological Awareness Syllables in kindergarten and first grade

Teaching Phonological Awareness Syllables in kindergarten and first grade.

Teaching Phonological Awareness – Syllables

Research tells us that reading and writing starts with a strong foundation in phonological awareness. Understanding syllables is a significant part of that foundation. There are three strategies I use when introducing and teaching syllables in kindergarten and first grade. For resources to teach phonological awareness in your classroom, click Phonological & Phonemic Awareness Program for Reading & Writing Success.

Syllable Blending

Syllable blending is when students listen to parts of the word and blend them together to say the complete word. Starting first thing in week 1, students begin blending compound words. Students put their left hand out in front of them with their palm up as they say the first word and their right hand out as they say the second word. They then put their hands together as they say the compound word. This is a fun way to add a multi-sensory approach to learning syllables.

Syllable Manipulation

This strategy is all about manipulating syllables in words. This can be done through substitution or deletion. Beginning in week three, students learn to use deletion within words. For example, “say dragonfly without fly.”

Segmenting Syllables

This is where students begin segmenting words into syllables. Starting with week 5, students will be chopping words into parts. Students say the picture and chop the number of syllables.

Another idea is to use touch lights to represent the number of syllables. They think the lights are SO COOL! You can purchase touch lights on Amazon. They are a great addition to your classroom as they can be used for so many things!

This is a fun and engaging video to show students while working on syllables. It gives examples of breaking apart words and “finding the beat” (number of syllables).