Decode words of two or more syllables by breaking them into syllable chunks, applying knowledge that every syllable must contain a vowel sound, and blending the parts together
You already know how to clap the syllable beats in a word. Now you can use that same skill to read big words. Split the word into its syllable chunks, read each chunk on its own, then blend the chunks together to say the whole word.
Every syllable chunk has one vowel sound inside it. When you are not sure where to split a word, look for the vowels. Each vowel usually marks a new chunk.
Look at 'fantastic'. Clap it and you feel three beats: fan-tas-tic. Read fan, then tas, then tic. Blend them together and you get fantastic.
Split a long word into syllable chunks, check that each chunk has a vowel sound, then blend the chunks to read the whole word.
Every word has at least one syllable. A syllable is a beat in a word, and every syllable has one vowel sound in it.
Try the clapping trick. Say a word slowly and clap once for every beat you hear. Say banana: ba (clap) - na (clap) - na (clap). Three claps means three syllables.
You can also tap your chin. Put your hand under your chin and say the word. Your chin drops once for every vowel sound, so each drop is one syllable. Try it with rabbit: rab - bit. Your chin drops two times.
Now you can read big words. Split the word into its syllable chunks. Read each chunk on its own, then blend the chunks together: fan - tas - tic, fantastic!
Syllabication is a big word that just means breaking a word into its parts. Each part is called a syllable.
Every syllable has one vowel sound. It might have consonant sounds too, but it always has a vowel sound. The word cat has one vowel sound, so it is one syllable. The word picnic has two vowel sounds, so it has two syllables: pic - nic.
To split a word, find the vowel sounds first. Then split the word so each chunk has one of them. Thunder becomes thun - der.
When you read a long word, sound out one chunk at a time. Then say the chunks faster and faster until they blend into the whole word.
You have clapped the beats inside words, and you have joined little words into big ones. Now the beats become a reading tool. Mia is reading about a circus, and she meets a long word she has never seen: fantastic.
What is the best plan for reading a long new word?
Learn first
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