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.
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?
24 questions wait behind this lesson, each with its answer explained. Every answer feeds the sky: stars light as they are learned, and dim when it is time to come back.