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Ben is at the park, and a rainbow stretches over the trees. He says the word slowly: rain... bow. He feels two little beats inside it.
What is one of those beats called?
Syllables
Count, blend, and segment syllables in spoken words; divide written words into syllables as an aid to reading and spelling
What a learner can do afterwards
- Clap out syllables in spoken words (e.g. 'butterfly' = 3 claps)
- Blend syllables to form words (e.g. 'rain' + 'bow' → 'rainbow')
- Segment a word into its syllable parts orally
1 · Read
Say a word slowly. You will feel small beats inside it. Each beat is called a syllable. Clap once for every beat you hear.
Try it together
Ben claps the word rainbow. He hears two beats: rain and bow. Two claps for rainbow.
Beats go back together too. Say 'cup', then 'cake', with no stop in between. The parts make the word cupcake.
You can also take a beat away. Say 'bedroom' without 'room' and 'bed' is left. Take 'bed' away instead and 'room' is left.
Good to know
Say the word slowly if you get stuck. Feel each beat with your voice.
Every word breaks into beats, and each beat is one syllable.
2 · Watch
3 · Play
Take it off screen
Print a worksheetA4 with an answer key page for grown-ups. No screen, no internet.
Where it sits
Learn first
Nothing; this is a starting point.
This opens up
Then practise
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.