Literacy
What is a syllable?
A syllable is a part of a word that contains a vowel sound. For example, the word understand has 3 syllables: un-der-stand. Each syllable (part) has one vowel sound. At school, your child learns how to blend (put together), segment (pull apart), and substitute (change) syllables within a word. One additional skill your child will be working with is isolating phonemes, where they will identify the first or last sound they hear in a word. Research tells us, “phoneme awareness performance is a strong predictor of long-term reading and spelling success, and it can predict literacy performance more accurately than variables such as intelligence, vocabulary knowledge, and socioeconomic status” (Gillon, 2018) At Kismet Park your child engages in daily Phonic review sessions that encompass identifying syllable activities.
Consider using the following activities at home with your child to support their learning at school:
★ Punch it Out! Give your child a word from the list below and have them punch their fist up in the air when they say the last sound.
- floaT
- gloBe
- dreaM
- neCK
- hiVe
- froZe
★ Can you blend (put together) these syllables to make a word?”
- in - sect → insect
- stu - dent → student
- gym - nas - tics → gymnastics
★ Be a Ninja! Say a word and have your child act like a ninja by chopping words into their syllables. Say, “Can you segment (chop) this word into its individual syllables?”
- afternoon → af - ter - noon
- member → mem - ber
- fantastic → fan - tas - tic
★ Switch-A-Roo! Can you tell me the new word I can make if I substitute (change) one syllable in a word to a new one? Say:
- turkey→ change /tur/ to /mun/ and the word is? → monkey
- Say longer → change /long/ to /quick/ and the word is? → quicker
- Say monster→ change /mon/ to /ham/ and the word is? → hamster
★ Books to enjoy together: Look for these books at the library that support syllable and sound awareness!
- The Word Collector by Peter H. Reynolds
- Tanka Tanka Skunk! by Steve Webb
- Don’t Be Silly, Mrs. Millie by Judy Cox Make it Multi-sensory!
*Sourced from https://heggerty.org/
