Reading by

Syllables A Phonics Intervention

Abstract For students who did not meet the

benchmark goal for fluency and

accuracy at their grade level and

whose errors are mostly on

multisyllabic words.

Adapted from the work of Dr. Ray Reutzel

For students who did not meet the benchmark goal for fluency and

accuracy at their grade level and whose errors are mostly on

multisyllabic words.

Fluency & Accuracy

Fluent Reading in Context

Phonemic Awareness

Comprehension

Phonics & Word Recognition Vocabulary

Word

Recognition

Phonics

Reading by

Syllables

Print Concepts

Research-Based

Practices: An Analysis of What Works in

Grades PreK-12

Adapted from the work of Dr. Ray Reutzel

Who Students who did not meet the benchmark goal for accuracy and fluency at their grade level and whose errors are mostly on multisyllabic words.

Description Learning high frequency syllables and using the six syllable types to read multisyllabic words.

Time 10-15 minutes daily. Step 1 is done one on one. Step 2 could be done in a small group.

Materials High Frequency Syllable Cards, 10-15 multisyllabic words on cards (or use a white board or tablet) for each session, Six Syllable Types chart, list of common prefixes and suffixes, Multisyllabic Blending Routine

Instructional Support

Detailed Teacher Instructions, Cue Card, Video (coming soon)

Procedure Pre-test:

Divide the syllable cards into “known” and “unknown” piles.

Select a set of syllable cards to begin the intervention. (Selected set should include at least 50% known syllable cards at all times.)

Task: 1. Student reads selected syllable cards.* (Tell student the correct

syllable when needed.) Repeat.

*Track which syllables are read correctly only on the first try each session. (When a syllable is read correctly during 3 different sessions, it is considered “known”. Add “unknown” syllable cards equal to the number of “known” syllable cards that you remove from the set.)

2. Student uses the Multisyllabic Blending Routine to read each syllable and the word as a whole for the 10-15 words prepared**. (Refer to six syllables types chart and/or prefixes/suffixes list as needed. Help student with which syllable gets accented as needed. Remind student that decoding syllables will get him/her an approximation of the word.)

**Select and prepare 10-15 words so that there is a space or a period between each syllable, or write the words one syllable at a time on a white board/tablet as you go.

(Give student opportunities to apply this strategy in a variety of engaging texts over time.)

Progress Monitoring

Assess and graph weekly the number of correctly read high frequency syllables in one minute. DIBELS Next DORF (oral reading fluency) progress monitoring should also be done at least bi-monthly.

Phonics Some students’ phonics skills break down when confronted by multisyllabic words.

References “Syllable Frequency in Lexical Decision and Naming of English Words” (Macizo & Van Petten, 2006) Teaching Decoding (Moats, 1999) “A Syllabic-Unit Approach to Teaching Decoding of Polysyllabic Words to Fourth- and Sixth-Grade Disabled Readers” (Shefelbine, 1990)

Phonics: Reading by Syllables Intervention

Adapted from the work of Dr. Ray Reutzel

Time 10-15 minutes daily

Materials

High Frequency Syllable Cards, 10-15 multisyllabic words separated into syllables (or use a

white board or tablet) for each session [possible sources include weekly spelling list, Words

Their Way, content area vocabulary, etc.], Six Syllable Types chart, list of common prefixes

and suffixes, Multisyllabic Blending Routine

Instructional

Procedure

Pre-test:

1. Pre-test student on all high frequency syllable cards, dividing the cards into “known” and “unknown” piles.

2. Select 8-10 high frequency syllable cards for the intervention. (50% from “known” pile and 50% from “unknown” pile)

Task:

State the Objective/Explanation: “Today you will learn how to read longer words by reading

by syllables. Remember that syllables are parts of words and that every syllable has a vowel.”

1. Student reads selected high frequency syllable cards*. (Tell student the correct syllable, as needed.) Repeat.

*NOTE: Teacher tracks syllables read correctly only on the first try of each intervention

session. When a syllable card has been read correctly during 3 different sessions, it is

considered “known”. Add “unknown” syllable cards equal to the number of “known”

syllable cards that you remove from the set.

2. Student reads 10-15 multisyllabic words** using the Multisyllabic Blending Routine to read each syllable in the word and then the word as a whole. a. Find the vowels b. Chunk the word into syllables c. Blend the first syllable (think about the vowel pattern) d. Blend the next syllable(s) (think about the vowel pattern) e. Blend the syllables together (Assist student with which syllable is accented, as

needed) f. Read the word

Refer to Six Syllable Types chart and/or the common prefixes and suffixes list as needed.

Remind student that decoding syllables will get her an approximation of the word.

**Note: Select and prepare 10-15 words so that there is a space or a period between each

syllable. Or write the words, one syllable at a time, on a white board/tablet as you go.

in.de.pen.dence lib.er.ty free.dom

(Provide student with opportunities to apply multisyllabic blending strategy and syllable

knowledge in reading a variety of engaging texts over time.)

Phonics: Teacher Instructions Reading by Syllables

Adapted from the work of Dr. Ray Reutzel

Reading by Syllables

Student reads syllable cards

Student reads multisyllabic words

na . tion

Provide student with opportunities to apply multisyllabic blending

strategy and syllable knowledge in reading a variety of engaging texts

over time.

Phonics: Cue Cards Reading by Syllables

Adapted from the work of Dr. Ray Reutzel

Materials

High Frequency Syllables Progress Monitoring Materials

• Syllables

• Score Sheet

• Graph

Words Correct

23 47 52 72 87 70 86 100 90 103 115 111 120 130 107 109 120 Accuracy 78 90 90 96 97 95 96 97 96 97 98 98 98 99 97 97 98

Mid

End

Beg

Mid

End

Beg

Mid

End

Beg

Mid

End

Beg

Mid

End

Beg

Mid

End

First Grade Second Grade Third Grade Fourth Grade Fifth Grade Sixth Grade

The expectation is that student’s grades 3-5 will have 100% accuracy with the High

Frequency Syllables. More importantly, they must have many opportunities to transfer

this knowledge and apply it in context (grade level text reading).

Progress monitor High Frequency Syllables weekly and assess it in context bi-monthly

using the DIBELS Next DORF (oral reading fluency).

Phonics: Progress Monitoring Reading by Syllables

ORF Benchmarks

Adapted from the work of Dr. Ray Reutzel

High Frequency Syllables

ing

er

ter

un

der

im

fi

em

num

ble

tion

re

ver

ple

est

fi

ture

ex

bout

com

ex

bout

est

ture

tion

num

ble

ment

ing

ter

ple

un

der

dis

im

com

em

ver

tion

er

num

ble

ment

ple

tion

re

ver

un

ex

com

der

un

dis

num

bout

er

ble

ture

com

dis

im

fi

em

ture

ple

re

est

ver

ter

tion

ing

est

ple

com

der

ex

fi

bout

em

ment

num

ble

bout

un

im

fi

ing

re

ter

dis

der

est

ment

tion

em

ing

er

ter

fi

ture

Adapted from the work of Dr. Ray Reutzel

Progress Monitoring of High Frequency Syllables

Student _________________________________ Grade ______ Teacher___________________________

100

90

80

70

60

50

40

30

20

10

dates

Dates

# of correct syllables per

minute

Accuracy

Crr

ec

e

pe

r M

Accuracy Formula

# of syllables read correctly

total syllables read = % accuracy

Adapted from the work of Dr. Ray Reutzel

Six Syllable Types

Closed Syllable

(CVC: ends with a consonant and the vowel is usually short)

cat, man

Open Syllable

(CV: ends with a vowel and the vowel is usually long)

me, be

Silent e Syllable

(CVCe: ends with a silent e and the previous vowel is usually long

ate, lope

R-controlled Syllable

(Vr: has a vowel followed by an r and the vowel makes a sound

influenced by the r) car, ber

Vowel Pair Syllable

(CVV, CVVC: has two vowels together in one syllable and the

vowels make the same sound they would in a one syllable word)

boy, oat

Consonant + le Syllable

(C+le: has a consonant followed by l and e)

ple, tle

Prefixes and suffixes are also syllables. pre-, -tion

Adapted from the work of Dr. Ray Reutzel

Underline the vowels

Break the word into chunks around the vowels.

Use what you know.*

Blend the letter sounds in the first chunk.

Blend the letter sounds in the second chunk.

Blend the first two chunks together.

Continue in the same way through the rest of

the chunks.

*Use what you know:

Vowel patterns – closed, open, cvce, vowel teams, r-controlled

Prefixes and suffixes

Digraphs and blends

Irregular sounds

Common syllables – consonant + le, tion/sion, ture/sure

2

3

4

5

6

1

Decoding Multisyllabic

Words