LESSON 11

Open and Closed Syllable Patterns

favor

Listen to me read this word aloud.How many syllables do you hear in this word?

Hold up the number of fingers that show how many syllables you hear.

Where should the word be divided?fa/vor- notice that this word breaks after the

vowel and before the 2nd consonantEveryone-Read aloud the 1st syllable- /fā/

When a syllable ends with a vowel sound, the syllable is usually pronounced with a long vowel sound. This is called an open syllable pattern.

visit

Listen to me read this word aloud.How many syllables do you hear in this word?

Hold up the number of fingers that show how many syllables you hear.

Where should the word be divided?vis/it- notice that this word breaks after the 2nd

consonant and the syllable /vĭs/ has a short soundEveryone-Read aloud the 1st syllable- /vĭs/

When a syllable ends with a consonant, the syllable is usually pronounced with a short vowel sound. This is called a closed syllable pattern.

Remember…

If you are unsure how to pronounce a word, think about what you have learned about where to break a word into syllables.

Then, look at where the syllable breaks and try to determine if the syllable is open or closed.

If you are still unsure, try pronouncing the word with both a long and short sound and listen for a word you know.

Let’s try it together

Look at the words below. With your partner divide them into syllables. Decide whether each syllable is open or closed and whether the vowel sound is long or short.

family

recesses

decorations

navigation

fam i ly

re cess es

dec o ra tions

nav i ga tion

Try it on your own

With a partner look in your science or social studies book for four more multisyllabic words.

With your partner list the words you find and note whether the syllables follow the open or closed syllable pattern.

Exchange lists with another pair of partners and take turns reading aloud the words on the list.