Group the students into a circle to introduce the syllable lesson. Together, say recognizable multisyllabic words, such as "mother" and "garden." While saying the words, clap your hands with each syllable to break the words down. Ask the children to participate in clapping the syllables and then advance to more difficult vocabulary. Another way to introduce syllable awareness is passing out mirrors to the children. Instruct them to look at their mouth while saying words. Begin with one-syllable words, such as "cat," and then move to multisyllabic words, such as "brother" and "absolutely."
Use flashcards with images for a game with syllable structures. Show the students two cards that make up a compound word, which is made from two words, such as "doghouse." Hold up pictures of a separate dog and a house. Ask the students how many syllables make up the words and then ask what happens when one syllable is taken away or deleted. Take the picture of the house away.
Educate the students about the six common syllable-spelling patterns, once they have mastered the basics of identifying and counting multisyllabic words. The patterns are closed, open, r-controlled, vowel team, vowel-silent e and consonant-le. Closed-syllable spelling patterns end in a consonant sound such as "rabbit." Open words are syllable-spelling patterns that end in a vowel sound, such as "violet." R-controlled patterns are when a vowel is followed by an "r" such as "bird." Vowel teams are when sounds have vowel digraphs, such as ai, ay. Examples of these types of words are "explain" and "delay." Vowel-silent e have long sounds, such as "complete." Consonant-le are words that end in "le," such as "little."
The closed-syllable spelling pattern is the most frequently found and educators should spend at least one lesson explaining them. Write an example of this type of word that ends in a consonant sound, such as "fabric." Allow time for the children to examine the word by themselves. Speak your thoughts about the word to help the students. For example, speak as if you are thinking aloud and say, "I see two vowels in the word divided by two consonants. The word can be divided into "fab" and "ric." If I put these two syllables together, I get "fabric." Read the word together with the students. Another way to learn about closed-syllable spelling patterns is to ask children to predict the words and come up with their own ideas about them before saying anything to engage them in the lesson.