English Phonetics Diary (7)

source: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P1U_UQ6m-eU&list=WL&index=15&t=8s  

This week I came back to one of my favourite education-related youtube channels, which is Susan Jones Teaching. The topic of one of her newest videos is: ‘How to teach syllables in first and second grade // closed, Vce, & open syllables for 1st/2nd Grade’. I thought focusing more on teaching syllables, especially examples of exercises and introduction in the classroom would be very valuable for me. This video focuses on three types of syllables: closed, open and Vowel-cons-e syllables.

Closed syllables (about 43% of English syllables) consist of one short letter closed by at least one consonant. Exceptions to closed syllable rules include: ost, old, ild, ind, olt. They should be practised with students so they get used to the rule and remember the difference in syllable division. Vce (vowel-consonant-e) syllables consist of one long vowel syllable, consonant and a silent e. Examples can be seen in one syllable words like time or make or in two syllable words like consist or inside. Open syllables end with a long vowel sound spelled with a single vowel letter. They occur in words go, she, me.

Activities presented in the video include:

  • Explicit marking of syllables
  • Syllable sort
  • Complete the syllable

I’ve noted down some of the most important and new advice for me. In terms of closed syllables, when breaking the words with double letters in the middle, it’s important to realise that each one of them will be part of different syllables. In words like rabbit or kitten students will say only one b or t, but they will double it in the written form. Once they get introduced and practised, students can work with longer words consisting of different types of syllables. Teachers can present pupils with a list of words and ask them to both divide them into syllables and name each syllable.

If I’m being honest, this topic is still a little bit challenging to me. Though I definitely understood most of what she was talking about, at first I caught myself trying to translate it into Polish rules. Then, by using different examples I got more familiar with the topic. I believe I will need to come back to it and expand it a little bit, with a bigger focus on particular activities. I also realise that working with native speakers is different from teaching a second language. It means that some of those things are introduced later or in different forms. As mentioned before, I am looking forward to coming back to syllables and both learning about their different types and to listening about various activities.

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