Article - Syllable Types: A Strategy for Reading Multisyllabic Words (2008)

Multisyllabic words can stymie struggling readers. Students rely on others for help or feel defeated before even trying to decode a long word. Giving students a strategy for figuring out multisyllabic words promotes fluency and independent reading. This article explains how to chunk words according to six syllable types. Students learn clues to determine whether the vowel is long or short. When they have mastered quick and accurate recognition of the syllable types, long words can be decoded in a systematic manner. Adding this technique to a comprehensive literacy program benefits students who lack independence for reading multisyllabic words.