One of the first phonological awareness skills that many Pre-K or Kindergarten educators teach is counting syllables. We say a multi-syllabic word and have our students clap it out, counting the syllables. But have you ever asked yourself, “Why are we teaching this skill?” Teaching children syllable awareness is an early step toward teaching more complex language skills, like morphology and syntax. It is a building block skill for a strong phonemic awareness foundation. Here are some key reasons why teaching syllables is important for developing reading skills.
What is a Syllable?
A syllable refers to a unit of spoken language that includes one vowel sound. For example, “pot” has one syllable, while “elephant” has three syllables, because it has three vowels. With syllables, you are breaking the words into parts, made up of individual phonemes (sounds). Syllable awareness is a phonological awareness skill.
Foundational Phonological Awareness
Syllables are one of the building blocks of phonological awareness, which is crucial for early literacy development. Teaching children to recognize and segment syllables in words helps them become more proficient readers and writers. It is easier for students to orally blend syllables, like “butt/er/fly” and say “butterfly”, than it is to orally blend phonemes like “d/o/g” to say “dog”. When we teach these phonological awareness skills, we should start with syllables, and then move on to phonemes.
You can learn more about how to teach syllables in Kindergarten here.
Improves Spelling and Writing Skills
The next reason why teaching syllables is important for reading development relates to writing. Understanding syllables helps children improve their spelling and writing skills. When they can break words into syllables, it becomes easier to spell longer words. Even in Kindergarten, students can be taught how to break apart longer words and spell each syllable to write a multi-syllabic word phonetically. Teaching them that each syllable has a vowel will help them remember a vowel or vowel pattern in each part of the word they are writing.
Decoding Multisyllabic Words
As children progress in their reading levels, they encounter multisyllabic words. Teaching them about syllables helps them tackle longer and more complex words with confidence. Learning to break words into syllables will help them be able to decode words and understand their meaning. When helping a student decode a multisyllabic word, you can cover up each syllable as they sound it out and read it. For example, “basketball” can be read as “bas” “ket” “ball”. As long as the student is able to orally blend syllables, they can put the syllables together and correctly read the word! Teaching syllables can help develop critical reading skills, such as decoding.
Understanding New Vocabulary
Teaching syllables also aids in vocabulary development. When children can divide words into syllables, they are more likely to understand the meanings of those words and use them correctly in context. Recognizing syllables will also help in understanding prefixes and suffixes and decoding unfamiliar words. Proficiency in syllable types leads to better reading fluency, comprehension, and vocabulary development.
Teaching Syllables in Kindergarten
Understanding syllables plays a significant role in fostering phonological awareness, improving literacy skills, and supporting effective communication. That's why teaching syllables is so crucial for developing reading skills. There are plenty of fun and engaging syllable activities you can do starting in Kindergarten!
Plan Effective Syllable Lessons and Activities with the Kindergarten Phonics Syllables Unit
If you want to start teaching syllables in Kindergarten, this phonics unit has everything you need! This Kindergarten Phonics Syllables Unit is designed to make learning about syllables engaging and interactive. It includes lesson plans, center activities and games, worksheets, assessments, anchor charts, and more to help you effectively teach syllables to young learners.