Lesson plan

Sounding with Syllables

Learning objectives
Students will be able to use knowledge of syllabication rules to divide and read
multisyllabic words that contain vowel digraphs.

Introduction
(5 minutes)
 Ask students to share what strategies they can use to read words.
 Tell the students that sometimes knowing certain spelling patterns can help us divide and read
words that have multiple syllables (if necessary, remind students that syllables are the units in a
word).
 Tell the students that they will be learning how to read multisyllabic words with the vowel
patterns of ea, ee, ai, oa, and ow.

 Explicit instruction/Teacher modeling

(5 minutes)
 Using selected words (e.g. entertain, appearance, committee, approach, widower), show the
students how to locate the digraphs (ea, ee, ai, oa, ow) and to subdivide the words to read
accurately.
 Use the sentence strips and pipe cleaners to demonstrate this process of dividing words into
syllables and reading the words.
 Guided practice/Interactive modeling
(10 minutes)
 Divide students up into small groups of three or four students.
 Distribute guided practice words and popsicle sticks to each group.
 Invite the students to work on dividing the words into syllables as a group, using the pipe
cleaners or popsicle sticks.
 Circulate around the room, assisting students as needed, and ask them to read the words using
their knowledge of the syllables.

Independent working time

(10 minutes)
 Ask students to complete the Syllable Break-up worksheet.

Differentiation
Enrichment:
 Challenge students to brainstorm multisyllabic words with similar patterns, break the words into
syllables, and create a web of words.
Support:
 Provide partially divided words for students who need additional support.
 Create sentence strip puzzles with pre-cut syllables.

Technology integration
 Have students record themselves reading multisyllabic words using Voice Thread or another
recording program. Use their recordings to help them with their pronunciation and to develop
fluency.

Assessment
(10 minutes)
 Ask students to complete the worksheet Syllabication Evaluation.
 Rotate around the room and listen to students as they read the words aloud.

Review and closing

(5 minutes)
 Using a combination of words from the lesson, name a word and ask the students to explain how
the word can be broken apart.