What Are the Six Syllable Types?

Understanding syllables and syllable types can be a valuable tool for our students to draw upon when encountering unfamiliar words. But what are the six syllable types? Let us enlighten you!

• Closed syllable: A closed syllable has only one vowel and is followed by one or more consonants. The vowel has a short vowel sound.
• Open syllable: An open syllable ends in a vowel. The vowel has a long vowel sound. The vowel says its letter name. Remember that “y” can act as a vowel.
• Magic e syllable: A magic e syllable has one vowel and is followed by a consonant and a silent e. The vowel has a long vowel sound. 
• Vowel team syllable: A vowel team syllable has a team of two or more letters that work together to make one vowel sound. Sometimes the team includes consonant letters, like ay, oy, ow, and aw.      
• R-controlled syllable: An r-controlled syllable has an r following a vowel. The r changes the vowel sound so that it is neither long nor short.       
• Consonant +le: A consonant +le syllable comes at the end of a word. It has a consonant, then an l, then a silent e.       

Decode Multisyllabic Words with Digital Tools

This interactive activity has been designed to help your students identify syllable types in two- and three-syllable words. It contains 20 activity slides. Each slide contains a word that has been labeled according to syllable type in two different ways – a correct one and one that is incorrect! Students must identify which is the correct option, then click on the gift image underneath. If they are correct, students will see an image of the word and can proceed to the next slide by clicking on the “next” button.  If incorrect, students need to click on the “back” button to try again.  

For example: How should the word “robot” be correctly labeled according to syllable type? Is it:

a) ro (open) bot (closed) OR

b) ro (vowel team) bot (closed)

The correct answer, of course, is option a! (Well done if you got that one correct!)

Tips for Extension and Support

This syllables resource has been designed to support your students in developing a deeper understanding of syllable types. Should you need to support or extend students in your class, you may wish to try the following ideas: 

• For students who require support, provide them with a visual reminder of the syllable types to refer to while they are completing the mazes. Our Types of Syllables Anchor Charts would be perfect for this purpose!
• Challenge students who require an extension to create additional labeling syllables questions to swap with a partner. These could be done using a digital learning tool or on paper.

No Prep Required… Just Click Download!

Use the Download button to access the interactive Google Slides resource.

Be sure to open the document in Presentation mode to enable the interactive features.

This resource was created by Lisamarie Del Valle, a teacher in Florida and a Teach Starter collaborator.