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MULTISYLLABIC MULTISYLLABIC WORD READINGWORD READINGMULTISYLLABIC MULTISYLLABIC WORD READINGWORD READING

CHAPTER 8 CHAPTER 8 Study GuideStudy GuideCompiled byCompiled by

Betty Jo WilleyBetty Jo Willey

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WHAT! Introduction to Chapter 8

• Multisyllabic Word Reading Explicit Instruction in recognizing syllables

and morphemes is essential because it gives students additional strategies for reading longer words.

~Important Because*Students often have difficulty with

multisyllabic words.

*5th graders and beyond must know how to decode because most of the words they encounter will have

7 or more letters and have 2 or more syllables.

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“To read words in text fluently and accurately, the brain’s “orthographic” processor must learn to “see” common letter patterns and recurring word parts.” (p.

260)

Pattern detection is key to recognizing syllables and morphemes.

Brain Function =Pattern Detection

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Chunk it !• Don’t understand a big word?

• Brain Function = Pattern DetectionSkilled Readers must be able to: Recognize multi-letter patterns (syllables, affixes,

phonograms)

Chunk it (break into smaller pieces) into parts as the reader perceives the word.

Use knowledge of common patterns found in other words.

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Practice is Best…Intro Continued…

a. Key Definitions: Syllable – A word or part of a word pronounced as a unit

Unit – part of a word with one vowel sound; may see more than one vowel per unit/syllable – but always hear only one

vowel sound Syllabication – division of multisyllabic word into separate syllables

b. What research says ~ Rules: To Know or Not To Know

Past Decades

NOW what researchers say = about RULES….

Memorize rigid rules ----too many ----too complex

----knowing them doesn’t necessarily improve

students’ decoding skills

***Students learn they can be flexible in dividing a word into parts as long as they

can ultimately make the word into a real and recognizable word. (Archer et. Al. 2003,

2006)

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More Intro….How to Teach Students to Decode Longer Multisyllabic Words:

3 Research-based Approaches

1 2 3

Use syllable types and division

principles

Identifying affixes or

word parts

Using flexible

syllabication strategies

***These approaches differ in how the words are broken down into decodable units…

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In this Guide…

Section AWHAT

Section BWHY

Section CWHEN

Section DHOW

I. Syllables a. what they are

b. research says II. Affixes a. what they are

b. research says

I. Important to know because:

II. Research says

I. When to Teach

II. When to Assess

III. When to Intervene

Good Teaching Explained

I. Reading Open & Closed Syllables

II. Reading Multisyllabic Words (1-7)

1. VC/VC 2. VCV 3. Syllable

Segmentation Strategy

4. Syllabic Procedure 5. Introducing Affixes 6. Flexible Strategy

for reading big words

7.Root word Transformation

*these are not outlined in detail … refer to pp.272 - 318.

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SECTION ASECTION ASECTION ASECTION A

WHATWHAT

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Section A.WHAT?...Part I. Syllables

a. What they are (review from slide 5) Syllable – A word or part of a word pronounced as a unitUnit – part of a word with one vowel sound; may see

more than one vowel per unit/syllable – but always hear only

one vowel soundSyllabication – division of multisyllabic word into separate syllables

6 Common Types of syllables (in sequence for syllable-type instruction)

1. Closed 4. Vowel Combination2. Vowel Consonant e 5. Consonant – le3. Open 6. r - controlled

(See p. 62 in text to study complete description & examples)

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Syllable Types and (most

useful) Division PrinciplesVC/CV C/CV (75%)

VC/V (25%)

VC/CCVVCC/CV

Consonant - le

2 consonants between 2 vowels

If 2 consonants come between 2 vowels, divide the consonants. The 1st vowel will be short.

rab-bit

1 consonant between 2 vowels

If a word has 1 consonant between 2 vowels, divide the word after the first vowel and give the vowel the long sound. If this division does not produce a recognizable word then divide the word after the consonant and give the vowel a short sound

mu-sic nap-kin

3 consonants between 2 vowels

Keep the letters in a consonant blend or digraph together in the same syllable.

hun-dred

ink-well

ath-lete

Consonant – le forms a separate syllable

If the first syllable end with a consonant, try the short sound of the first vowel. If the first syllable ends with a vowel, try the long sound.

wig-gleri-fle

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b. What some researchers say… about Syllable Types

Webster regularized these syllable types to justify the division of syllables in his 1806 dictionary.

Moats: Knowledge of syllable types will help students remember how to pronounce vowels in new words.

Henry: Students should first practice the identification of syllable Types in single syllable words before Identifying the syllables in multisyllabic words.

Shefelbine & Newman called open and closed syllables the basic building blocks of polysyllabic words.

Sheflbine, Lipscomb & Hern found significant relationship between students’ sight knowledge of open & closed syllables and students’ ability to read multisyllabic words.

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….and what some researchers

say about division principles

Carreker familiarity and flexibilty with syllable-division principles help students to develop strategies for reading longer words.

Chall & Popp “ The best way we teach and learn syllabication of long words is to be playful, correcting errors with cheer and laughing easily at humorous misleadings.

Canney & Schreiner Most syllable-division principles, rules and generalizations are not reliable and thus not worth teaching.

Moats These ([most useful] principles help novice readers see the chunks or patterns of letters in multisyllabic words and guide correct pronunciation.

Chall & Popp, Blevins …useful/reliable principles…worth pointing out…they do get readers closer to identifying a multisyllabic word by providing a way to approximate the pronunciation.

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About dictionary-based syllabication rules

• Use caution when looking up syllable breaks in a dictionary.

– Most dictionaries divide words according to how a printed word should be broken into text

– Sometimes has little to do with spoken pronunciation– (Moats 2005) Spoken language (reading?) divisions

often do not coincide with the conventions for dividing written syllables.

– Adams et al. What is important is that each unit is pronounceable (sounding out … sim-ple or simp le)

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4 other syllable division rules (worth mentioning..)

Divide 2 syllable compound words between the two smaller words.

Inflectional endings such as –ing, –er, –es, –ed, -est often form separate syllables.

Never separate the letters in a consonant or vowel digraph, vowel diphthong, or r-controlled vowel across syllable divisions.

One of the syllables in a multisyllabic word usually receives more stress, or emphasis. In 2 syllable words, the stress usually falls on the first syllable. In the unstressed syllable, the vowel sound is often reduced to a schwa.

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Section A.WHAT?… Part II. Affixes.

a. What they are? ~Prefixes (added before a root word)

~Suffixes (added after a root word)

Definition:~ Root word – also called base word; a single word that

cannot be broken into meaningful smaller words or parts

Note: Syllable divisions often occur between morphemic (meaningful) units of meaning (word parts).

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What researchers say about AFFIXES

Venezky, Chomsky, McFeely Teach students to use root words and affixes to decode multisyllabic words.Note: Most divisions occur between morphemic units of meaning/word parts.

Shefelbine & Newman Affixes that function like syllables are worth teaching because they are limited in number, occur frequently, and (mostly suffixes) are reasonably consistent across words.

Cunningham said “instant recognition and accurate pronunciation of affixes is the key to decoding long words”(Note: 80% of all words readers encounter have 1 or more affix.

Archer et al. Engelmann et al. Part by part strategy is when students are taught pronunciation of affix in isolation, asked to identify and say it in a word the n read the whole wordArcher et al. assumption: students will develop a strategy for attacking multisyllabic words because of extensive practice in reading long words and exposure to recurring letter patterns

Carnine et al. Part-by-word part strategy…should begin with the introduction of the most common suffixes. -s, -er, -est, -ing, -le, -ed, -y

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So…rather than using rigid rules…teach students to be

F LEX IBLE (p. 267)

Segmenting multisyllabic words Accuracy when students form consolidated connections between

spellings of letter units or syllables Break words into spoken syllables Match spoken syllable to their spellings Blend segments to form recognizable word (Bhattacharya & Ehri, 2004)

Based on information that 1. high percentage of multisyllabic words contain at

least one prefix or or suffix 2. each syllable contains one vowel sound Archer et. Al (2006)TO ACHIEVE a close approximation to the actual pronunciation

of a word, the program teaches students to segment words into parts by identifying the AFFIXES and then the vowel sounds in the rest of the word.

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SECTION BSECTION BSECTION BSECTION B

WHYWHY

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Section B. WHY?… Part I.

ImportanceImportant to know about multisyllabic

words because: From 5th grade on, the average student encounters about 10,000 new words,

most multisyllabic, per year! Since the meaning of intermediate-grade CONTENT AREA reading is

generally carried by multisyllabic words, without the ability to decode multisyllabic words, students are unable to understand vocabulary and understand the meaning of what they read.

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Section B. WHY?… Part II. Research says…

Good readers = accurate multisyllabic word analysis and recognition Poor readers = inaccurate multisyllabic word analysis and recognition… which happens because the reader processes the individual letters in the word rather that breaking the word into syllables…. (Bhattacharya, 2006, Mewhort and Beal, 1977, Scheerer-Neumann 1981)

Several studies have shown that teaching students strategies for decoding longer words improves their decoding skill (Archer et al.)

Low decoders o correctly pronounce fewer affixes and vowel soundso disregard large portions of letter informationo 2 to 4 times more likely to omit syllables

(Shefelbine & Calhoun, 1991) So…teaching strategies for decoding improves decoding ability and {improves

reading?}

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SECTION CSECTION CSECTION CSECTION C

WHENWHEN

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Section C. Part I. When... To teach:

Instruction in multisyllabic instruction can begin

after students have mastered

the decoding of Single-syllable words.

Other Prerequisites include the abilities to:

1. pronounce common sound/spelling correspondences

---especially vowel combinations

2. identify open and closed syllables

3. pronounce affixes in isolation

Ave # of syllables increases steadily in the primary grades.Students are (by the end of)1st grade – reading mostly 1 & 2 syllable

words2nd grade – reading mostly 2 syllable words

3rd grade – reading longer multisyllabic words

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Section C. Part I. When... To teach:

Older Struggling Students(middle – high school students)

Mastered basic decoding but lack strategies to decode multisyllabic words

Struggle with content area words that are outside their vocabulary

Ironically – current research does not indentify/specify the amount of explicit instruction necessary for struggling students after third grade.

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Section C. Part II. When… To Assess:

Begin assessment in multisyllabic word reading in mid-second grade in order to plan effective intervention.

Assessment should determine whether the deficit can be attributed to a bigger problem…

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Section C. Part III. When...To Intervene

Assess mid-second grade in order to plan Effective intervention…

“It is not clear form current research the amount of explicit multisyllabic word instruction necessary for struggling readers after third grade” (Torgesen et al. 2007).

Early Intervention!!!!

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SECTION DSECTION DSECTION DSECTION D

HOWHOW(Good Teaching Ideas Outlined (Good Teaching Ideas Outlined ))

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IDEAS TO USE IN THE CLASSROOM

SEE CHPT 8 pp. 272-318

1. Assess (pretest)2. Introduce3. Teach/Model4. Guided Practice (monitor)5. Application (independent

practice)

Section D. Parts I & II HOW…To Teach

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THE ENDTHE ENDTHE ENDTHE END

Chapter 8 Chapter 8 Study GuideStudy Guide