The Best Tips For Teaching Closed Syllable Words Examples

Are you looking for the best way to teach closed syllable words examples to your students? Teaching the six syllable types is THE BEST way to get your students reading with success and independence. Check out the the secret sauce of reading success here in my post all about the six syllable types. 

In this post, we will focus on closed-syllable words with short vowel sounds. Stick around to find out my favorite tips for teaching closed syllable words to my students. 

Do you struggle to run literacy centers in your classroom? Check out my FREE guide on How to Run Literacy Centers Like a Pro and get all my best tips for running and organizing literacy centers. It is so important to keep things organized during literacy centers and I am here to help you every step of the way! 

As a classroom teacher, I knew that having literacy centers was important. But in my first few years of teaching, I didn’t really understand what to teach at the teacher table. 

If I could go back in time I would start by teaching all students the six syllable types at teacher table. 

Sure, I taught the syllable types during whole group, but I believe that students need small group mini-lessons to really get a good grasp on syllable types.

So, what makes the six syllable types so important? They are literally the key to unlocking the English language. Decoding can be especially tricky for young readers but they will be super successful when you give them the secret code to reading.

Closed Syllable Type Examples

The closed syllable is the first syllable that I teach. These words have short vowel sounds and are closed in by a consonant at the end. Example: cat. 

Teaching students this pattern allows them to analyze a word before sounding it out so that they can think about what the vowel will say. 

I tell my students that the vowel makes its small sound, like a baby because it has a babysitter at the end of the word. So in the word cat ‘a’ says its small sound /ă/ because ‘t’ is the babysitter at the end. 

The Science Behind Teaching Syllables

The OG’s of reading instruction themselves focused on the six syllable types. Samuel T. Gorton and Anna Gillingham collaborated in the 1930’s and Anna created what is now called the Orton-GIllingham approach. 

Gorton was a neuropsychiatrist and pathologist while Gillingham was a gifted educator and psychologist. The Orton-Gillingham approach was created to help all people learn to read through a multi-sensory approach. 

This approach is typically used with students one-on-one because it is a diagnostic and prescriptive approach to teaching reading. This means that a lesson is taught and the following lessons are based on the specific strengths/struggles that the students had in the previous lesson. 

This approach can also be used with small groups of students, which you can use right at your teacher table! 

Fast forward 100 years and we now have what is called the Science of Reading. Basically, all the research and best practices that have been compiled by Orton and Gillingham have been proven to be the best way to teach reading based on how our brains learn to read. 

So, you know that you need closed syllable words examples lessons to be systematic, explicit and prescriptive… But how can you make that happen? 

Here are my favorite ways to teach cvc words examples for young readers!!

Blending routines for cvc words examples

There are a few different blending routines that you can use with your students. My two favorite blending routines for cvc words examples are, sound-by-sound and continuous blending.

Sound-by-sound blending is when you sound out one sound at a time and blend the word back together at the end. This is the most common way to sound out words, but it can be very tricky for beginning readers. 

Have you ever had a student sound out each sound correctly and then blend it back without the first sound? Or maybe they sound out each letter correctly and say a completely different word?! 

This is where continuous blending will be helpful for teaching closed-syllable words examples with your students. 

In continuous blending, you connect the first letter sound to the vowel sound before sounding out the last letter. For example instead of sounding out map, m-a-p, it would be ma-p. The first letter and the vowel sound are hooked together so that when the word is blended together at the end students don’t omit the first sound. 

You will want to be selective in your word choices for the continuous blending routine. Some letters are stop sounds and can not blend into the vowel sound after it easily. These sounds are made by completely stopping airflow and can be voiced like /d/,/b/, and /g/, or unvoiced like /p/, /k/, and /t/. 

Multi-sensory activities for closed syllable words examples

Multi-sensory activities are a must for teaching your students how to read. 

Sometimes people get overwhelmed when they hear the word multisensory, but you can make any lesson multisensory AND it can be free AND easy! When you use two or more modalities at once it is considered multisensory.

So, kids can say and trace words, listen and tap sounds, jump and say sounds, and so on!

Here are some of my favorite FREE ways to make teaching closed syllable types multisensory: 

• Skywriting- children use their pointer finger on their dominant hand to write each letter in the sky while saying the corresponding sound, then blend the word at the end

• hand ‘whiteboards’- children use their non-dominant hand as a whiteboard by holding their hand flat, palm-side up, then using their dominant hand pointer finger to write each letter on their palm while saying the corresponding sound, then blend the word at the end

• arm tapping- use your dominant hand and start at the shoulder of your non-dominant arm, tap down your arm for each sound in the word, go back to the top, and blend the word together while sliding your hand from your shoulder to your wrist.

• Hopping- Do one hop forward for each sound in the word, and do a final big jump to blend the word together. 

There are many more ways to incorporate multisensory activities into your lessons. I have small sandboxes that students can write words in, bumpy letters to feel while they trace and many more. 

But the cool thing to remember is that you can make a lesson multisensory anytime, anywhere and it’s free and easy 😀!

Decodable readers for closed syllables

After your students have practiced reading words at the word level and practiced them in a multisensory way, you need to get them into some connected text.

Decodable readers are the best way to scaffold for your young readers. Deocdables focus on one phonics skill at a time and use a small amount of sight words. I have had a hard time finding decodable readers that really give students enough practice with one phonics skill before moving on to the next skill… 

So, I created my own! These cvc decodable readers pdf will help your students gain confidence and independence when reading connected text. I have used them with countless students and have seen their progress grow!

These decodables come with full lesson plans for introducing each phonics skill, with a word list to practice before reading, and digital versions to assign to students as independent work, or homework! 

Check out this bundle now and get your students reading closed-syllable words with ease today! What are you waiting for?! Invest in the decodables and have done-for-you lesson plans that truly meet your students where they are! 📚🤩

Related Literacy Articles:

This post is great if you are looking for more on the six syllable types! 

Have you heard of a Vowel Valley? This post will show you why you need one in your classroom!! You can even connect teaching closed syllables with your vowel valley:)

Your students will truly love reading these decodable stories! There are more than just cvc stories in this bundle and it’s the best deal around! 

Stay tuned for more posts on how to teach the six syllable types in your classroom!!

Happy Reading! 📚