Learning how to read multisyllabic words is a big milestone during a child’s phonics instruction. It’s a beginner’s bridge between basic phonics and more challenging skills that lead to reading fluency. As an educator, you must understand how to teach these concepts effectively so that your students benefit from new literacy skills. In this article, we offer some insights on how you can help your students begin reading multisyllabic words with confidence. 

Why You Need to Teach Decoding of Multisyllabic Words 

As an educator, the instruction method you use to teach multisyllabic word decoding holds weight. Many words have more than one syllable and knowing how to read these words is the key to fluent reading! 

1. Reading Fluency: Texts will become increasingly complex as students move through their academic lives. They need to be able to quickly, accurately, and confidently decode longer words to navigate classes.
2. Comprehension: Decoding multiple syllables brings a new level of meaning to text as children read. They begin to string longer words and sentences together, strengthening their comprehension.
3. Vocabulary: Words with two or more syllables introduce children to a larger vocabulary, influencing them to develop better communication skills and consider big ideas. 
4. Confidence: When students learn how to master bigger and harder words, their confidence grows. They develop more curiosity about reading.
5. Diagnostics: Teaching and assessing children’s word-reading abilities sheds light on a student’s reading difficulties. The most critical time to identify and address reading disorders is before third grade. You play a significant role in noticing any signs of concern during this phase of literacy development. 

When to Introduce Multisyllabic Words to Kids 

After learning how to decode single-syllable words, children progress in their reading journeys to decode more complex words.

Before teaching children to decode multisyllabic words, they must first have a strong foundation in understanding basic phonics skills. These skills include phonemic awareness skills such as blending, automatic letter-sound correspondences, and basic decoding of single-syllable words.

Multisyllabic phonics instruction often starts near the end of first grade after students have mastered reading single-syllable words. 

How to Teach Multisyllabic Word Reading

There are a few approaches that can be used to teach students to accurately decode words with more than one syllable. 

1. Syllable Types

One method of teaching multisyllabic word-reading is becoming familiar with different syllable types. Generally, there are six types of syllables:

• Closed syllables – words that end with a consonant sound and have a short vowel sound (ex. hat, dish)
• Open syllables – words that end with a vowel sound (ex. pay, me)
• Vowel team syllables – words where multiple vowels represent the vowel sound (ex. team, boil)
• R-controlled syllables – words where an /r/ is after a vowel (ex. star, burger) 
• Vowel-consonant-e syllables – words that end in silent e with a long vowel (ex. name, pike) 
• Consonant-le syllables – words that end in ‘-le’ (ex. puzzle, little)

In reading research studies there is some debate on the effectiveness of teaching syllable types. It does seem helpful for learners to have some idea about what different types of syllables are and what the patterns look like. Flexibility in applying these syllable types to overall reading should be encouraged and practiced. 

2. Flexible Approach

Not all words follow the rules in the syllable types. Another approach to multisyllabic word reading is described by Michael Hunter and Linda Farrell. This approach does not teach specific syllable types but does show learners how to break up larger words flexibly. 

This approach follows a step-by-step process for all words:

• Step 1: How many vowel letters are in the word?
• Step 2: Are the vowels together or apart?
• Step 3: Is there a silent e at the end?
• Step 4: How many syllables are there? Draw a line to break up the word into its parts. 
• Step 5: Say each syllable and then combine them to read the whole word. If you do not recognize the word, flex the vowel sound (if you read the word with a short sound, try a long vowel sound instead). 

In this approach, reading the word ‘pumpkin’ would involve identifying the vowels (pumpkin), noting that the vowels are apart from each other and there is no silent e at the end. This would break up the word so that the vowels are separated (pump / kin). Finally, each part of the word would be decoded and then blended to read the whole word, ‘pumpkin’. 

Additional Tips for Decoding Multisyllabic Words

Teaching children how to read multisyllabic words requires a systematic and explicit framework. They need to learn how to syllabicate (divide words into syllables), identify prefixes and suffixes, and follow new phonics rules. 

1. Introduce Multisyllabic Words Strategically

Start with two-syllable words that follow a closed-syllable pattern. Because closed syllables contain only one vowel followed by a consonant ending, kids who are familiar with CVC or VC words typically grasp these multisyllabic words first. Example words include ‘rabbit,’ ‘kitten,’ ‘napkin,’ and ‘puppet.’ Each syllable contains a closed vowel (‘rab-bit’).

Later, you can introduce the schwa sound as students move on to more advanced words. Schwa sounds often appear in unstressed syllables and need to be identified when reading multisyllabic words. Understanding the schwa sound helps students decode “lazy vowel” words like ‘carrot,’ ‘wagon,’ ‘bagel,’ and ‘away.’

2. Teach Syllabication

Syllabication practice is necessary so that children can grasp word structures. Students learn how to divide words into syllables by identifying their different parts—prefixes, suffixes, spelling patterns, and so on.

Common syllable division patterns are:

• VC/CV (vowel-consonant/consonant-vowel)
• V/CV or VC/V (vowel/consonant-vowel or vowel-consonant/vowel)
• VC/CCV or VCC/CV (vowel-consonant/consonant-consonant-vowel or vowel-consonant-consonant/consonant-vowel)
• Consonant-le

These rules help students break down longer words into manageable parts. Syllable division is often taught using visual indicators like dots above vowels, circles around prefixes, slashes between syllables, and boxes around suffixes. Different visual aids such as syllable cards and word ladders also help make these abstract phonics concepts more approachable for kids. 

3. Highlight Morphological Awareness

Morphology refers to the meaningful units of language and how they’re combined in words. It’s helpful to teach students basic morphological awareness concepts early as they learn to decode multisyllabic words. Teach common prefixes and suffixes, their meanings, and how they affect word pronunciation. 

For example, the prefix ‘re’ means “again.” When children learn that words with ‘re’ imply something is done again, they can approach new words with that understanding, such as: ‘replay,’ ‘react,’ ‘rewind,’ etc.

Root words are also important morphemes for students to be aware of. Help your students identify root words and prompt them to consider how prefixes and suffixes change the meaning. For example, ‘untouchable’ has the root word ‘touch’ but has a different meaning due to its prefix and suffix.

4. Facilitate Practice and Repetition

Practice is key for teaching multisyllabic words! Facilitate opportunities for your students to repeat the concepts they learn. Include targeted words in classroom activities and games. Systematically introduce words into connected text such as decodable books and other reading materials. While students need to practice isolated decoding activities in class, they also need to practice in real-life reading experiences. 

5. Monitor Progress and Provide Support

Consistently monitor students’ progress through learning assessments such as a phonics screener. Look at where students need extra support or further practice. Provide multiple different instruction approaches to meet the needs of different learners. You can also work with other teachers, parents, and reading specialists to learn about additional strategies to help struggling students understand multisyllabic words. 

More Phonics Teacher Tips and Resources at Phonics.org

Teaching kids how to read multisyllabic words is an important process. Through explicit instruction of syllable types, division patterns, decoding strategies, and lots of practice, you help your students strengthen the skills they need to grow into strong, confident readers. 

Don’t forget to make the learning process fun and engaging for kids. For more tips on proven phonics instruction methods, check out the resources at Phonics.org.