Teaching syllable types: Two syllable words - emu, galah, turtle slide outlines

1. Teaching syllable types: Two-syllable words – ‘emu’ words, ‘galah’ words and ‘turtle’ words

Extract from a Literacy Hub professional learning webinar.

2. Syllable type: ‘emu’ words

Generalisations for use: First syllable is open in a two-syllable word with a V/CV pattern.

Syllable type: ‘galah’ words – Generalisations for use: First syllable is closed in a two-syllable word with a VC/V pattern

3. Literacy Hub phonics progression

[Image: Screenshot of Phase 10 of the Literacy Hub phonics progression: Phonic knowledge and word recognition level 5/6. The table shows three columns within the phase. The first column is labelled Letter–sound skills and the text reads: Open and closed syllables in two-syllable words, for example, ‘mummy’ (open), ‘wombat’ (closed). Phase 10 example words: baby, even, silent, open, comet, taken, cabin, rabbit. The second column is labelled Morphology and text reads: Suffix -ing (present continuous verb); add -ing to simple base words. The third column is labelled Irregular words, and the words listed are: walk, talk, come, some.]

4. Words with a VCV pattern

60% emu V/CV

tu/lip, la/bel, o/val

40% galah VC/V

cab/in

lem/on

vis/it

5. VCV words

human

melon

silent

[Image: screen shows three lines as might be written on a whiteboard, indicating teacher to use the three sample words to segment to see if they are emu words or galah words. Sample words are then added as presenter identifies if them to be ‘emu’ or ‘galah’ words. First word is ‘spider’. Second word is ‘event’. Third word is ‘travel’.]

6. Other two-syllable word types

[‘Reptile’ words, ‘sealion’ words, ‘lizard’ words, ‘turtle’ words.]

Syllable type: ‘reptile’ words – generalisations for use: two-syllable words containing a split digraph (silent e syllable). Example words: pancake, athlete, sunshine, remote, costume.

Syllable type: ‘sealion’ words – generalisations for use: two-syllable words containing a vowel team syllable. Example words: peacock, midnight, complain, treetop.

Syllable type: ‘lizard’ words – generalisations for use: two-syllable words containing an r-controlled vowel syllable. Example words: target, person, birthday, forget, surgeon.

Syllable type: ‘turtle’ words – generalisations for use: two-syllable words containing a consonant -le syllable. Example words: sample, kettle, little, noble, puzzle.

7. Literacy Hub phonics progression

[Image: Screenshot of Phase 19 of the Literacy Hub phonics progression: Phonic knowledge and word recognition level 8. The table shows four columns within the phase. The first column is labelled Letter–sound correspondences and the rows beneath the heading show au, aw; al/all; oar; and -le. The second column is labelled Letter-sound skills, and the text reads: Apply new and existing code knowledge to read and spell a variety of word types, including multisyllabic words. Phase 19 example words: haunt, August, straw, seesaw, hallway, talk, roar, boardwalk, little, sprinkle, turtle. The third column is labelled Morphology and text reads: Prefix re-, meaning ‘back’ or ‘again’. The fourth column is labelled Irregular words, and the words listed are: caught, taught, beautiful, favourite.]

8. ‘Turtle’ words

‘Turtle’ words: consonant -le, count back three...

Little, staple, eagle.

[Image: Slide shows action of counting back three letters from the end of the sample words to find the syllable break, with a red arrow indicating where the word would break: lit/tle; sta/ple; ea/gle. To the right, further sample words for decoding are then added to the blank lines as would be done on a whiteboard., and the presenter identifies where the syllable break will be for these ‘turtle’ words. The sample words are: drib/ble; ta/ble; mum/ble.]

9. Long vowel chart

[Image: Long vowel chart table shows five rows, one for each of the five vowels, and four columns showing long vowel sounds for each vowel. ‘A’ row shows split digraph a-e, ai and ay. ‘E’ row shows split digraph e-e, ee, ea, y. ‘I’ row shows split digraph i-e, igh, y. ‘O’ row shows split digraph o-e, oa, ow. ‘U’ row shows split digraph u-e, ew, ue. Presenter demonstrates how students can use a wall chart like this to deduce spellings of given words knowing rules and sounding out.]