Open and Closed Syllable Definitions:
CV stands for Consonant Vowel, which is an open syllable (be, go, no).
CVC (or VC) stands for Consonant Vowel Consonant, which is a closed syllable (bet, got, not).
Short Vowel refers to a vowel saying its short sound (not its name) as in hat, bed, sit, off, up. Short vowels are represented:  /ă/  /ĕ/  /ĭ/  /ŏ/  /ŭ/ 
Long Vowel refers to when a vowel says its name as in she, and bike. Long vowels are represented: /ā/  /ē/  /ī/  /ō/  /ū/

Written Stories

• Written Story: Open & Closed Syllable Story Summary
• Written Story: 2 Sounds for Long u Story as told in Teaching Video
• Full name & nickname Story/Explanation for 2 sounds of /ū/:
  • Full name: The letter u’s name is pronounced like the word “you”.  This word has two phonemes (sounds): the /y/ sound (as in yes), and then the /oo/ sound (as in moon).  In words like use and cute the letter u’s full name is heard. 
  • Nickname: Often the u goes only by the end of its name, its nickname.  For its nickname the u drops the first phoneme (sound) /y/ and we only hear the second phoneme (sound) /oo/ as in moon.  We only hear the /oo/ sound of the u’s name in words like tube and flute.

• Open Syllable Poster
• Closed Syllable Poster
• Open and Closed Syllables Cover Sheet
• 3 posters for sassy y and vowels saying their names

For the formatting of PowerPoints to be correct, click FILE, then DOWNLOAD, and download in Microsoft PowerPoint.

• PowerPoint: Open & Closed Syllables and y at End of Open syllables from Teaching Videos
• PowerPoint: All Syllable Types with Practice (Directions in notes section on each slide) Use only slides that are relevant to where you are in the steps.

Act Out Open and Closed Syllables! Start teaching the first two syllable types by making letter cards and act out what the vowel would say in different situations. For example holding an “e” letter the learner acts out “ē, ē I can say my name!” When an “m” arrives to its left the student acts out “ē! I can say my name! And run away!” But then a letter t arrives to the right to close it in! Student acts out “/ĕ/” (short sound of e) “I wasn’t showing off… /ĕ/.” Find directions here.

Note on Syllables: Every syllable has a vowel sound. The vowel sounds make our chins go down when we speak.  Vowel sounds create syllables.  Place your fingers under your chin.  Say the word “begin” out loud.  You can feel your jaw drop two times.  First for the open syllable “be”, then for the closed syllable “gin.”  Many teachers clap for each syllable. When learners spell bigger words, teach them to count how many syllables are in the word, then spell each syllable, one at a time. Practice identifying and counting syllables. This skill is critical as learners progress to reading and spelling multiple syllable words.

Map Sounds to Letters

Map the sounds in the word to the letter(s) representing the sounds, even if it is not a letter combination that has been taught yet. Only an unusual sound/letter combination needs to be remembered “by heart.” Mapping the sounds to the letters is how we remember what words look like. See example below:

Be sure to reinforce what you know and are learning about words, for example:
Schwa Sound: Any vowel might say /ŭ/. Point out that this happens in many common words like: the, of, was, some, from…

KEY:
K-1 Beginning
1-2 Growing
Intervention/Challenge

Bundle: Multiple types of materials (games, activities, stories…) bundled together.
Pack: Multiple pieces of the same type of material, for example a pack of books.

Directions for everything else:

More on the Directions Page

• Highlighting Lists
• Working with Flashcards
• Flashing Words with flashcards
• Games with Picture Cards
• Games with Words/Phrases on Game Board
• Game I Have, Who Has
• Game Bang!
• Game Bingo
• Spelling help found on the Spelling Page in the Teach Along The Way section
• Small Book Assembly 
• Small Book 4 pager Assembly
• Syllable Sort Directions
  • Syllable Sort Headings
  • Strategy for Splitting Syllables

Sample Bundle

Open and Closed Syllable Bundles

Open Syllable CV Beginning Reader Bundle Open Syllable Bundle with words, phrases, Pyramids, games and stories.

ADVANCED open and Closed Syllable CVC, CV Multi-syllable Bundle Open and Closed Syllable Bundle with words, phrases, game and story.

See Highlighting Word Lists.

Open Syllable CV and y says /ī/ word and phrase lists Stars
Open Syllable CV y y says /ī/ list
Open Syllable CV y y says /ī/ open syllable word phrase and sentence lists

Open and Closed Syllable CV/CVC cv cvc Lists and Identification
ADVANCED Open and Closed Syllable CV/CVC 2 syllable Read and Spell
ADVANCED Open and Closed Syllable CV/CVC The Long and Short of it!
ADVANCED Open Syllable CV 3 sounds of y open syllable word lists
ADVANCED Open and Closed Syllable -y says /ē/ list Silly
Open Syllable CV Open Syllable Nonsense List *These are possible first syllables to longer words. For example open syllable “o” is the first syllable in “open” and open syllable “pre” is the first syllable in the word “prevent.”
ADVANCED Open Syllable CV Mixed challenge wordlist Robot Says Hi
ADVANCED Open and Closed Syllable CV/CVC words and phrases I Prefer Rodents

Open and Closed Syllable CV/CVC Word Flashcards
Open Syllable y Flashcards
Open Syllable y Phrase Flashcards

Game Directions

Open Syllable CV whole group, small group, or one-on-one game PO-TA-TO
Open and Closed Syllable CV/CVC word game We Will Go
Open and Closed Syllable CV/CVC phrase game Try the Hot Dog
Open and Closed Syllable CV/CVC and Dolch 1 phrase game They Said Why
Open and Closed Syllable CV/CVC and Dolch 1 phrase game That Man Was Mad
Open and Closed Syllable CV/CVC Zap
ADVANCED Open and Closed Syllable CV to CVC game He Met Me
ADVANCED Open and Closed Syllable CV/CVC/y Schwa initial Open syllables word game This Baby is Not Silent
Open and Closed Syllable CV/CVC Just For Fun Monster Design Sheet
Open Syllable CV game Tomato
Open Syllable CV game 2 Tomatoes
ADVANCED Closed Multiple Syllable Nonsense words CVC/CVC/y Crazy Nonsense
ADVANCED Open and Closed Syllable CV/CVC Initial open syllable word game 2 Locate the Super Zebra
ADVANCED Open and Closed Syllable CV/CVC Initial open syllable phrases Open for Business!

Practice with words from the lists, games etc., or use the lists below.
* Having learners spell with word chains where the coach says “change one sound in (chop) to spell (chip), now change one sound in (chip) to spell (sip)” is a powerful way to draw student’s attention to individual sounds in the words!

Open and Closed Syllable Spelling Word Chain Go to Men
ADVANCED Open and Closed Syllable Spelling CV/CVC Read and Spell

Small Book: 8 page assembly directions, 4 page folding directions, OR use horizontal format for reading on screen in distance learning.

Open Syllable CV small book We Go Go Go foldable format
Open and Closed Syllable CV/CVC small book and flashcards Get a Hit foldable format
Open and Closed Syllable CV/CVC small book I Can See horizontal and foldable formats
Open and Closed Syllable CV/CVC small book The Big Box foldable format
Open and Closed Syllable CV/CVC small book Who Can foldable format
Open and Closed Syllable CV/CVC small book She Can, He Can horizontal and foldable formats
Open and Closed Syllable CV/CVC/y Small Book Try to Fly horizontal and foldable formats
Open and Closed Syllable CV/CVC/y small book We Can Spy, Can You? horizontal and foldable formats
Open and Closed Syllable CV/CVC small book Get a Pet horizontal and foldable formats
Open and Closed Syllable CV/CVC small book This is Max horizontal and foldable formats
Open and Closed Syllable CV/CVC/y small book Why Is The… foldable format
Open and Closed Syllable CV/CVC small book Who is He foldable format
Open and Closed Syllable CV/CVC VCE small book Who is She foldable format
ADVANCED Open and Closed Syllable CV/CVC 4 page multiple syllable The Concert horizontal and foldable formats