A “Treasured” Decoding Skill – The Six Syllable Types

Understanding how to break words into smaller chunks is a valuable skill when decoding (reading) and encoding (spelling) unknown words. Knowing about syllable types can be of great benefit to our young learners!

This set of worksheets has been designed to help students identify the six syllable types in common words. Each worksheet contains six treasure chests, each labeled with a particular syllable type. If you need a refresher, the six syllable types are closed, open, magic (or silent) e, vowel team, r-controlled, and consonant +le. Under the chests is a table containing six words. Students must cut out the words and then paste them underneath the treasure chest with the matching syllable type.

There are three different worksheets to work through. Answer sheets are also included.

Tips for Scaffolding and Extension

This syllables activity has been designed to help your students develop a deeper understanding of syllable types. Should you need to support or extend students in your class, you may wish to try the following ideas: 

• Students who require support should complete the activity in a small group with targeted adult support. Discuss the phonemic characteristics of each syllable type to help reinforce these for the students.
• For students who require an extension, provide them with additional syllables activities to complete independently. Our Syllable Examples Sorting Activity would be perfect for this purpose! 

Download the File Format That Best Suits You

Use the dropdown menu next to the Download button to select between the printable PDF or editable Google Slides version of this resource.

Because this resource includes an answer sheet, we recommend you print one copy of the entire file. Then, make photocopies of the blank worksheet for students to complete.

To save paper, why not project the activity onto a screen and work through it as a class? Have students take turns coming up to the board. Instead of cutting and pasting, have students use a marker to write the matching words inside the boxes.

This resource was created by Lisamarie Del Valle, a teacher in Florida and a Teach Starter collaborator.