Two-syllable open/VCe patterns & compounds

This band mixes two ways a longer word can be built. Some words split before a single middle consonant, leaving a syllable that ends in a vowel — an open syllable, where the vowel says its name: pa-per, ti-ger, ro-bot, ba-by, mu-sic. Others are compounds, two whole words joined without either one changing: sun+shine, gold+fish, cup+cake, play+ground.

How it is taught

The open-syllable words are taught directly against the closed ones children already know. With one consonant in the middle, the first try is to split before it and use a long vowel (pa/per); with two, the split goes between them and the vowel stays short (nap/kin). Children are told to flex — if the first split does not make a real word, try the other one. Compounds are taught the other way round, by meaning: cover one word, read the other, then put them back together.

Where children get stuck

• The habit from the previous band carries over, so 'paper' is read with a short a as 'papper' and 'tiger' as 'tigger'.
• Children stop at the first split instead of flexing to the other one when the word they produced is not a real word.
• In compounds the break is by word, not by sound, so 'birthday' divides birth/day and 'goldfish' gold/fish — children who divide by ear often land in the middle of a word part.
• It is worth saying explicitly that neither half of an English compound changes its spelling at the join, because children often assume something must.

Word list

Printable flashcards

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