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How to Teach Open and Closed Syllables

Closed and open syllables are the first two syllable types students should learn. Out of the six syllable types, these two are the easiest for students to master.

What Is a Closed Syllable?

In its simplest form, a closed syllable is a vowel followed by a consonant. Examples include cap, sit, and up.

closed syllable example

It’s called a closed syllable because the vowel is “closed in” by a consonant. In closed syllables, the vowel usually says its short sound.

More than one consonant can be used to close in a syllable, as in dish and stretch. And many multisyllable words contain closed syllables, as in insect, rabbit, and napkin.

What Is an Open Syllable?

An open syllable has a vowel at the end of the syllable. Nothing comes after the vowel, as in no, my, and we.

open syllable example

It’s called an open syllable because the vowel is “open”—that is, nothing comes after it except open space. In open syllables, the vowel says its long sound.

There aren’t many one-syllable words that contain open syllables, but there are many multisyllable words that do. For example, look at the first syllables in these words:
ba by
e ven
pa per
mu sic

Why Is Knowing the Syllable Types So Beneficial?

Knowledge of syllable types is an important decoding tool for both reading and spelling.

Let’s say a student is reading a story and she comes across the word craft. She doesn’t instantly recognize the word because she has never read it before. Although the word is unfamiliar, she isn’t flustered because she has a method for determining whether the letter A says its long or short sound. She sees that the A is followed by a consonant, which means that it is in a closed syllable, so the vowel most likely says its short sound. She is able to decode the word craft independently and continues reading the story.

Syllable type knowledge helps with spelling, too. In the scenario below, the child wants to spell the word kitten. But she hasn’t reached the stage of automaticity yet, so she can’t remember whether there is one T or two in the middle of the word.

girl wonders how to spell kitten

A child who doesn’t have a visual picture of the word and doesn’t know about syllable types might just write the word as kiten. After all, we pronounce it “ki(t) ten,” without enunciating the first T.

But our student can draw upon her knowledge of open and closed syllable types and easily come up with the correct spelling.

girl figures out how to spell kitten

Our student realizes that if she leaves the first vowel open, it will say its long sound, resulting in /kī-těn/. (There are some exceptions such as city where the vowel is left open yet still says its short sound, but these words are the exception rather than the rule. And in the All About Spelling program, we give kids tools to help them spell these exceptions.)

Teaching Open and Closed Syllables

In the All About Reading and All About Spelling programs, we use the letter tiles app (or the physical letter tiles) to demonstrate the differences between open and closed syllables (and all syllable types!). Syllable tags are placed above words, making this a concrete activity. An open door represents an open syllable, and a closed door represents a closed syllable.

open and closed syllables examples

In the All About Reading program, fun characters known as Party Monsters pitch in to give kids even more practice with open and closed syllables. Give it a try with this free download!

open and closed syllables activity download

Knowing just these two types of syllables will enable your student to accurately spell hundreds of words!

For even more great samples, feel free to visit our Reading and Spelling Lesson Samples page. You’ll find hundreds of pages of downloadable PDFs that are packed with information.

Do you have questions about open and closed syllable types? Ask in the comments below or get in touch! We’re here to help.

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Tech . Sana'a

says:

The simplest way actually to understand . Thank you so much 👍

Robin

says: Customer Service

You’re welcome!

Zyanna

says:

It was so good today

Robin

says: Customer Service

Wonderful to hear, Zyanna!

enid

says:

What about “do” and “to”? Why are they not pronounced like “go”?

Robin

says: Customer Service

Good question, Enid.

Do and to both use the third sound of O, the /oo/ sound. The reason why they are pronounced this way and spelled this way is because they are very old words. Both have roots in Old English (prior to the 1000s AD/CE) and have existed with pretty much the same meaning and pronunciations since Middle English (prior to the 1500s AD/CE).

JC

says:

In the “kitten” example above, I see how she figures out that she needs a “t” to close in the short “i”, but… how does she know she needs the second “t”? In other words, how does she know it’s “kit-ten” and not “kit-en”?

Robin

says: Customer Service

Good question!

The rule is when a word is divided and there is only one consonant between two vowels, the consonant usually goes with the second vowel. So kiten would be divided ki-ten. This would make the first syllable open, so the I would say it’s long sound, making the word sound like ky-ten. That is not what the word needs to sound like, so we know we need to “protect the short vowel” and double the T. Kitten.

The explanation here is brief simply due to space. All About Spelling Level 2 spends multiple lessons on spelling words like kitten and robot and how to know when to double the middle consonant and when not to. While a tricky concept, All About Spelling approach and ongoing review helps children master such words with confidence!

JC

says:

Thank you! That clears it up. : )

Blanca Garcia

says:

Omg, I am Spanish speaker, and I am looking how to help my second grade child and this explanation was the best. Thank you so much!

Robin

says: Customer Service

I’m glad this was helpful, Blanca! If you have other questions, just ask. We’re happy to help!

Eve

says:

Extremely easy to understand

Robin

says: Customer Service

Thanks, Eve!

Mervelin

says:

This makes teaching how to spell and read to kids so much easier!

Robin

says: Customer Service

Thank you, Mervelin!

Stephanie

says:

Is tail an open or closed syllable? Why/why not?

Robin

says: Customer Service

Good question, Stephanie.

Tail is not an open syllable type, and it is not a closed syllable type either. Open and closed syllables are just two of the six syllable types. Tail is a vowel team syllable, referring to the fact that it contains a vowel team phonogram. This page briefly goes over the various syllable types.

Brenda Baker

says:

Just what I’m looking for

Robin

says: Customer Service

Brenda,
I’m glad this was what you needed! But if you ever are looking for anything else, let me know. I’m happy to help!

Edward s.korvah

says:

Thank you somuch. I am learning alot.l need more help,and what ever i am learning from you i will teach it in my class.

Robin

says: Customer Service

I’m happy to help with any questions you may have, Edward. Just ask.

Taylor McCown

says:

hi thank you

Robin

says: Customer Service

You’re welcome, Taylor.

Lana Johnson

says:

Thank you

Robin

says: Customer Service

You’re welcome, Lana.

Cathy McCutchen

says:

Great way to teach the kids about life by and short vowels!!! Wish they had been taught this method in K!

Robin

says: Customer Service

Thank you, Cathy!

Mona

says:

Does the word baker open or closed syllables

Robin

says: Customer Service

Good question, Mona.

To divide this word into syllables, you locate the vowels and then divide so the consonant between them goes with the second syllable. So the word divides to:
ba – ker

Then we can see the first syllable is an open syllable. There is no consonant closing in the first vowel, so it is open. It says it’s long sound.

The second syllable, however, is neither open nor closed. It is a Bossy R (or R-Controlled) syllable. Syllables that have AR, ER, IR, OR, UR, EAR, and OUR phonograms are Bossy R syllables.

Open and closed syllables are just the first two of six syllable types. Here is a handy PDF that lists the six syllable types.

I hope this clears it up for you. Let me know if you have additional questions.

Angela

says:

I have seem to have lost (misplaced!!) our syllable tags – I am upset because they were laminated…
curious if there is a download of the pictures that I could just print? Thank you

Robin

says: Customer Service

Angela,
We will happily replace 5 or so missing tiles, free of charge. If you email us at support@allaboutlearningpress.com with what tiles you need and where you need them shipped, we will get them out to you.

And if you are missing much more than 5, we do have things like the Syllable Tags available for purchase separately.

Clarissa Mercer

says:

Thank you so much for this explanation, I am a substitute teacher and will be teaching this method ti 1st graders tomorrow, I think this is an explanation they can understand.

Kweku

says:

Great job

Robin

says: Customer Service

You’re so welcome, Clarissa!

Cathy Rollinson Claude

says:

I would like to here more on reading and spelling

Bonnie

says:

Such a great explanation! Thx

Robin

says: Customer Service

Thank you, Bonnie!

Andrew Greene

says:

There are two words in a list I am working on with students (sign and climb) that appear to be closed syllables, but have long vowel sounds. I looked up closed syllable exceptions and found that there are five agreed upon exceptions (–ild, –ind, –old, –olt, and –ost). A fun sentence to demonstrate these exceptions is: The cold host was kind to the wild colt.
I understand that –ild, –ind, –old, –olt, and –ost are closed syllable exceptions, but what about –ign in “sign” or –imb in “climb”? Wouldn’t these also be closed syllable exceptions? Or is there something about the silent letters that makes these a different type of exception or rule-breaker?

Robin

says: Customer Service

Andrew,
All About Reading and All About Spelling teach the “Find Gold” rule. This rule says that I and O followed by two consonants may say their long sounds. This is what is happening in sign and climb.

I think you will find our A Handy Guide to Long Vowel Sounds blog post helpful. It includes an activity for the Find Gold rule.

Meagan Marazzo

says:

We just finished our first book Level 2 All About Spelling. Understanding open and closed syllables has greatly improved my sons spelling and reading! I am excited to start Level 3!

Robin E.

says: Customer Service

Great to hear, Meagan! Understanding the various types of syllables is so helpful for so many students. Keep up the fantastic work!

Thelma

says:

Pls I need more explanation on syllables and stress

Robin E.

says: Customer Service

Thelma,
We have a blog post on How to Teach Schwas that you may find helpful. It discusses stressed and unstressed syllables.

If that is not what you need, I am happy to help, but I would need more information on what it is you having difficulty understanding.

Sharon Feissel

says:

Hello. I understand what open syllables are and that vowels should have the long sound in stressed syllables and the schwa in unstressed syllables. However, it seems to me that there are a lot of words where the vowel in the open syllable has its short sound. Is there any place to look up info on that particular situation? I also think that even unstressed syllables often keep the long vowel sound. I would like to help my daughter as she helps my grandson with learning. I find the open syllable really challenging to get a handle on. Any clarification would be deeply appreciated–or info on some trustworthy online explanation that I could look up myself.
Thanks, Sharon Feissel

Robin E.

says: Customer Service

I am happy to help, but I am unsure what it is you need exactly, Sharon. Could you provide me an example of a vowel in an open and stressed syllable that does not say the long sound?

When you get to complex words with three or more syllables, vowel sounds can definitely be trickier. A significant focus of our All About Reading Level 4 program is on practicing the skills necessary for students to be able to sound out such words without help. Level 4 is the final level of the reading program, and at the end of Level 4, students have the phonics and word attack skills necessary to sound out high school level words, though younger students may not know the meaning of all higher-level words yet. (Word attack skills include things like dividing words into syllables, making analogies to other words, sounding out the word with the accent on different word parts, recognizing affixes, etc.)

Yes, unstressed syllables can have long vowel sounds, although they will be more muffled or hurried compared to the same sound in stressed syllables.

I would love to help you further, but I would need more examples of the kind of words you are having trouble with. One-syllable words with open syllables are very straightforward (go, by, me, cry). Two-syllable words with open syllables also tend to not be problematic (robot, humid, baby). Things get more complex with words with three or more syllables, but still, syllable division rules do help greatly to know how to read the word (destruction, emission, January, octopus).

Natasha

says:

We are starting this program at level 2 based on the placement test. However, we have never talked about open and closed syllables. What is the best way to teach this so we can successfully move forward?

Robin E.

says: Customer Service

Natasha,
Open and closed syllables are just introduced at the end of All About Reading Level 1, and it is also reviewed pretty well in the first lesson of Level 2. You could use the Party Monsters Go Shopping activity in this blog post to have a fun introduction to the concept, and then practice it again when you start Level 2. It’ll be fine.

Mariah Cooke says:

says:

hi i’m new to this website can you please give me open and closed syllables?

Grace Churcùhill

says:

Hi great. Just knowing this for the first time.

Robin E.

says: Customer Service

Mariah,
Do you have specific questions? This blog post above has detailed help on the concepts of open and closed syllables, including examples of each.

Mariah Cooke

says:

I need help with open and closed syllables.

Tammy

says:

Very helpful! Thank you.

Robin E.

says: Customer Service

You’re welcome, Tammy. I’m glad this was helpful.

Teach

says:

How would you suggest to start teaching children the reading of words that are miltisyllabic and combine closed and open syllables? How can it be easier for them to recognize if the word parts are open or closed sound? Other than just telling them to try what sounds right, because some kids may not have the vocabulary to know if a word sounds right or wrong by just trying all the different sounds.

Robin E.

says: Customer Service

Knowing the rules for how to divide words into syllables and then how to know which of the 6 syllable types each syllable is gives children concrete skills for reading multi-syllable words with confidence. The majority of the time, dividing the word into syllables and knowing the syllable type will lead to the correct pronunciation. It is less clear occasionally, but that is why having a broad vocabulary is so important for success in reading and comprehension.

Casey

says:

I’ve been doing some of my own reading on this and I’m learning so much. Is there any way to know that a word like “meandering” has an an open syllable “me” as opposed to the “ea” being a team and pronouncing it “mean”dering? Or is that just something that needs to be learned through vocab exposure?

Robin E.

says: Customer Service

Casey,
This is a great, detailed question!

Yes, some words like meander will require a student to have the word in at least their listening vocabulary before they will be able to read it correctly.

When the letters EA are together like that, they form the vowel team the vast majority of the time, and students should try the vowel team’s sounds first when reading an unfamiliar word. However, when a student tries all three of EA’s sounds (/ē/-/ĕ/-/ā/), none of them will form a word that is recognizable (“meender”, “mender”, “maynder” don’t make sense). Then a student would try separating the vowels and come up with an open syllable, a closed syllable, and the R-controlled syllable to get the correct pronunciation of mee-and-er. (Note, this process is more advanced and not covered until Level 4 of our All About Reading program. Students are taught this more trial and error approach to unfamiliar words in that level.)

But, obviously, this only works if the student has a full enough vocabulary to recognize having heard the word meander before. This is one of the reasons why reading aloud to children regularly is so important! Hearing lots and lots of books read aloud over the years is an amazing way to build a full and rich vocabulary.

Gab

says:

This should have more complex and it is the worst

Robin E.

says: Customer Service

I’m sorry this didn’t meet your expectations, Gab. Do you have questions or concerns about what is not covered in this blog post?

Jerry D Cline

says:

I think this is a great start for my granddaughter at the age of four that pronounces several words and use them in the right context so this is a great app that I can use with her really I think better parent should explode the learning of young kids especially when they are I can use certain words in the correct text he or she can be the next scientist school teacher law enforcement doctor lawyer military Admiral on the USS Destroyer there is no limit explode that young mine and allow he or she a great future

Robin E.

says: Customer Service

Thank you for sharing, Jerry!

Rene

says:

Hi, I am trying to download the Party Monsters go shopping, but I am not having any luck. Am I doing something wrong?

Robin E.

says: Customer Service

I’m sorry you are having trouble with this, Rene!

Please try again, as it is working fine for me now. If you are still unable to download it and you are using a phone or tablet, make sure that your device has the program needed for downloading PDF files. You can search your specific device and “how to download PDF files” to find out what you will need.

If you have problems while downloading PDFs on your computer, follow these steps:

– Click on the download link for the PDF. If a dialog box opens prompting you to either open or save the file, save the file to your computer at a location you will remember (such as your desktop). If the dialog box does not open, the default location is your Downloads folder.

– If you have not previously installed Adobe Reader, install the latest version. Note: if you have a previous version of Adobe Reader, uninstall it before installing the latest version.

– Open Adobe Reader. After opening, go to File > Open…. Navigate to where you saved the PDF.

If you still aren’t able to download the PDF file from our website, please email me at support@allaboutlearningpress.com and I can email the file to you.

Hopefully, you can get it working!

Sue

says:

This is really interesting. I am in Sydney Australia and am waiting for my AAS to arrive, but I’ve also been a bit concerned about various pronunciation differences. Could you please send me the same document, as I’d like to be prepared for when I start using it with my tutoring students. Also, as we are in lockdown here and likely to be for a few more months, do you have any tips for utilising the materials remotely?
Many thanks.

Robin E.

says: Customer Service

I have emailed the document and some tips to you, Sue.