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How to Teach Schwas

Maybe you haven’t heard of schwas before, or maybe you’ve heard of them but are wondering how to teach schwas to your children. If so—read on! By the end of this post, I hope to have helped you make sense of the schwa.

What Is a Schwa?

The schwa is a muffled vowel sound that is heard in countless English words. Say the following words aloud and listen for the sound of the underlined vowel.

Words that have schwa sounds

See how the underlined vowel doesn’t say one of its normal sounds? Instead, depending upon the word, it says a muffled /ŭ/ or /ĭ/ sound. Also, do you notice how the schwa appears in an unaccented syllable? That schwa is what makes these words trickier to read and spell.

Facts about schwas infographic

In All About Reading and All About Spelling, we don’t use the term “schwa” with the student. Instead, we teach several strategies to help children deal with words that have muffled vowel sounds in the unaccented syllable. Here are some of my favorite strategies for teaching schwas.

Download a Quick Guide for teaching schwas

6 Strategies for Teaching Schwas

  1. Teach your child to “pronounce for spelling.”
    When learning to spell words that contain schwas, it really helps to “pronounce for spelling.” This is a simple technique in which we “over-pronounce” all the syllables, allowing us to clearly hear the vowel sounds. Take the word cabin, for example. Since the second syllable is unstressed, the letter I takes on the schwa sound, making it unclear which vowel to use for spelling. When we over-pronounce the word as “cab-IN,” it becomes clear that the letter I is used.

    Schwa character pronouncing for spelling

    Here is how this works in practice:

    1. “Spell the word support. I’ll pronounce it for spelling: SUP-port.”
    2. The student repeats the word, pronouncing for spelling.
    3. The student spells the word, and then reads the word normally: “support.”

  2. Use All About Spelling Word Banks to build visual memory.
    Have your student read through the Word Banks to become familiar with seeing the correct spelling. Then, when your student hears a muffled vowel sound and isn’t sure how it should be spelled, she can try “scratch paper spelling” to help determine the correct spelling.

    Word Banks from All About Spelling
  3. Encourage your child to think of related words.
    If a child can’t remember how to spell the word definition (def-uh-ni-tion), he can think of the root word (define) and use it as a clue for choosing the vowel that is making the /uh/ sound in the word.

  4. When reading, be prepared to “say it like a word.”
    If you read the word button with a short o sound in the second syllable, as in /bŭt-tŏn/, you’ll sound like a robot and listeners may have a hard time understanding you. Since there is a schwa in the second syllable, we have to be prepared to make slight adjustments in order to “say it like a word.”

    Schwa character standing

    Here’s how to lead your student through the “say it like a word” activity:

    1. Choose a word that is in your child’s oral vocabulary, such as the word problem.
    2. Say the word as if you were a robot, without using the schwa sound: /prŏb—lĕm/.
    3. Have your child “say it like a word” by repeating the word in normal speech.

    Once your child is proficient at repeating the words using the schwa sound, you can remind him to use this activity as he reads to help decode unfamiliar words. Soon you’ll be able to remind your student to “say it like a word” and he’ll correct himself.

  5. Schwa character saying words
  6. Teach words of similar construction at the same time so your child can see the pattern.
    For example, the letter A commonly takes on the schwa sound at the beginning of words like about, around, again, and so on. These words are taught together so that children will easily master this pattern.
  7. Remember to review.
    Students may need quite a bit of review with words containing the schwa, especially when it comes to spelling. Be sure not to skimp on review time, and have patience with the process. With practice and these strategies, your child can make sense of the schwa!

Has the schwa sound caused problems for your child? Which of these techniques do you think will be most helpful?

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I’ve just been searching through all of your resources. So wonderful! Thank you!

Robin

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I’m glad you are finding the resources here helpful, Ann! You’re welcome.

Micah Brandt

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I remember first learning about this sound…it helped make more sense of phonics sounds that didn’t fit otherwise!

Robin

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Yes, great point, Micah. Understanding the schwa sound is important to understanding why English sounds the way it does so often.

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interesting to know

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Thank you, Samantha.

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This is so wonderful to hear, Tricia! It sounds like things are going very well indeed! You probably don’t need it, but you may find our English Language Learners blog post interesting.

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Thank you! So much clearer now

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I’m so pleased to hear that Level 1 is working so well for your son, Christy! Thank you.

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So excited to be trying this curriculum for reading!!

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Love this curriculum!

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Thank you, Amber!

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I am unable to print this informative file as a readable document. I am unable to download it as a pdf file. (i tried to print it horizontally, in portrait mode, and from your print icon.) The formatting is messed up every which way! Please advise, Thank you!

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I’m sorry you are having trouble printing the document, Pam!

I just checked, and I was able to download the PDF fine on a Windows computer, Android phone, and Apple tablet. What device and browser are you using? What PDF reader program are you using? Could you have a firewall, or maybe security settings that are blocking the download? Does this direct link work for you? https://downloads.allaboutlearningpress.com/downloads/Quick_Guides/6-Strategies-for-Teaching-Schwas-Quick-Guide.pdf

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These is so helpful! I will definitely be using these strategies with my kids!

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I’m glad this is so helpful, Justina!

Chantel

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What helpful strategies!

Rachel Walker

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Very informative.

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Thank you, Rachel!

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Great, informative article. I love learning alongside my student. It’s amazing how quickly kids are able to pick up these concepts. Such a wonderful program.

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Thank you, Danielle. I love learning alongside my children too!

jess

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Oh wow. thank you for the insight

Robin

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You’re welcome, Jess!

Sheryl Dorland

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You have brought insight into the muffled vowel sounds.

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I’m glad this article brought you insight, Sheryl.

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This is really helpful. I’m learning right along with my first grader.

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I’m glad this was really helpful, Kimberlie!

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This is very helpful

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This program has been great for my reader that was struggling with another program.

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I’m so pleased to hear that All About Reading is helping your student, Courtney! Thank you.

Yeidie

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Great tips. My son leaves out the vowels all the time. English is my first language but now that I’m helping my son learn to read I can see how difficult it is. The y stealing the e and i sounds specifically is extremely frustrating for him.

Robin

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Vowels are definitely tricky, Yeidie!

Maybe learning all the sounds of all the letters and phonograms my be helpful for your son. Check out our How to Teach Phonograms article.

Let me know if you have questions or need help with anything. I’m happy to help!

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Great info!!!!

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I just found your curriculum! It was recommended to me through a blog talking about how it helped her son with dysgraphia. I’ll be starting the spelling curriculum in a couple of weeks with my middle schooler who has dysgraphia.

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Great, Tara! Have you seen our Dysgraphia: How can I help my child? blog post? Let me know if you have questions or need help with anything. I’m happy to help!

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Nice info!

Theresa L

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I thought number 5 was a great tip! Thank you!

Robin

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You’re welcome, Theresa!

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I wish I had this method as an option to learn spelling when I was a kid! I can’t wait to use this program with my youngest!!

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