***This post is still under construction, so the links and descriptions are not complete***
Photo credit: Nessy Learning LLC
Nessy has created the image of the silly bull who stomps out the parts of words as a way for students to remember what syllables are [The picture above is linked to the first lesson about syllables, titled syllable division: cvc-cvc]. Words are pronounced in sections by their vowel sounds. A syllable represents a whole word with a single vowel sound, or a longer word will be broken up into many syllables, each with their own single vowel sound. For example, the word “hi” has one syllable, while the word “matter” has two (mat + ter). The word “like” contains two vowels, but the “e” changes the sound of the letter “i”, and as such does not make a sound itself. Based on this, the word like has only one syllable. The word “Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious”, which is a nonsense word used in a song from the Disney movie Mary Poppins, contains fourteen syllables based on my count (Su per ca li fra gi lis tic ex pi al id oc ious).
Below, you will find the first three syllable division videos, as well as information about the last three videos. At the end of this post, you will find a final video that teaches students about open and closed syllables.
Photo credit: Nessy Learning LLC
Syllable division: cvc-cvc is a video that teaches students…[to be added]
Photo credit: Nessy Learning LLC
Syllable division: doublets is a video that teaches students…[to be added]
Photo credit: Nessy Learning LLC
Syllable division: vowel R is a video that teaches students…[to be added]
Photo credit: Nessy Learning LLC
Nessy has not made the last three parts of syllable division available on YouTube. Bob Pizza has posted a complete compilation of all 6 videos, but I do not know that he did so with Nessy’s permission. You should be able to access the last three videos by joining Nessy directly. However, they have a membership fee of $12/month.
Photo credit: Nessy Learning LLC
Photo credit: Nessy Learning LLC
Photo credit: Nessy Learning LLC
Nessy Reading Strategy: Closed & Open Syllables is a video that teaches students about the change that vowels make from a long vowel sound (where it sounds like its name) to the short vowel sound, when a syllable changes from an open syllable to a closed syllable. An open syllable has no consonant after the vowel, and a closed syllable has a consonant following the vowel.
I like the approach that Nessy has taken, because they explain the rule with a short, memorable, visual story, with supportive, brightly colored text added below. These videos from Nessy are created with dyslexic students in mind, but are truly valuable for most, if not all people.