How old were you when you found out that the e in consonant -le syllables is actually a form of silent e? Today years old? Read on to find out more!
What are the consonant le endings?
Consonant le endings include -ble, -cle, -dle, -fle, -gle, -ple, -tle, -zle and you’ll see them in words like scribble, uncle, and eagle.
Isn’t consonant le one of the six syllable types, too?
Yes! Consonant le is also a syllable type and it only comes at the end of a multisyllabic word.
When should I teach consonant le syllables?
This syllable type can be taught any time after your students have learned closed syllables, open syllables, silent e, and consonant blends.
Why do consonant le words need the e on the end if we don’t hear it?
Consonant le syllables have no vowel sound or they may have a schwa sound, depending on how the word is pronounced by the speaker. When you say apple, do you hear /ă/ /pl/ or do you hear /ă/ /pul/? It may be different for each person depending on dialect.
The reason for the e is that every syllable needs a written vowel. The e in consonant le is one of the many jobs of silent e. You may not think of it as a traditional silent e, but remember that silent e has several jobs!
Why do my students need to know that consonant le has a form of silent e?
When your students recognize the final e as a variation of silent e, it helps them recall that the e goes at the end of the word (e.g. they’d write sample instead of sampel). And do you have students who pronounce that e at the end, like pronouncing crumble as crumbly? Once they recognize it as a version of silent e, they will break that habit because they understand what the e’s function is!
Where do final stable syllables come into this?
Consonant le is also called a Final Stable Syllable. Why? Final means it will always be the final syllable. Stable means that we can rely on these syllables to sound the same every time (-zle will always represent the /zl/ sounds), and to always be unaccented. Unaccented means that we will not put the stress on the consonant -le ending: we say CAN-dle, not can-DLE.
Will consonant le syllables confuse my students?
Prepare yourself by learning the tricks for successfully reading and spelling these syllables and your students will learn them just as easily as you will.
The sounds of the consonant le endings are easy to learn because they sound just like the consonant blends that you have already taught to your students. If you do a daily letter and sound drill with your students, you can give directives like this: “How do we spell /bl/ at the beginning of a word?” (Students say and write bl.) “How do we write /bl/ at the end of a word?” (Students say and write –ble.) The endings -dle, -tle, and –zle might feel less familiar because there is no equivalent beginning blend, but students typically learn them just as easily.
Where do I begin?
I always suggest that you start any silent e unit by briefly telling your students about all the jobs that silent e has. If you don’t have time to mention them all, please make a point of letting them know that the most common job (making the preceding vowel represent the long sound) is not the only job a silent e does. Your students will likely be surprised to find out that only 50% of silent e words follow that best known rule, and remember that they will understand consonant le so much better knowing that the e is a form of silent e.
I like to think of silent e as a ninja, no matter which job it is doing because it is silent and sneaky. In my consonant le phonics unit, silent e sneaks on to the end of each word because it knows that each syllable needs a written vowel. The ninja hand puppets are optional but they will definitely capture your students’ attention and make for a memorable lesson!
The unit comes with everything you need to know to teach your students to read and spell words with consonant le syllables, including detailed directions for using the Count Back 3 strategy.
What is the Count Back 3 strategy?
The Count Back 3 strategy is a super easy way to accomplish two things: to figure out if the first syllable is open or closed when you decode a word with consonant le and to check your spelling when you write a word with consonant le.
The unit includes a slide deck with animations that zip in to demonstrate the Count Back 3 strategy and divide the word into syllables for easy decoding!
There are also several worksheets for:
- reading and spelling consonant le words at the word and sentence level
- correcting spelling mistakes in consonant le words
- phoneme-grapheme mapping boxes for high frequency words with consonant le
- sentence dictation
Because the unit includes phoneme-grapheme mapping boxes for consonant le words from the Dolch and Fry lists, you can align your high-frequency word instruction with your phonics instruction! Bonus!
Are you feeling ready to teach consonant le syllables?
I hope all this info helps you feel prepared to teach consonant le syllables to your students! Don’t forget the additional piece that’ll make it even easier– learning the Count Back 3 strategy. The directions are available for free in my How to Teach Consonant le download. If you need student materials, too, have a look at the full unit.
