Teaching · Reading Intervention

Bub-ble, na-tion, pic-ture.
Endings read the same way.

Some word endings are read the same way almost every time: consonant-le, -tion and -sion, -ture. Deal words by ending and by the kind of first syllable, each with its break (count back three for -le), how to read the ending and a phrase.

Make a set of wordsWhat you get
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Included with Caveat Classroom and Whole-school licenses. Or get it in the Reading Intervention toolkit, $49 for 51 items.

Make a set of final stable syllable words

The worked example is made up: a third-grade group on consonant-le and a fifth grader on -tion and -ture. Saved on this device only.

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What you get

Teaching · Reading Intervention$12 · included with Classroom and Whole-school licenses

What you finish with
A set of 6, 10 or 16 words with final stable syllables, chosen by ending (consonant-le, -tion and -sion, -ture) and the kind of first syllable, each with its break, how to read the ending and a phrase, plus notes on errors.
Who it is for
Reading interventionists, special education teachers, classroom teachers teaching phonics and tutors working with a structured literacy sequence.
Format
Browser card maker with saved sets. Prints the words as cut-out cards or as a list for a lesson plan or home reading; presents one word at a time for a screen at the table; downloads a spreadsheet (.csv); exports and imports a file.
Access
$12 one-time, yours on every device you sign in on; the tool opens once you are signed in with it. Included with Caveat Classroom and Whole-school licenses. Also in the Reading Intervention toolkit ($49) and the Teaching Suite pass ($199), and 1 more bundle. Everything you type stays in this browser; nothing is sent to Caveat.
Where it lives
The Reading Intervention space in Caveat Teaching.
Support
Questions about access, an order or a correction: team@caveatacademic.com.

How to use it

  1. Start with consonant-le after a closed syllable: bubble, candle.
  2. Count back three letters to split; read the first syllable, then the ending as a unit.
  3. Add open first syllables and contrast them: bub | ble and ta | ble.
  4. Teach -tion, -sion and -ture as whole units.
  5. Note errors and print the set for the next lesson.

Make a set of words

What a final stable syllable is

Read the ending as one unitEndingSaysSplitWords-ble -dle -ple -tle/ul/, after its consonantcount back threebub | ble, ta | ble-tion/shun/before the tac | tion, na | tion-sion/shun/ or /zhun/before the sman | sion, vi | sion-ture/cher/before the tpic | ture, na | tureRead the ending as one unit-ble -dle -ple -tleSays: /ul/, after its consonantSplit: count back threeWords: bub | ble, ta | ble-tionSays: /shun/Split: before the tWords: ac | tion, na | tion-sionSays: /shun/ or /zhun/Split: before the sWords: man | sion, vi | sion-tureSays: /cher/Split: before the tWords: pic | ture, na | ture
Drawn for this page. These endings are called stable because they are read the same way in almost every word.

Stable means predictable

These endings keep the same pronunciation in nearly every word, so students can learn each as a chunk instead of sounding it out: -tion is always read as one unit.

Count back three

A consonant-le syllable takes the consonant before le: bub | ble, ta | ble, pur | ple. Splitting there leaves the first syllable to read by its own type.

The first syllable decides the vowel

In bubble the first syllable is closed, so the u is short; in table it is open, so the a is long. Sorting by first syllable makes that contrast visible.

Sources

  1. Moats, L. C. (1994). The missing foundation in teacher education: Knowledge of the structure of spoken and written language. Annals of Dyslexia, 44, 81 to 102. PMID 24234047.
  2. Moats, L. C. (2020). Speech to Print: Language Essentials for Teachers (3rd ed.). Brookes. Syllable types and spelling conventions.
  3. Ehri, L. C. (2014). Orthographic mapping in the acquisition of sight word reading, spelling memory, and vocabulary learning. Scientific Studies of Reading, 18(1), 5 to 21.
  4. International Dyslexia Association. Structured literacy: phonology, sound-symbol association, syllables, morphology (dyslexiaida.org).

Words and phrases were written for this page; the example sets and students are made up. Syllable divisions follow the common structured literacy conventions, and dictionaries sometimes divide a word differently. Nothing you type is sent to Caveat. Support: team@caveatacademic.com.