Episode 20: Polysyllabic Words with Caroline Hardisty

In the twentieth episode of The Sounds-Write Podcast, Caroline Hardisty is back to give plenty of helpful and practical advice for teaching polysyllabic words. Caroline discusses the rationale behind why we introduce polysyllabic words from simple to complex and in an explicit way, how to syllabify words, and how to implement differentiation techniques with polysyllabic word lessons. Enjoy!

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Transcript

Laura: 00:02
Hello and welcome to the Sounds-Write podcast. I'm the host, Laura, and in today's episode, I'm joined by Caroline Hardisty. Caroline is a trainer at Sounds-Write and before that she was a teacher and phonics lead for many years. In this episode, Caroline discusses the teaching of polysyllabic words, including the rationale behind why we introduce polysyllabic words from simple-to-complex and in an explicit way, how to syllabify words, and how to implement differentiation techniques with polysyllabic word lessons. I hope you enjoy the episode. Hey Caroline, welcome back to the podcast.


Caroline: 00:42
Hi Laura, thank you for having me back.


Laura: 00:44
So if anyone doesn't know you yet, could you please introduce yourself briefly?


Caroline: 00:50
I can. I'm Caroline Hardisty. I've been a Sounds-Write trainer for over two years now. And so, as well as training on the face-to-face and the online course, I also support schools with their implementation and practice of Sounds-Write and write support materials, among other things. I was a primary school teacher prior to that for over 18 years. I was phonics lead for 7 years. So I was one of the first staff in our school to be trained in Sounds-Write, and I taught it whole-class and as an intervention, as well as leading and monitoring its implementation throughout our school.


Laura: 01:22
Brilliant. Thank you very much. So this episode is actually really timely because we recently launched our polysyllabic word resources on the Portal last month. So, for anyone who doesn't know what I'm talking about, the Sounds-Write Practitioners Portal is a free platform for anyone who's trained in Sounds-Write. And it's got loads of things on it, like word lists and activities, dictation sentences, interactive whiteboard resources, all sorts of things like that. And in March of this year, we just launched a load of new features, many of which involve polysyllabic words. So, we've got a lot of polysyllabic word lessons and expertise and things like that to support your teaching of polysyllabic words. So, very timely indeed to be doing this topic. Okay, so first off, my first question for you is why is it important to teach polysyllabic words? And why shouldn't we just teach them in the same way as one-syllable words? You know, why is it worth teaching them in a different way?


Caroline: 02:27
I think the first thing to remember with polysyllabic words is that they make up 80% of words in the English language. So it really is important that we give students strategies for how to deal with them. It's really easy to assume that when students can read and spell single-syllable words that they just go on to teach themselves how to read and spell polysyllabic words, and some will, but most won't. And you only have to look at students writing in particular for evidence of this. If they don't have strategies for dealing with polysyllabic words, they'll often try and tackle them in the same way they do single-syllable words, attempting to say all the sounds and then blend them together in one go or say each individual sound as they write them down. This might work okay for shorter, less complex polysyllabic words. So, if they're writing 'happy' or 'funny', then that might work fine. But when words become longer and more complex, it really isn't an efficient strategy at all. And what tends to happen, is that they leave out sounds or even whole syllables in words. And so the earlier we teach our students to deal with polysyllabic words, the less likely they are to develop these bad habits, which are then much more difficult to correct further down the road. Another point worth noting is that a lot of the vocabulary that students will come across in the wider curriculum will be polysyllabic words. So, the Sounds-Write polysyllabic word lessons can be used in all curriculum lessons, not just in the phonics or spelling session, to help teach students how to read and spell that key vocabulary that they need for all of their subjects.


Laura: 03:58
That's great. Thank you. So how should teachers go about teaching polysyllabic words? Big question.


Caroline: 04:05
Big question. So I think the first thing to remember is to get started with polysyllabic words early. So, in Sounds-Write, we start polysyllabic words in the second year of school, so that would be Year 1 if you're in the UK. Once the students have mastered those skills of segmenting and blending and phoneme manipulation in that more simple Initial Code, we then give them a couple of units of the Extended Code, just so that they could start getting used to the more complex code, and then we start polysyllabic words. It's important, though, that teachers are really mindful of cognitive load when they introduce these polysyllabic words. We want the focus to be on applying the skills that they've already learned to this more complex word structure. So we start really simple, two-syllable words, where the syllables have just a CVC CVC structure and only contain sound-spelling correspondences from the Initial Code. Compound words are a brilliant way to start, words like 'sunset' and 'batman'. Nice and simple, simple syllables. And actually words that the students can probably read already, but that means that the focus can then be on teaching them that structure of polysyllabic words, and on teaching them how to master their skills when reading and writing polysyllabic words. So, we teach them with lots of guidance from the teacher at first, to identify the syllables, to say the sounds, to read each syllable, to say each syllable, and then read the word. So, for example, if we were working on 'sunset', we would identify the syllables in that word. We would get them to say the sounds /s/ /u/ /n/ 'sun' /s/ /e/ /t/ 'set', then the syllables 'sun' 'set', and then the whole word 'sunset'. And they do the same for writing, but in that case they would be saying the sounds as they write them down. And then over the course of several weeks, we gradually increase the complexity, adding in syllables that have adjacent consonants, adding in simple three-syllable words, and then, and only then, do we start introducing polysyllabic words that have code from the beginning of the Extended Code. And then what we just do is work through the Extended Code at polysyllabic level. So what that means is there's a significant lag, between the code they're working on in the main part of their Sounds-Write sessions, and what they're working on with the polysyllabic words.


Laura: 06:39
Thank you. And on that note, we've got lots of word lists for polysyllabic words on the Portal, and they go from simple to more complex in that sort of very organised structure, with Initial Code sound-spelling correspondences as well, in the activities generator. So, carrying on from what you were just talking about, the lag, could you talk about why we introduced them with the lag behind the current unit of study?


Caroline: 07:10
So the lag is really important because we need the students to focus on the skills when they first encounter polysyllabic words. So at polysyllabic level, their skills of segmenting and blending develop to a higher level. So, they need to be able to segment a word into syllables, and then to segment the syllables into their individual sounds. And then, conversely, to blend the sounds into syllables and blend the syllables together to read the word. So, as I mentioned before, when we start teaching polysyllabic words, we want the students to be able to focus on the development of those skills without having to give too much of their cognitive attention to other elements. So we keep the syllable structure and the code as simple as possible and make sure it's code that they've had plenty of opportunity to practise with before. The only new thing we're teaching them, apart from obviously, the practise of those higher level skills, is that many words are comprised of more than one syllable and we're teaching them how those polysyllabic words are structured, and that's what we want their focus to be on. And even as they move into reading and writing polysyllabic words using those Extended Code sound-spelling correspondences, there's still going to be a significant lag. So, students might be working in Unit 7 or 8 of the Extended Code before they start reading and spelling polysyllabic words with those Unit 1 sound-spelling correspondences, which are the different spellings of /ae/. This is also a really good bit of spaced practise of these sound-spelling correspondences that they had previously learned. It's a great opportunity for the students to rehearse and consolidate this previous learning, and also for the teacher to see whether these have embedded themselves into long-term memory. And obviously that can be then used to feed forward into future planning if they need to go over and revise some of these.


Laura: 09:07
That makes a lot of sense. So, we want to obviously make sure that we're providing scaffolding for students who are struggling, and then on the flip side, pushing students who need more of a challenge. So how can practitioners make the most of scaffolding and differentiation with polysyllabic words for beginner readers and for students who are struggling?


Caroline: 09:30
I'm going to come back to the lag, I think, again first for this, because we need to make sure that the code and the word structure is appropriate for the level that the student is working at. So with beginner readers, starting with those simple CVC CVC word structures, using only the Initial Code. And if you have a student working further on who's struggling, you need to think carefully about your word choice. So, being mindful of their cognitive load, thinking about what the word is that you're presenting to them. If they're struggling with the structure of polysyllabic words, with their skills when reading and writing polysyllabic words, then that's what you need to focus on. And make sure you keep everything else really nice and simple, so that they can focus all their cognitive attention on those areas that they need more work on. I think there's a really useful element with the lessons, in our polysyllabic word lessons, that makes it really simple to add scaffolding and take scaffolding away where it's needed. The lessons are structured to make differentiation a really straightforward job for the teacher. So we've got two pairs of lessons. Lessons 11 and 12 are Word Building and then Word Reading at sound level. So we'd start with these lessons with beginner readers, because they're much more teacher led, they're much more heavily scaffolded. And in these lessons the teacher takes responsibility for syllabification of the word and we work sound-by-sound, guiding the students towards that syllable structure. For most students, we then gradually move them to Lessons 13 and 14, which again are Word Building and Word Reading and Spelling, but we'd use these when they're at a greater level of proficiency. With these lessons, the responsibility for splitting the words into syllables transfers much more to the students, with still a little bit of guidance from the teacher, and we work at the level of whole-syllable rather than sound-by-sound. It's really important, though, to remember that this should always be a gradual shift. This isn't going to be a linear progression from 11 and 12 to 13 and 14. So, if the number of syllables increase or the word has a more complex syllable structure or less frequently encountered sound-spelling correspondences, you'd go back to using Lessons 11 and 12. What's great is that the format of the lessons is so similar that it's really easy to add in the scaffolding of Lessons 11 and 12, even within a Sounds-Write session, to support students who might be struggling. So, for example, I might be teaching Lesson 13 to the whole class, but I know that one student is going to need a bit more scaffolding. So for that student, I can just add in the prompts for Lesson 11; making the structure of the word a bit more explicit, allowing them to work at sound-level, building each syllable sound-by-sound. And just remembering, as well, that I'm also going to be really mindful of which words I'm presenting to that student, so that the word structure is appropriate for them. And similarly, if I'm working on Lesson 11, I can remove some of the scaffolding for a particular student who might need more of a challenge. So it works both ways. And it's easy to do once you're used to the lessons. And you can make the decisions at the planning stage, or you can make the decision in the moment. You know, if you've got a child who you've brought up to the board and they're struggling, and that's all about that ongoing formative assessment that is going to be going on in every single Sounds-Write session.


Laura: 13:01
Yeah. And I guess in terms of choosing words as well, with some polysyllabic words you might get some quite complex vocabulary going on that students don't understand. So that's a whole other level of cognitive load, isn't it, on top of that. If you're getting words that they don't know the meaning of, then that's going to add an extra challenge.


Caroline: 13:25
Yeah. And I think that's why it is important that, particularly if you're dealing with subject-specific vocabulary, that you are making sure that you are doing a bit of pre-teaching of that before they encounter it, either within a Sounds-Write session, or if you're teaching it through the Sounds-Write lessons in your History lesson or your Science lesson. They really do need to have had some introduction to the word, even if they haven't seen it printed on the page, so that they have an understanding of what it means, before they start to tackle it in that Sounds-Write way, in the reading and spelling of it. So, that's a really good point to make just to make sure that you're making them familiar with this vocabulary and what it means.


Laura: 14:07
And I know in our English language learners guidance as well, for example, if a child has English as their second or third language, again, some of that vocabulary that you think might be fairly standard vocabulary to know, they might not know that. They might need to be pre-taught that so that they're going into the polysyllabic word lesson with that same understanding as their peers.


Caroline: 14:32
Yeah, absolutely. And we say all the time, you know, about using words that are in their spoken vocabulary. So if you have learners who don't have English as a first language, that needs to be within that planning process, so that you're making sure that you're giving them a bit of pre-teach of the words that you're going to be using so they have some familiarity with them.


Laura: 14:54
Right. So I would say one of the things that we get a lot of questions about, and there seems to be quite a lot of confusion with, is how to split words into their syllables. So, could you talk about that and hopefully give some helpful tips for practitioners who are listening?


Caroline: 15:12
Yeah, I'll do my best. I think it is really easy, and I know I see it all the time when I'm training teachers in Sounds-Write, to get tied up in knots over syllable identification. I think the first thing to remember is don't overthink it. Sometimes we think about it so much that we can't see the wood for the trees. Actually being able to speak and hear in syllables is biologically primary knowledge and it doesn't need to be taught. So when we're identifying syllables, what's really important is that we listen to where we pause naturally when we're saying the word. So when breaking words into syllables try not to look at the word, listen to it. Listen for that natural syllable break, because otherwise what happens is we tend to be led then by units of meaning. So, listen to the word, don't look at it, I think is the first thing to remember. We also give that guidance of wherever possible, trying to start a syllable with a consonant sound. Now this has, I found this so useful since I trained in Sounds-Write, and this tends to be my rule of thumb now, is to always try and start a syllable with a consonant sound. That structure of consonant, vowel, consonant vowel is a universal one that's found in all languages. Think about how babies start to babble, 'mama' 'dada' they're using that structure. So it's quite natural in the way that we speak. It's also easier to hear the vowel sound if it's preceded by a consonant sound. So that's another reason why this guidance is useful. So wherever possible, when you're syllabifying, try to start the syllable with a consonant sound. This is, it's helpful guidance, but again, I'm just going to go back and say; don't get too hung up on it. It's often easier as well for the students because they don't have any pre-learning of anything around syllabification, they don't have any preconceived ideas around it that we maybe have from our own education as adults. So, they often find it easier than we do. There are also hundreds of words, including those that are on our English statutory lists, syllabified for you on the Sounds-Write website. So you can go and use that as a resource. Don't feel like you have to do all of this by yourself.


Laura: 17:31
Thanks. And we've also got them on the Portal as well, split into syllables in our word lists. Which actually brings me onto something that I wanted to add to that. When we were developing these word lists we had a lot of discussion about how to split different words into syllables. And I think it's interesting because people have an idea that there is one way that a word must be split into its syllables, but actually it can be accident dependent, for starters. It's also quite interesting that some dictionaries split it differently to how we might split it. They go a lot more by morphology, rather than, we go by how it sounds, obviously because we're a speech-to-print approach. So, yeah, I think that's, that's sometimes quite confusing, is obviously looking at dictionary and it's split differently to how you might want to split it. But definitely something that works for me is calling the word, so if I was say, saying 'swim-ming' [in a sing-song voice], I find that really helpful.


Caroline: 18:46
Yeah. And I think, again, that's about listening. You know, if you're calling it, you're really listening to where you're naturally splitting the words. So, using that as the kind of basis for when you syllabify. But you're absolutely right. I think, we would never say that this is the only way to syllabify a word. But it's useful guidance that I've always found helpful when I've been working on syllabification in class. And I found that the students found that helpful too.


Laura: 19:16
And I know that, yeah, obviously you said; don't get too hung up on it. And John always says that he's never come across - touch wood - a class who can't automatically syllabify words, just without kind of even really thinking about it, before. And it's often us adults who get all in our heads about it.


Caroline: 19:40
Yeah, I would completely agree with that. I think having taught polysyllabic words, I've never had any issues with the children getting, you know, worried about it or stressed about it or hung up on it. They just seem to be able to do it. And with that extra bit of guidance for them if they need it, it is the adults usually, who find this trickier and who get, as you say, all it's sort of in their heads about it and then it becomes a bigger thing than it actually is. If you just go with that guidance and just remember that there isn't a hard and fast rule about this.


Laura: 20:13
Brilliant. Well, that wraps up our episode on polysyllabic words. Thank you so much for your time, Caroline. It's been great to have you on the podcast again.


Caroline: 20:25 I've enjoyed it. Thank you for having me, Laura.


Laura: 20:27
All right, see you next time. Bye.