Videos are a great way to teach and reinforce the complex phonics rules. I’ve rounded up the best videos to teach multisyllabic words so that you don’t have to!
Reading multisyllabic words is kind of like conquering a mountain. 🧗♀️ You work so hard to get to there so you can really enjoy it at the top (and the trek downhill is much easier 😅).
That trek uphill is filled with beginning decoding, vowel types, open and closed syllables. FINALLY, one day, your kids are confidently reading those multisyllabic words. You can take a breath and bask in the success!
Multisyllabic Word Videos
Learning Videos for the Classroom
While I personally believe these videos are appropriate for first and second grade classrooms, remember that there can often be inappropriate ads before and after YouTube videos. Also, I always recommend previewing the full video before showing it to your class.
If you plan to show YouTube videos in your classroom, I highly recommend that you read this blog post by Catherine, the Brown Bag Teacher. She shares three ways to eliminate YouTube video ads so that you can safely play these learning videos in your classroom.
The BEST Videos to Teach Multisyllabic Words
These multisyllabic word videos are tried and true for introducing this concept to students.
Hooked on Phonics
This video explains the way these words are like compound words (which gives your students a reference they can understand) and gives many examples.
It says and shows each syllable separately and then puts them together so your visual learners can see how the word goes together.
Note: this video is 6 minutes long. However, starting around 4:45, it does a review of sight words. You can plan to stop the video before then or give your students extra practice with those common words.
Children’s: Syllables
This video actually breaks down the concept of syllables and shows them split as words are read.
I use this video to reinforce the skill of breaking words down into syllables while introducing the skill of reading those multisyllabic words.
Syllables and Multisyllabic Words
These are the two multisyllabic word videos I feel fit the needs of my students in my classroom.
There aren’t a ton of multisyllabic word videos or resources out there. I think this is why: The key to teaching students to decode multisyllabic words is to have them break them up into syllables.
If your students need help learning to identify syllables, start with these syllable videos.
Ultimately, like with any other thing we teach, some students grasp this concept quickly. Others tend to take a bit more time to fluently read multisyllabic words.
If you feel like your students weren’t given explicit and systematic phonics instruction in the past, I would recommend teaching and practicing all syllable types before expecting them to fluently read multisyllabic words.
How do you help your students up to that multisyllabic “mountain top?” Do you have any favorite videos for this skill? Let me know below! 👇
