Videos are a such a fun and engaging way to teach and reinforce phonics rules that require a ton of repetition and practice to master. I rounded up the best videos on syllables so that you don’t have to!
We know that phonemic awareness skills are important for new readers to understand but it can be so challenging to give them a variety of ways to practice them.
I like to teach syllables in as many ways as possible to give all of my kids their best chance for comprehension as well as a ton of repetition. Videos are an engaging and pressure-free way to give your new readers lots of practice with syllables.
The Best Videos to Teach Syllables to New Readers
Learning Videos for the Classroom
While I personally believe these videos are appropriate for preschool, kindergarten and first 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.
5 Fun and Instructional Videos to Teach Syllables
Clap It Out
This is HANDS DOWN my favorite video to teach syllables. (As in, we did it almost weekly, sometimes more 😂😬)
The chorus explains what a syllable is and how to CLAP ? IT ? OUT ?Each verse is a silly story with a set number of syllables (the first verse has one syllable words, the second verse has two syllable words, etc).
Bonus: We have so much fun moving while we sing that it makes for a great brain break, too. 💃🏼🕺
Learn Syllables
This is an older Jack Hartmann video with a lot of examples of 1, 2 and 3 syllable words. I like variety of words offered and that they are all mixed up.
Jack sings the word and then does a different action to count the syllables afterward. This gives students the opportunity to listen to the word, then say it as they do the action.
Note: I recommend starting the video around 45 seconds to skip the long intro. Then I have my students dance/wiggle during each chorus!
Syllable Lesson Video
This is an actual lesson to introduce syllables. It starts by giving the definition of syllables then shows how to clap them out.
Next it talks about robot voice (which I love 😍) and using your hand under your chin to count each syllable. At the end it tells you not to guess how many syllables there are because there are patterns that you can follow to figure it out. I really appreciate this reminder for my kids!
I think this is a great lesson and would actually recommend teachers watch it to get ideas, too!
Syllables!
This video is SILLY and will probably make the kids laugh a lot (which could be good or not so good depending on your mood ?). It explains what syllables are, how many syllables can be in a word, and the “beat.”
The video goes through words one at a time. When it gets to the word “apple” (at 2 minutes), it explains how the word is split into two parts, shows that, says each part and then claps the word several times until it is put back together.
Months of the Year Syllable Song
This video is like a 2 for 1! It is a fun and engaging song to practice syllables and months of the year at one time! #winning
Jack Hartman goes through the months of the year and syllables at the same time. Each month is shown split into it’s syllables. The first time they go through the months kids clap. The next time they stomp.
Bonus: 4 Fun Ways to Count Syllables
This is not a video I watch with my students BUT it has fun ideas for how to practicing syllables with kids in different ways than just clapping.
I especially love the “hum” method because I hadn’t heard of that one before this video. It’s genius! I tell every teacher I know about it (so of course I had to tell you too! ☺️).
These videos have been a staple for getting all of that syllable practice in in my classroom. Did I miss any of your favorite videos to teach syllables? Or do you have any other fun methods to practice that I should share? Let me know below! 👇
