Teaching Closed Syllables with the Alphabet Queen

Carla Stanford: Are you ready for a story?

Students: Yes.

Narrator: Reading coach Carla Stanford is introducing these second graders to the concept of closed syllables, and she's using an engaging and interactive story called "The Alphabet Queen" to do it.

Carla Stanford: A long, long time ago, in a land far, far away, there was an Alphabet Queen and the Alphabet Queen, she was in charge of all of the letters and sounds. Just like a dog's name is dog. And the sound that it makes is ...

Students: /d/ ...

Carla Stanford: What sound does a dog make when it communicates? It says ...

Students: Woof, woof ...

Carla Stanford: Exactly. And just like a cow, the name of the animal is cow, but what sound does the cow make?

Students: Mooooo ....

Carla Stanford: Well, the Alphabet Queen said, "Oh my goodness, in my land, I want all of my letters to have names and I want them to have sounds." So she said, "This is the letter ..."

Students: 'g' ...

Carla Stanford: And the sound is ...

Students: /g/ ...

Carla Stanford: This is the letter ...

Students: 't' ...

Carla Stanford: And the sound is ...

Students: /t/ ...

Carla Stanford: Good. Clip that sound. I love it. So, the Alphabet Queen went around and she named all the consonants. Can you say consonants?

Students: Consonants.

Carla Stanford: She named all the consonants. And she said, "Here's your name, here's your sound, here's your name, here's your sound." Well, then the Alphabet Queen said, "Oh my goodness. I have some letters that are precious." Can you say precious?

Students: Precious.

Carla Stanford: "These letters are so precious, and they are called vowels." Say vowels.

Students: Vowels.

Carla Stanford: "And the vowels are so precious, I need to keep them inside of a fence to keep them safe." So she put 'a' ... What's another vowel?

Students: 'e' ...

Carla Stanford: What else?

Students: 'i' ...

Carla Stanford: Another vowel?

Students: 'o' ...

Carla Stanford: 'o' ...

Assistant Teacher: One more ...

Students: 'u' ...

Carla Stanford: 'u' ... You're right, 'y' is a vowel, but today we're only going to focus on the always vowels. Are y'all okay with that? Another day we'll talk about that other sneaky vowel. So, the Alphabet Queen said, "Oh my goodness, these are my most precious vowels. I have to keep them in here to keep them safe. But my goodness, I have to keep the gate closed so they'll be safe." So the Alphabet Queen said, "Consonants, you stand guard. I want you to come guard the gate." Let me close my gate a little bit more. "I want you to guard the gate and keep the gate closed." So everyone say "the gate is closed!"

Students: The gate is closed.

Carla Stanford: Well, when the gate is closed, friends, the vowels could not get out and they would throw their arms up in the air. Let me see your arms up in the air.

Throw their arms up in the air and they would say their short sound. So 'a' would say ...

Ms. Stanford and Students: /ă/ ...

Carla Stanford: They would run up and try to get out, and they couldn't. 'e' would say ...

Ms. Stanford and Students: /ĕ/ ...

Carla Stanford: 'i' would say ...

Ms. Stanford and Students: /ĭ/ ...

Carla Stanford: 'o' would say ...

Ms. Stanford and Students: /ŏ/ ...

Carla Stanford: And 'u' would say ...

Ms. Stanford and Students: /ŭ/ ...

Carla Stanford: So, anytime that the gate is closed, the vowel always says its short sound. So let's just look at that for a minute. I want you to think about this. What is the vowel in this word? Everyone tell me.

Ms. Stanford and Students: 'e' ...

Carla Stanford: This is the vowel. When I look next door, the gate is closed. What is the gate?

Students: Closed.

Carla Stanford: And when the gate, the gate is closed, the vowel throws its arms up in the air and says ...

Ms. Stanford and Students: /ĕ/ ...

Carla Stanford: So, let's tap this ...

Ms. Stanford and Students: /w/, /ĕ/, /b/. Web.

Carla Stanford: And this little guy right here, like the little smiley face, it's called a breve, and it's just like the same thing. Throw your arms up. That's like the symbol for the short vowel. So when the vowel is closed in, it says a short sound. Have you ever heard about the Alphabet Queen? Now you know, she's in charge of all the letters and sounds. We're going to learn some more tomorrow.

Narrator: Enjoyed this video? Don't forget to subscribe to our YouTube channel @RUTeaching. For more information, please visit ReadingUniverse.org. Special thanks to the Toledo Federation of Teachers, Riverside Elementary School, and Toledo Public Schools in Toledo, Ohio. Reading Universe is made possible by generous support from Jim & Donna Barksdale, the American Federation of Teachers, The Emily Hall Tremaine Foundation, and three anonymous donors. Reading Universe is a service of WETA, Washington, D.C., The Barksdale Reading Institute, and First Book.