Read Better

​Reading Tips: Words with More Than One Syllable

By Liam Egan

When a word is long, don’t panic. Try these steps:

Step 1.

Ask yourself:

• Does the word start with something like un–, dis–, re–?

• Does it end with –ed, –er, –ing?

👉 If yes, circle them.

​Step 2.

• What word is left when you remove the start or end?

• This is the root word.

• If you can spell the root word, you can spell the whole word.

​Step 3.

No prefix or suffix? Break it up
Say the word slowly

• Clap or tap the syllables

Example:
bas / ket / ball

​Step 4.

Listen for the strong part

• One syllable sounds stronger than the others

• That helps you say the word correctly

• Saying it correctly helps you spell it correctly

​Step 5.

• Don’t spell the whole word at once

• Spell each part, then put it together

​

Look → Find → Break → Listen → Spell

Multiple Choice

LiSen is spelling the word unfair. What is the root word?

• un

• fair

• air

• unfair

Multiple Choice

Hari sees the word jumping. Which part is the suffix?

• jump

• jumping

• ping

• ing

Multiple Choice

Veston is spelling teacher. What is the root word?

• cher

• teacher

• teach

• er

Multiple Choice

TianXin reads the word dislike. What is the prefix?

• like

• dis

• is

• ke

Multiple Choice

Khalid wants to split basketball into syllables. Which is correct?

• bas-ket-ball

• bask-et-ball

• ba-sket-ball

• basket-ball

Multiple Choice

Eugene is spelling happiness. What is the root word?

• happy

• ness

• iness

• happiness

Multiple Choice

AngKiet sees running. Which part helps show the action is happening now?

• un

• runn

• ing

• run

Multiple Choice

Elly wants to spell careless. What is the suffix?

• care

• careless

• reless

• less

Multiple Choice

Seojoon says remember slowly. How many syllables does it have?

• 1

• 2

• 3

• 4

Multiple Choice

Junwoo is spelling replay. What is the prefix?

• play

• replay

• rep

• re

Multiple Choice

LiSen hears important. Which syllable is stressed?

• im

• por

• tant

• all the same

Multiple Choice

Hari is spelling helpful. What is the root word?

• ful

• help

• helpful

• he

Multiple Choice

Veston sees played. What does –ed tell us?

• It is happening now

• It will happen

• It already happened

• It is long

Multiple Choice

TianXin splits computer into syllables. Which is correct?

• com-put-er

• comp-u-ter

• com-pu-ter

• co-mpu-ter

Multiple Choice

Khalid is stuck on a long word. What should he try first?

• Guess the spelling

• Skip the word

• Look for prefixes or suffixes

• Write it very fast