Syllable scavenger hunt: Ask students to look for and list
objects whose names have a certain number of syllables or a
certain stress pattern, using real objects in the classroom or
objects shown in a detailed picture or photograph from a
magazine.
Make syllable models: Use large and small glass or plastic
shapes, beads, beans, or Cuisenaire rods to represent
stressed and unstressed syllables. To help students feel the
di"erence between the two types of syllables most clearly,
choose bigger, heavier, more interesting pieces for stressed
syllables and small, smooth, plain pieces for unstressed
syllables. Have students arrange the objects to represent the
syllable and stress patterns of words.
For example, the words poˈtato, reˈpeated, and sinˈcerely
have this pattern:
The words communiˈcation, enthusiˈastic, and appreciˈation
have this pattern:Here are the same two syllable patterns illustrated using
Cuisenaire rods. These don’t give the impression of loudness,
emphasis, and “weight” as well as glass blobs, but when
they’re placed horizontally, they help students see that
stressed syllables last longer than unstressed syllables. If we
place them vertically, they emphasize that stressed syllables
are higher in pitch.159