A consonant-le syllable is always found at the end of a word. It is also known as a ‘stable final syllable’. This syllable pattern contains a consonant followed by the letters ‘le’, as in ‘table’ or ’apple’.
This syllable type doesn’t have a strong vowel sound, and the consonant and ‘le’ together form the final syllable.
If combined with an open syllable (e.g. table, title), there is no doubled consonant.
If combined with a closed syllable (e.g. puddle, little), there is a double consonant.
Teaching Tips
We need to make sure that students know that JUST because there’s an ‘le’ at the end of a word, doesn’t make it a final stable syllable.
- For example, words like female, profile, pinhole are not consonant + le words. They have a vowel before the ‘le’.
- There must be a consonant before the ‘le’.
There are 2 ways to teach students to work with consonant + le words - pick one way to teach it and be consistent:
- When students see an ‘le’ at the end of a word and a consonant before it – tell them that the ‘le’ likes to snatch the consonant and pull it to the second syllable.
- Once students have located the ‘le’ and seen a consonant before it, they can then count ( starting with the e): 1-2-3 divide.
Example Word: puzzle
- When students have located the ‘le’ and seen a consonant before it, they’re going to count, starting with the e: 1-2-3 divide.
- Once the word has been divided, it’s time to read each syllable.
- First syllable – g closes in the u, the u makes it’s short sound.
- Second syllable, we have a consonant + le, so in this syllable, the consonant will make its sound, followed by an unaccented schwa and l sound.
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Other examples:
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