You have a small group of kids that are having trouble with multi-syllable words. You need to help them but need activities are at a loss for what to do. Does this sound familiar? How about hands-on activities for multi-syllable words? I love using them because it helps keep it engaging.

Small-Group Intervention for Decoding Multisyllabic Words

Decoding multisyllabic words is important for helping kids improve their fluency as they begin to read books that are higher reading levels. It’s a challenging skill that for some kids requires practice and even intervention. I love using the Spot and Dot method I talk about in this post.

I teach this method to the whole class but use it for intervention in small groups as well. In my small intervention groups, we practice Spot and Dot with activities and games that I talk about in this post.

Multisyllabic Words Activities

Decoding multisyllabic words is all about breaking up the words into small units. It’s beneficial for students to be able to have hands-on activities so they can construct and deconstruct big words.

2 Syllable Words Memory Game

One of the games I like to use in small groups to practice multi-syllable words is a memory game. The only materials you need are the cards with the beginning word parts and end word parts as well as a recording sheet.

Place the beginning word parts in rows and columns on the left, face down. Do the same with the ending word parts on the right. The first student turns over two cards- one from the beginning word part section and one from the ending word part section.

The student has to figure out if the two parts make up a word. If it does, they say the word and get to keep the cards. You can decide if you want everyone in the small group to record the word or just the player whose turn it was. You’ll repeat these same steps for each student in the small group. The player with the most cards at the end of small group time wins!

3 Syllable Words Puzzles

Another way to practice multi-syllable words in small group is with puzzles. All you need for this activity are the puzzles that you’ll need to cut beforehand and a recording sheet. I like printing each set of puzzles on different colored sheets and saving them in small plastic baggies.

There are a couple of different ways you can do this activity. One way is to give each student their own set of 4 puzzles. They sort through the puzzle pieces and try to figure out the 4 words they can make. As they create words, you guide them and assist as needed. When a student creates a word, they record it on their sheet.

Another way to use the puzzles is to give a puzzle to each pair of students. They work together to figure out the 4 words they can make. As they create words, they record them on the recording sheet.

I’d love to hear if you try out any of these activities. If you’re looking for more reading interventions for multisyllabic words, check out this post. You can never have too many tricks up your sleeve for multi-syllable words!