Vowel team syllables and vowel team syllable division are two totally different concepts. Let me explain.

Labeling the V in Vowel Team Syllables

Vowel team syllable division and vowel team labels in REVLOC are different. We label vowel teams in a word like: eagle. This is a consonant + LE syllable division word, so we go to the end, count back three and divide before the consonant + LE. This means eagle is divided ea/gle. The syllables are labels with REVLOC — EA is V, and gle is L.

This video explains further vowel team syllable division included in REVLOC.

Watch on YouTube: What’s In a Vowel Team Syllable? Where Are They? #education #english

Vowel Team Syllable Division

In vowel team syllable division, we are seeing vowel teams, but dividing those teams apart in one of two ways: LION Words or POEM Words. After division, those syllables are no longer vowel teams, but they are syllable types to be labeled.

Explaining VV LION Words and VV Poem Words

In dividing words with vowel teams in Orton Gillingham, there are two types:

VV Lion Words

In Lion words there will be a reversal of vowel teams. For example, io as in lion, rather than oi as in oil. Another example is ia as in dial, rather than ai as in rain. When a student sees the reversal, it means, in most cases, the team will be divided (split up) and the first vowel will be long, and the syllable Open (or labeled with an O in REVLOC)

In Lion Words, these are vowels that are together, but they are not vowel teams, and you would never teach this concept before teaching vowel teams.

Examples: Eon is e on (normally the vowel team would be oe as in toe).

VV Poem Words

In Poem words, it’s a little more complicated, in that there will be recognizable vowel teams, but they are unstable and will still split up. So a student will need to “test” the word to see if it makes sense.

If you go back to the teaching of each vowel team, notice there are notes of placement. For example, ue is usually at the end of a word. If it’s in a different position, most likely it will split when dividing. That’s one way of catching the unstable teams.

Examples: Poem (oe is usually at the end as in toe, here it is in the middle, so it splits) po em

But, it isn’t always that obvious. A word like fruit keeps the vowel team intact. A word like fluid, it splits. If a student tries to say, fl/ooi/d, it doesn’t work. But, fl/oo/ /i/d, does work.

This is where a rich vocabulary comes in handy and why these VV words are so far later in the Scope & Sequence than the other division rules.

Vocabulary Review

Diphthongs are two vowels making two separate sounds, but blended together make a new sound. Examples oi saying “oi” as in oil or ou saying “ou” as in out.

Digraphs are two consonants together making one new sound, as in sh, or two vowels together making one new sound, as in ai, saying long a or oe saying long o.

A word like eon, where the vowels end up divided, is not a diphthong or a digraph because they do not make a new sound; the vowels are divided and each make its own sounds. A word like boa where it could have been a vowel digraph or any word where it could have been a diphthong, we can call those “unstable digraphs and diphthongs” (just to give them a name) and divide them accordingly.

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