I’ve written in the past about closed syllables and how if a syllable is “closed in” by consonants, then it will be a “closed syllable” and the vowel will be short. However, there are groups of words called Wild-Old Words that are “fossil” words left from Anglo Saxon times that do not follow the rules. These words are common but irregular.
A student can learn that some common words ending in ld, st, nd, and lt have a single vowel with a long vowel sound.
Examples
- comb
- roll, troll, stroll
- mold, told, sold, scold, old, bold, cold, fold, gold
- bolt, colt, dolt, jolt, Holt, molt, volt
- bind, find, mind, wind, blind, grind, hind, kind, rind
- both, don’t, won’t, host, most, post, ghost
- pint, mild, wild, child, blinds
- minded, kindly, kindness, unkind, behind, blindfold, remind
Sentences for dictation and reading:
- This wild child is a troll.
- Jane will rope the colt to a post.
- It is cold in summer also?
- I combed the old, kind dog with a small comb.
- I wish I had a pint of gold.
- Hold the wild colt.
Source: Unlocking the Power of Print, Dorthothy Blosser Whitehead
6 Comments
Tracey
Doesn’t OG teach “Kind old words” ?
momssoulcafe
I was taught “wild old words,” but sounds like the same thing.
Theresa Wolf Wilson
Why aren’t these a 7th syllable type?
momssoulcafe
These are not a syllable type because there are not enough of these types of words. It’s more of an “exception” category, not a syllable type.
Cathy
When I look for things to use to teach this I noticed that/oll/ it’s not included in most lists or worksheets etc…
Can you explain why?
admin
Hi Cathy, I have seen these /oll/ words show up in lessons on FLOSS — words like knoll and stroll — however, you have to make sure they are taught as sight words because of the long o sound. In the class I took, these words are on a list called Wild Old Words — a specific list of words that are common but irregular and are taught as patterns (-mb, -oll, -old, -olt, -ind, -nt, -oth, -n’t, -ost, -ild). I like the idea of teaching them as patterns.
I can’t explain why they are on some lists and not others, but that’s why I am partial to OG and the way I was taught OG!