With one consonant between vowels, try dividing before the consonant first. If that makes a real word, you are done. If not, “try again” by dividing after the consonant.

With two consonants between vowels, try dividing between the consonants first. If that makes a real word, you are done. If it doesn’t, “try again” looking for patterns like R-Blends, L-Blends, digraphs, and glued sounds that may want to stick together.

With three consonants between vowels, try dividing after the first consonant. If that makes a real word, you are done. If it doesn’t, “try again” looking for patterns like R-Blends, L-Blends, digraphs, glued sounds, or smaller words in a compound word.

With four consonants between vowels, try dividing after the first consonant. If that makes a real word, you are done. If it doesn’t, “try again” looking for the smaller words of a compound word.

To decode multisyllable words, we still use the five-step DECODE procedure. However, we have additional options in the first step, Mark and Say.

Step One: Mark and Say: 

• Circle any suffixes. Remember, suffixes often create their own syllables.
• Identify and mark the vowels. Mark each vowel with a small “v” underneath (or another simple symbol).
• Count the consonants between vowels. 
• Based on the number and type of consonants, decide how to divide the word.  Try the most likely division option first, based on the patterns you see. 
• Mark and Say each syllable, focusing on the correct vowel sound. Mark and Say consonants as needed.

Step Two: Touch and Say each syllable separately.  

Step Three: Blend and Say the syllables together slowly. If it’s not coming together, check the audio, and Try Again by going back to Mark and Say using another option.

Step Four: Blend and Say the syllables together until naturally spoken. 

Step Five: You may check the audio at any time. Be sure to check your answer.