Teaching accented syllables

[Based on Faith Academy]

I am lost here. I don't even remember this being something that was in Abeka when I taught my son in second grad. How do you teach accented syllables? I tried this year but I think I failed. I kept choosing the wrong syllable myself. There has to be something I'm missing.

 

I need help.:)

[Plink]

Say the word with your mouth closed.  One syllable will have a higher pitch.  That is the accented syllable.  

[basketcase]

Try exaggerating like crazy when you say the word out loud, using a couple of different options for stressed syllables. The wrong stress pattern (I hope!) will sound distinctly worse to your ears. 

 

ap-PLI-ance

AP-pli-ance

ap-pli-ANCE

 

This is too technical for a 2nd grader, but you can also try dropping vowels or changing vowels to a schwa ("uh") sound. In English, we tend to change unaccented syllables to schwas, and sometimes we drop them altogether. So if it sounds crazy to change a vowel to a schwa, it's likely an accented syllable.

 

uh-PLI-uhnce is understandable and dropping the last vowel also works fine, but changing the middle vowel "I" to a schwa sounds odd. So the accent must go on the second syllable.

 

This even works on words with 2 long vowel sounds, like "oatmeal" - 

OAT-muhl sounds better than uht-MEAL.

[Based on Faith Academy]

Say the word with your mouth closed.  One syllable will have a higher pitch.  That is the accented syllable.  

 

One moment I think I have this using it this way and another time it seems I mess it up. :confused1:

 

Try exaggerating like crazy when you say the word out loud, using a couple of different options for stressed syllables. The wrong stress pattern (I hope!) will sound distinctly worse to your ears. 

 

ap-PLI-ance

AP-pli-ance

ap-pli-ANCE

 

This is too technical for a 2nd grader, but you can also try dropping vowels or changing vowels to a schwa ("uh") sound. In English, we tend to change unaccented syllables to schwas, and sometimes we drop them altogether. So if it sounds crazy to change a vowel to a schwa, it's likely an accented syllable.

 

uh-PLI-uhnce is understandable and dropping the last vowel also works fine, but changing the middle vowel "I" to a schwa sounds odd. So the accent must go on the second syllable.

 

This even works on words with 2 long vowel sounds, like "oatmeal" - 

OAT-muhl sounds better than uht-MEAL.

 

Thank you! Maybe it is an impossibility for me to teach this.