To build strong readers, you have to teach ALL the vowel sounds…including the SCHWA sounds! Tell me! What is the Schwa Sound? Let’s dig into the schwa!
We’ve talked about teaching phonics explicitly during reading instruction…it’s important!
What is the most common vowel sound?
Did you know the most common vowel sound is the SCHWA sound in the English Language? What???!!
As teachers our first lessons of the year are usually about the 5 vowels, then vowel teams, and so on.
When students start reading multisyllabic words, the SCHWA starts happening…a lot! Mind blown!
✔️Any vowel can make the schwa sound!
✔️The schwa sound is sometimes referred to as the “lazy vowel sound”.
The Schwa is LAZY!
According to, The Literacy Nest, “Schwa is most simply defined as the sound a vowel makes in an unaccented syllable. It is actually the most common sound in English. Any written vowel can have the schwa sound, or to put it another way, the schwa sound can be spelled with any vowel. The schwa sound is a shorter than short vowel sound or a lazy vowel. It takes very little effort for our mouth to say “uh”.”
Many teachers have not explicitly taught a “SCHWA” lesson, instead just mentioning the vowel sound changes in many words.
Let’s change that! Go ahead…teach the SCHWA…the kids love it and it makes perfect sense! As I teach small reading intervention groups, this is always a lesson that sticks and the schwa sound occurs ALL OF THE TIME!
The Schwa Symbol…
The schwa symbol is an upside down e. Let’s just say the e is taking a rest, so the symbol represents the lazy, unstressed, vowel sound. This symbol will be placed right on top of the vowel that is making the lazy sound. See below how the schwa symbol is being used.
Can the Schwa Can Be Any Vowel?
YES!
Any vowel can be the schwa sound. It just turns into a lazy sound, not as pronounced. Let’s try it with the word “salad”. It isn’t…SAL-ADD, it is “SAL-ID”.
Did you see how you didn’t follow typical phonics rules with the closed syllable being a short vowel sound, instead it turned into the schwa!
Here are some examples of ANY vowel being a schwa…
What are Schwa Sounds?
Most commonly the schwa sound takes on the short /u/ sound or the short /i/ sound. It isn’t as pronounced, but it definitely sounds more like a /u/ or /i/ than the vowel that is actually in the word.
Thrive Literacy Corner has a great idea, “Explain to students that if they read a word using both the short and long vowel sounds and it doesn’t sound familiar, they can try swapping out a vowel with a schwa until it sounds like a word they know. The schwa is more often in the second syllable so they can try that one first.”
Here is an anchor chart with some word examples:
Ideas on how to teach the SCHWA…
- Breaking Words: This lesson practices breaking a word into syllables and the schwa sound.
- The students find the vowels in a word.
- Write each vowel on a separate board.
- Write consonants for each syllable.
- Read each syllable following typical phonics rules. (Ex. Open syllable=long vowel sound)
- Put syllables together and read the word correctly…with the schwa!
Check out the video HERE!
- Robot Voice:
- Read the given word exactly how it looks, following phonics rules.
- Now, reread the word correctly using the schwa instead!
Resources to Help With SCHWA Sound
What are schwa sounds? I have created the DECODING Bundle to help students get a little extra help with explicitly learning how to decode words correctly. Included in this bundle is Schwa Practice. All of the resources are completely editable to fit your lessons. You can add words that your class is working on or use the ones that are already made…ready to print!
Schwa, Schwa, Schwa…
Schwas are so fun to teach! My students love when I say the word incorrectly first, then they correct it with the SCHWA!
Here are some examples:
Panda…Not PAN-DAY, it is PAN-DUH
Button…Not BUTT-ON, it is BUTT-IN
Necklace…Not NECK-LACE, it is NECK-LIS
The last word brings up a whole new discussion…schwa sounds with words that have a magic e/silent e. So many multisyllabic words that have the silent e, will actually have the schwa sound! What???!!
Read these words. They have the “Magic E”, but instead make the schwa sound…
adequate
necklace
positive
palace
village
luggage
cottage
attentive
Which syllable is unstressed?
The schwa is only found in the unstressed syllable. This unaccented syllable will be a lazy vowel sound in the English language. For example, AMAZE is pronounced UH-MAZE, the first syllable being unstressed.
The schwa can be explicitly taught and it actually is one of my favorite lessons! The students have fun locating the schwa sound and playing around with words.
