![]() ![]() Silent e Job # 3: English Words Should Not End in the Letter VĪnother job of silent e is to make sure words do not end in the letter v. If a short vowel comes before /j/, use -dge. Students will learn that English words do not end in J, so when we hear /j/ at the end, use -ge. This is also a good time to teach -dge vs. They will learn that when there is a silent e, you never use c for the /k/ sound because -ce says /s/. For that first sort with /s/ and /k/, I would also bring in some ck words so students can see -ce, -ke, and -ck together. This rule explained so much for me! The slide below explains how I introduce this concept and shows some great word and picture sorts. Silent e Job #2: E makes C says /s/ and G say /j/ When you see the pattern VCe (Vowel-Consonant-e), then usually the magic/super e will make the vowel say its long sound. This one is the classic job that we all know and love that I talked about above. The Jobs of the Silent e Silent e Job #1: Silent e ma kes the vowel before it say its name. Now that you’ve seen how I introduce the silent e, let’s get into the many other jobs that silent e has. Show students how the e goes outside the box because it does not make a sound.Tell them that there are different ways to make a vowel say its name, but one common way is with the silent (or super or magic) e.After filling in each box, you can then go back and point out that the vowel is making its long sound (or “saying its name”).Students will count three sounds, so you will draw three sound boxes.For example, you may want to start with the familiar word, “like”.Say a familiar word and have them break it down the same way they have been taught with other words.This is the procedure I use for introducing silent e words: For the “silent e”, this is actually super helpful for building conceptual understanding. After reading more about the orthographic mapping theory, I now buy into the idea that we should start with the familiar pronunciation first, then break it down and show how the letters match up. I used to introduce this concept by starting with a CVC word and then adding the silent e. Why aren’t these rules taught to all teachers in education programs? Why wasn’t I taught this? That mystery I cannot solve, but I can shed a little light on the other jobs of silent e.īefore I get into the many jobs of the silent e, I want to talk about how I introduce the concept of the silent e, focusing on the silent e’s most common job: Making the first vowel make it’s long sound (or “say it’s name”). I call them secrets because it feels like they are secrets sometimes. In fact, I didn’t know this even after teaching ten years! When I started learning some of the “secrets” to our language, I had so many aha moments. When you hear someone say silent e words, do you automatically think of words where the silent e makes the first vowel say it’s name? Did you know that silent e does so more than that? I did not know there were so many jobs of the silent e when I started teaching. ![]()
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