First grade students know there are different ways to make long vowel sounds in words. This week, we are reviewing the “magic e” or “silent e” rule. The “magic e” rule states that a one syllable word ending in e changes the short vowel sound to the long vowel sound, or in other words it makes the vowel say its name. The following CVC and CVCe words demonstrate the magic e, or silent e, spelling pattern: mop – mope, pal – pale, and kit – kite.
Throughout the week students will learn additional rules associated with silent e. For example when silent e comes after a g, the g changes to a /j/ sound. Similarly when a silent e comes after a c, it changes to an /s/ sound. Finally, as with many phonics and spelling rules, there are often exceptions. We’ll be on the look out for words that break these rules as we introduce our class “Word Jail.”
