Silent E: 1, 2, 3!

Explicit Instruction/Teacher Modeling

• Tell your students that some words have a silent E that makes a vowel say its name.
• Explain that sometimes A has a short sound, and sometimes it has a long sound. Demonstrate the two different sounds. For example, cat has the short A sound while cave has the long A sound.
• Repeat these steps with the vowels I and O. Potential demonstration words include: rip, ripe, dot, and tone.

Guided Practice/Interactive Modeling

• Review short and long vowel sounds (A, I, and O) by having the students participate in choral reading and blending.
• Tell your students that when you count to three, they need to say the word that you point to.
• Display the Short A/Long A poster on the board, and guide the students through saying each sound as you point to the corresponding letter.
• After blending the individual sounds of each word, count to three and have the students say the full word.
• Point out the differences between words with short vowels versus long vowels. Potential discussion questions include: What shape does your mouth make when you say a word with a short A versus a long A?
• Continue blending with the Short I/Long I and Short O/Long O charts.
• Display the game Silent E School Bus Stop Spelling on the SMART Board. Play the game as a class, or have your students play the game on individual devices.

Independent Working Time

• Have your students complete the Silent E Scramble worksheet.
• For students who may have difficulty recognizing individual sounds, use a blending procedure and work with students in a small group, calling the letters out sound by sound and having the students locate them.
• For students who may need prompting, provide the first one or two letters for each word, either writing them on the worksheet ahead of time or providing them at the beginning of independent work time.

• Enrichment: Have the students play the Silent E Match game.
• Support: Print out the Silent E Flashcards, and have each child color all letters except the long vowel and silent E. Have students use a glitter pen to trace over each long vowel and silent E. After allowing the glitter glue to dry, send the flashcards home with the child to practice with a parent or retain the cards in the classroom for future practice. Alternatively, assign the Silent E Words worksheet to students who might need more help.

• You can use a SMART Board or other interactive board to display words. Have students trace the long vowel and the silent E with a different color from the rest of the word.

• Using the Assessment Chart, work with students individually during this workshop or at the end of independent work time. Write the words from the Short and Long Vowel Poster at the top of the chart.
• Ask your students to read the words displayed on the Short and Long Vowel Poster, and document which words they read correctly.

• Clap it out! Display and review difficult words by having the students clap the words out, one sound at a time. Ask your students to clap each time they say a sound.
• After all sounds are complete, have them say the word. This could be combined with another body movement such as jumping, showing “fireworks” with their fingers, etc.