Erin Brent
Spelling Assessment and Connected Lesson
“Magic E”
Purpose: During the DSA Assessment for Within Letter Name, the student had all of the features correct
(initial/final consonant, initial blends/digraphs, short vowels, affricates, final blends/digraphs). During the
DSA Assessment for Within Word Patterns, the feature the student had correct was controlled vowels, he
was using but confusing long vowels, complex consonants, and abstract vowels. Other long vowels were
completely absent. I decided to focus a lesson on “magic e” because that is what he missed most
frequently. The student had a hard time with long vowel sounds in general, so I wanted to target one type
of long vowel sound. This is important because, while the student is advanced for his age group, he is still
lacking the long vowel skills. Targeting a specific and common type of long vowel sound will benefit him.
This matters in regards to spelling as well as reading. It is important for a student to be able to identify
long vowel sounds so that he may be able to spell the word correctly and pronounce the word correctly
when reading it.
Reading
1.6 The student will apply phonetic principles to read and spell. a) Use beginning and ending
consonants to decode and spell single-syllable words. b) Use two-letter consonant blends to decode and
spell single-syllable words. c) Use beginning consonant digraphs to decode and spell single-syllable
words. d) Use short vowel sounds to decode and spell single-syllable words. e) Blend beginning, middle,
and ending sounds to recognize and read words. f) Use word patterns to decode unfamiliar words. g)
Read and spell simple two-syllable compound words. h) Read and spell commonly used sight words.
2.5 The student will use phonetic strategies when reading and spelling. a) Use knowledge of
consonants, consonant blends, and consonant digraphs to decode and spell words. b) Use knowledge of
short, long, and r-controlled vowel patterns to decode and spell words. c) Decode regular multisyllabic
words.
Objective: The student will be able to sort words with the vowels “a” and “i”, as well as differentiate
between the long “a” and short “a” sound, and the long “i” versus the short “i” sound given a traditional
sort of pictures and words with ease and little teacher support. The student will also be able to add a
“magic e” to the end of words and notice how it changes the sound of the vowel by reading each word
and hearing the difference, as well as writing out the word before it has the “e” and then again after every
time.
Procedure:
Introduction: I will ask the student if he remembers the spelling test that we took previously. I will explain
that the student did very well, however there are some words he had trouble with and we are going to
work on skills that he needs to develop in order to be able to spell those words correctly in the future. I will
explain that he had a hard time spelling words with long vowels. I will also explained that after we talk
about the skills, we will do a traditional sort pictures and words into different headings, and once that is
completed
we
will play a game to further develop skills the student needs
Development:
 Introduce the traditional sort with the student.
 Review all the pictures with the student.
 If they have any questions answer the questions they may have.
 Discuss the headers with the student.
o What sound does long/short “i" make? What sound does long/short “a” make?
o Make sure the student can differentiate between the long and short sounds. If not, review
the sounds with the student.
o For example, long vowels say their name, short vowels are lazy.
 Ask the student to pay attention to any patterns or differences he notices between the words in
the sort.

Have the students read the word and sound out the vowel sound and place the word under the
correct category.
 Ask the student if he notices any patterns between the different types of vowels.
o How are they spelled?
o Do they look the same?
o Where are the short vowel sounds at? Where are the long vowel sounds at?
o What about the e’s on the end? What does that signify?
o Hopefully the student will be able to draw connections. If the student is still confused,
explain to them that “e” on the end can create the long vowel sound.
 Once the sort is complete, explain the game to the child. Say we are going to play a game that
helps us work on the “e” at the end of words to make the long vowels.
o To play: Each player puts their playing piece (bottle cap with lowercase e on it) on the
pug.
o Students roll the die, or draw a card with a number on it (I numbered cards 1-5 and
shuffled them) and move that many spaces on the board.
o When they arrive at the spot, the player will need to say the word on it first and then use
their “magic e” playing piece to say the word again this time giving the vowel the long
sound. (Ex- hop / hope)
o There is a recording sheet that the student will need to write the initial word on (again,
have them say the word with the short vowel sound) and then in the column next to the
initial word, write the word with the “magic e” on the end (make sure the student reads
the words with the long vowel sound). Do this for every space the student lands on.
o First player to reach the end is the winner!
For struggling students, you could have them place their game piece with the e right next to that spot they
will land on to reinforce the visual change of the word .
For advanced, have them brainstorm any long vowel words with “magic e”. What about the sort? Did any
of those words have a “magic e”?
Summary: At the end of the “Magic E” game, ask the student again about the patterns that he noticed
between a long vowel sounds in the short vowel sounds. What does the “magic e” do to the words? Ask
him if he has any questions. Does he seem confused? Or does it make sense? Let him know he did a
great job.
Materials: traditional sort with words and pictures, “magic e” game, worksheet that accompanies the
game, pencil, game pieces
Evaluation A: I will know the student has met the objectives during the sort because the student will be
able to correctly place each picture and word without teacher assistance. The student will be able to read
the words fluently. The student will recognize patterns between long vowel sounds and short vowel
sounds (Is there an e on the end? Where are the vowels?).
Evaluation B:
Did the student meet my objectives?
How do I know?
What were the weaknesses of this lesson?
What were the strengths?
How would I change this lesson?