Purpose
Magic Silent E: When we see a Magic Silent E at the end of a word, we know we make the vowel say its name (the long vowel sound). These activities require that students have prior knowledge of consonant and long and short vowel sounds as well as blending of these sounds in CVC pattern words.
Objectives
Students will be able to review short and long vowel sounds in whole class circle setting, pronouncing words aloud and seeing them written.
Students will be able to list and compare words with Magic Silent E from words that do not use magic e but still have a long vowel.
Students will be able to reproduce examples of Magic Silent E words orally with partners and in writing.
Students will be able to illustrate a visualization about Magic Silent E.
MA Standards
Standard 7: Beginning Reading: Students will understand the nature of written
English and the relationship of letters and spelling patterns to the sounds of speech.
Materials chart paper markers word cards glue sticks
Magic E column sheet cloze activity sheet pencils
Procedure
ACTIVATION
Review: long vowel sounds. Students will join teacher on the rug in front of chart paper. Teacher will ask, “what are the vowels?” Students should reply with “a, e, i, o, u.” Teacher will write A, E, I, O, U at the top of the chart paper. Teacher will then ask, “what are the long vowel sounds?” Students should reply with the names of the vowels; if not the teacher may respond that “each vowel makes different sounds depending on the consonant letters around it. Today we will be

looking at vowels that say their name and the letters that make it say its name.”
Teacher will continue to ask, “can anyone give an example of a word that has an
A vowel that says its name, A?” Teacher may record responses under the A column, for example: cape, ate, late. The teacher may continue to record responses for each of the other vowels. For example: Pete, kite, hope.
After a list has been compiled, (probably containing some ai / oa / igh words, too) teacher can ask what the students notice about the words that make the vowel say its name. Some students may say that they notice the e at the end of the word. Teacher may introduce the term Magic E. Some students may have heard this term before. Teache r can explain, “when silent e is detected at the end of a word, the vowels say its long sounds, or its name sound.” Teacher may ask students which words to circle because they are Magic E words.
CORE
Students may break into pairs, or small groups of 3. Each group may have word cards which include some Magic Silent E words. Students should pronounce each word and determine whether it is a Magic E word, and if so, which long vowel sound it belongs to. (Word card examples may include: cut, cute, hop, hope, like, time, cape, face, hunt, cast, tent, pick, lost). Students will categorize the word cards into columns of the appropriate vowel sound and create a discard pile of words that do not have Magic Silent E. (There will be few of these, but are included for assessment purposes.) Students may glue down the Magic E words onto a sheet.
Students will also complete the cloze passage with aid from the same cards, which have been categorized into Magic Silent E words.
CLOSING
After completing the cloze passage, the students may combine groups for up to four players and play the Magic E game. (Found from: http://www.adrianbruce.com/reading/change/change3.htm
)
GAME INSTRUCTIONS
Preparation:
Print at least six sets of cards, laminate them and cut them out. Decks include Magic E words as well as “Change” cards so students can change the vowel sound (like a WILD card).
How to play:
1. Two, three or four players sit so they are facing each other.
2. A dealer shuffles the cards and give five flashcards to each member of the group, including themselves.
3. Place all the remaining flashcards in a pile face down in the center.
Next, flip a card off the top of this pile and place it face up next to the

stack.
4. The dealer reads the card by pronouncing the sound of the letters marked in red and then the word e.g. If the card is 'kite' the dealer says, ' i like in kite' If the card is ' name ' the leader says, ' a like in ' name '.
5. Students look at their cards and take their turn moving to the left around the circle. If they have cards with the same sound as the one turned over by the dealer they can place one on top of the pile by saying ' a like in wake' or ' a like in space '.
6. If they do not have a match in their hand they pick up a card from the facedown pile. If the card they pick up is a match they can put it straight down, if not, they place it in their hand and the next player has a turn.
7. If the player does not have a match but has a CHANGE card in their hand they can change the sound being matched i.e. if say they had the cards ' rope, vote & stove ' they would place down their CHANGE card and say "I'd like to change it to ' o like in rope'" . All the following players must match for ' o_e '.
8. The person who is the first to have no cards left is the winner.
ADDITIONAL ASSESSMENT
Poetry Visualizing: Students may receive a poem that contains Magic Silent E words. Students may circle Magic Silent E words, and then complete an illustration of a Magic E word(s). (Birds of a Feather was used in this example, but other poems may be better for this the purpose of Magic Silent E.)
Cloze worksheet will be used as an individual assessment to determine if student understands the writing of Magic Silent E.
Because Magic Silent E also involves a phonological component, I would like students to read aloud a portion of a story that includes examples of Magic Silent
E. I may call up students individually and complete a QRI analysis or discuss rubric, while the rest of students complete their visualizing activity
Rubric used with student input:

Modifications
Some students may be given more time, one-on-one support, or may write only words (rather than full sentence) on the cloze sheet.
Extention:
Students may circle Magic Silent Es in a story or news article as homework.
Also, work with ot her long sounds, such as “ai” (as in pain ) or “oa” (as in boat ), during whole class circle, using chart paper.
Next, students may learn about drop the E and adding ING. The long vowel sound is still present, yet the E has been dropped.