I think it’s safe to say that all K-2 teachers know that no matter what you call it; silent e, magic e, or sneaky e, a well placed e can make the vowel before it say its own name.
Teaching this rule can be helpful for readers and spellers.
If a young speller is trying to write the word “like”, it would helpful for them to know that a silent e can help them make the long i sound.
Teaching this phonics rule to readers and spellers carries them a long way in the literacy world.
Imagine how difficult it would be to read the list of words below without this knowing about this silent e job:
angel, gem, large, genetics, page, huge, cage, orange, germ, fudge
dance, face, slice, fence, peace, prince, juice, voice, twice, bounce, rice
This silent e job is another important one that is a must for young readers and spellers to know about. Whenever an le appears at the end of word after a consonant, kids need to know that it’s going to make an “ul” sound.
When students are spelling words and the final sound they are trying to spell is “ul”, it’s likely (if it comes after a consonant) that it’s being made by the letters le.
Imagine how difficult it would be to read the list of words below without this knowing about this silent e job:
turtle, circle, bubble, table, jungle, gobble, purple, able, maple, little, wiggle, tickle, bottle, sparkle
When K-2 educators are trying to go through all the many many phonics rules that kids need to know, teaching the two TH’s should be no exception.
We can hear an unvoiced TH like in the word tooth, as well as the voiced TH like in the words: clothe, breathe, soothe, teethe, and loathe.
It might be difficult to spell and read well without this knowledge!
Floss Rule: If a one-syllable word has a short vowel followed by an f, l, s, or z, those letters will likely be doubled.
Examples: moss, floss, fluff, puff, hill, pill, buzz, and fizz
Imagine how difficult it would be to read or spell the list of words below without this knowing about this silent e job:
please, dense, mouse, goose, blouse, and tease
I hope all of this was helpful whether you’re a parent or an educator. It may seem like a lot, but kids can learn these rules and they do benefit from knowing them!
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