Tools to help with Silent "E"

[Micron4]

My dd6 and I are working through OPGTR. We are around lesson 75, which is where they introduce the silent E. She grasps the concept, but I can see that she needs a lot more practice. The practice sentences in OPGTR are so awkward--I hate to subject her to them more than once.

 

What have you used to practice silent "E" words? Any ideas?:bigear:

[frugalmama]

The Leapfrog DVD - Word Caper teaches all about them, set to music so it's easy to remember. It worked great for DD, as did all the rest of the learning to read leapfrog series.

[Ibbygirl]

I don't know if it would be too young for your dd, but I really like the Leap Frog videos. They have catchy cute songs that really cement the rules in your head. I think it's Talking Words Factory that goes over silent e. HTH. :)

[Ibbygirl]

The Leapfrog DVD - Word Caper teaches all about them, set to music so it's easy to remember. It worked great for DD, as did all the rest of the learning to read leapfrog series.

 

LOL We posted the same thing at the same time! hehehe Yes, I think you're right that it's the Word Caper one not the Talking Words one. Thanks. :)

[frugalmama]

LOL We posted the same thing at the same time! hehehe Yes, I think you're right that it's the Word Caper one not the Talking Words one. Thanks. :)

 

We're both right - Word Caper used to be titled Talking Words Factory 2: Code Word Caper :D

[Karen in CO]

Leapfrog has a great video to help with silent E. Code Word Caper

Other than that, we use ETC (Explode the Code) for extra phonics practice.

Phonics Pathways in another place to get lots of practice. You can also use a white board and write words for practice or play some word bingo type games for practice.

[ElizabethB]

Have her transform hundreds of words, including nonsense words, from their short to long form by adding e. Also, have her spell some of each. If she forgets the e, ask her, what do you have to do to make it have its long sound?

 

bak...bake, tin...tine, mot...mote, put...pute.

 

You could also write a few on a white board with the first vowel and the e the same color (and a different color from the rest), showing that they are acting together to make the first vowel long.

 

That is part of the reason I really like Webster's Speller--you work on short and long vowels from the start, so you do not run into this problem later.

 

Here is a thread with more ideas, a lot of people get stuck there for a while if they are going through a normal phonics sequence.

 

http://www.welltrainedmind.com/forums/showthread.php?t=73087&highlight=silent+e+hop+hope

[Lecka]

The best thing for my son was using letter tiles (with AAS -- but any would do).

 

Then we would have words with the short vowel sound, and then add e to make the long vowel sound.

 

So we had rat/rate, mat/mate, hat/hate, cut/cute...etc.

 

That is what helped him.

 

He took a while to understand the concept of it. He took a while to get solid with just adding e to the end of a cvc word. Then, he needed to practice reading individual words for a while, before starting to read words in text.

Edited January 24, 2012 by Lecka

[almondbutterandjelly]

Silent Letters Loud and Clear is a cute picture book that might be helpful.

[abacus2]

Leap Frog, absolutely. My dd had been struggling with reading generally, but after just a couple viewings of the Leap Frog video, she had silent "e" down.

[Micron4]

Thanks for all the ideas so far! I will definitely be trying some (or probably all) of them. Just trying to get through this part so we can move on!

[kristinannie]

I love the Struggling Reader phonics games for teaching silent e. They have worked really well for our son. One is to give her a notecard with a lowercase e on it. You say a word that is a CVC word (hat). She will raise up her arm and add the silent e and say hate. We also play memory with cards like that: hat, hate; cap, cape; cut, cute; rip, ripe, etc. We find the "matches" and then my son has to say both of them. We also use letter tiles. I will spell a CVC word and then he will add a silent e on the end and then say the new word. A couple of weeks of games like this and he has had no problem with silent e words.

[HiddenJewel]

There are five reasons for a silent E. Knowing these has helped us immensely.

[*Jessica*]

Whenever my new reader gets to a word with silent E and starts misreading the word I gently remind, "The E at the end makes the vowel say its name."

[ErinE]

Do you have any phonics readers like BOB books or Nora Gaydos? I've found that DD5 did not like the OPGTR sentences, but would understand the lesson if we used her phonics readers. I try to use readers that have phonemes from the day's lesson. She reads two books per day and each book is read 4 times before it's cycled out of the assigned reading and into the free reading basket. I'd also recommend the silent E "change the word" game mentioned by a PP. Since it's such a big concept, it may take lots of practice to remember.