In the sequence followed for learning to read by the Phonics Pow Toolkit, the syllable type learned after Open & Closed Syllables is Silent e.
A letter e at the end of a word is silent and makes the vowel long. A vowel that is long says it’s name. Two E’s are like twins and often stick together, as in tree, so the e may not always be at the end, like in seed. With the other vowels the silent e at the end is often separated by a consonant. Together or apart, Silent e often works just the same. (although sometimes ie makes a long E sound (see Vowels That Vary), and o_e can make a short U sound. (some love gloves)
WATCH videos and PLAY online games at a Silent e tutorial at Wakelet. Some online games require flash, which is no longer supported after 12/31/2020. Learn more at The End of Flash.
WATCH more videos from Kids vs Phonics: A_E (2:11), EE (1:27), E_E (1:24) I_E (1:42), IE (1:47), O_E (2:17), U_E (1:56), UE (1:50)and at the Silent e playlist at the PhonicsPow Youtube channel
LISTEN and play at Quizlet
More Silent e Resources:
- Silent E contrast w/CVC from teacherstakeout
- SORT Silent e flashcards from Lanternfish ESL, Sort Mat – Silent E Handout from mes-english.com
- Silent e pictures and word building from First Grade and Fabulous
- Long Vowel Words & Pictures from 123 Homeschool 4 Me
- Short A/Long A, I, and O from thisreadingmama (color)
- More at the Silent e Pinterest Board.
READ Long A sentences (plus all long vowels) from stickyball.net and BOOKS: “Nice Mice in the Rice” by Brian P Cleary “Here Comes Silent e!” by Anna Hays
PLAY printable games: The Silent E Freebie Set includes one of each type of resource from several different sets, all about Silent e. You get the Silent e information from the Phonics Fun Folders set, a game board from the Phonics Patterns Game Board Set, a page from the Spot and Dot Phonics Patterns set, and a Soccer Sort Game. (Soccer Sort Games are sold separately at the Super Tutor Tools store at Teachers Pay Teachers). The Bee Hive Silent e game is also available at the Super Tutor Tools store.
Often there is a consonant between the vowel and the e at the end, so they can be called split digraphs. But sometimes not. (tone, toe)
WEED SEED Two ee’s are like twins and like to stick together, so the e may not be at the end.
Some words have both a silent e vowel and a consonant digraph. Learn more at Chase the Sheep.
Silent e Variations
There are a few variations to learn at the end of the Silent e section (III.e) of the Phonics Pow Toolkit. There are worksheets and games to practice these in the toolkit, and there are sorts for these in the free word sort games download.
- In some words, Defender D can stop silent e from making the vowel long. (hūge bădge) You will see the letter g before e will often soft /j/ be in these words. WATCH -dge strategy from Sue’s Strategies.
- The letter c before e will often soft /s/ be. C = /s/ in the word families -ace and -ice. This is a good time to introduce hard or soft c and g. The letter s makes the sound of /s/ in some words with Silent e: base, case, vase, vise, and dose. In other words with Silent e, the letter s makes the sound of /z/: phase, phrase, hose, nose, pose, rose, chose, those, cheese, these, rise, wise, use, and fuse. Learn more about the sounds of s and practice Silent e words with soft c, s=/s/ or /z/ & z=/z/ with an online word sort.
- Some words with the letter o that you might expect to have a long vowel sound do not. Instead, they make the schwa sound of “uh.” Learn more at some love gloves.
- A few more silent e exception words that make the short sound are: have, give, and gone.
There are more ways that vowels can be long:
- Vowel Teams, and Open & Closed Syllables.
- I and O can be long when followed by two consonants: (find and lift the lost gold) But if you have lost a gift, you know it is not always so.
Phonics Pow 