Once your child has learned letter sounds and can decode short consonant-vowel-consonant words, he/she might be ready to learn about the “What’s Your Name? E”. This special “e” occurs when it is split from another vowel with a consonant letter between them and is almost always silent (examples:  shine, wipe, note, etc.).

Although this concept is taught with different names, I chose to continue teaching it similar to the way that Pathways to Reading, the first grade phonemic awareness and phonics curriculum I used, teaches this phonics skill. The idea for the popsicle stick “e” was inspired by Krazy About Kiddos.

I wasn’t planning on teaching Big Brother this concept quite yet, but I have noticed that he has been confused and sometimes frustrated when he comes across a word with a long vowel sound when reading (and says every short vowel sound in a word like “gate”, even the /e/ sound on the end). Although it would probably be best to teach consonant and vowel digraphs before I teach a phonics concept such as this one, I knew this would help his independent reading ability so we forged on. :)

Here’s what you’ll need:  a Build-a-Word Tray, Adhesive Magnet Sheets, Craft Sticks, scissors, and the “What’s Your Name? E” printable.

 

1. Print out the What’s Your Name? E document and laminate it, if you choose.

 

 

Option #1:  Create a magnet from the printable, using Magnetic Sheets (which we received compliments of CraftProjectIdeas.com).

 

 

 

Place the sunburst shape onto a small piece of the sticky side of the magnet…

 

 

 …and trim along the lines.

Option #2:  Mount the What’s Your Name? E onto a popsicle stick with glue or tape.

 

 

 

Using your Build-a-Word Tray, make a typical Consonant-Vowel-Consonant (CVC) word:  Here are some words to get you started

not ——> note

hat ——> hate

wip ——> wipe

cut ——> cute

shin ——> shine

man ——> mane

hop ——> hope

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Here is a video demonstrating this lesson. This was the second time that I introduced Big Brother to this concept, so he was already somewhat familiar with it.

 

 

Also, be sure to check out these free “Magic E” printables from Make Take Teach to practice this skill!