Shhh… It’s time for Silent E worksheets
When children first begin sounding out and reading words, they typically first learn to identify consonant sounds and short vowel sounds. This enables them to read short words such as can, tin, bed, or pot. Later, children are introduced to the second sound all vowels make - the long sound that is the same as the name of the vowel. There are several scenarios in which vowels make their long sound and there is a phonics rule to explain each one. However, it is very common to see a vowel make its long sound when there is a “silent e” at the end of the word. To aid those children who are ready to focus on the long vowel sounds, I have created a set of “silent e” worksheets.
There are several reasons why the silent e is one of the first phonics rules introduced to young children.
- The position of the silent e at the end of the word makes it very easy for children to spot.
- It is likely that children who are looking at words as stories are read to them will begin to notice the letter e at the end of words with the long vowel sound and may even recognize that the e is silent.
- It is very easy to demonstrate to children exactly how the silent e changes a short vowel sound into a long vowel sound through examples such as kit and kite or not and note. For example, ask your child to read a three-letter word with the short vowel between two consonants. Then, add the silent e and read aloud the new word to show your child how the vowel sound changes from short to long.
Understanding this basic phonics rule greatly increases the amount of words a young child can read and makes the text that he reads more varied and interesting.
To help your child gain comfort saying both the long and short sounds of each vowel, you can play a simple word changing game with him. Begin by saying a word with a short vowel sound and ask your child to change the word to feature the long vowel sound. For example, you could say “bat” and your child would respond with “bate.” Then reverse the game and ask your child to change the long vowel word you say by substituting in the short vowel sound. (If you say “plane,” he would say “plan.”) The resulting words can be real or nonsense, as the goal of the game is simply to practice changing the long and short vowel sounds in words.
