If you're a teacher in the primary grades, I'm betting you spend a fair bit of your time teaching spelling and phonics. I know this is certainly true for my own classroom, as we devote daily time to focusing on these subjects. One of the spelling rules we practice a ton is “Magic E”, or “Silent E”. If you're ready to jump into teaching CVCe words in your room, this post is for you! Check out exactly how I make teaching “Magic E” super fun and engaging!
Once my kiddos have mastered those CVC words and short vowels, it's time to learn all about long vowels. The best place to start with long vowels is teaching CVCe words and how “Magic E” works. Personally, I LOVE this lesson, and honestly, my kiddos do too! Over the years I've come up with a tried and true method for teaching on this topic. And, it's not only fun for my kiddos, but also super effective. Ready to hear all the tips? Let's get to it!
Introducing “Magic E” or “Silent E”
Teaching young students the “Magic E” rule is a little tricky at first, but with the right introduction, you'll be off to a great start. In my classroom, I like to introduce new spelling and grammar rules to my whole group at once. I find this to be an effective and time-efficient way to give the whole class a high-level overview before diving into small groups and centers.
When it comes to kindergarten and first-grade students, you can never go wrong with catchy songs! For this reason, I often lean into cute videos like this one as the very first exposure to “Magic E”. This song in particular is great at illustrating to kiddos the changes in vowel sound that come along with “Magic” or “Silent E”.
I pop a song like this one up on the screen and let the kiddos listen and follow along. Afterward, I repeat the spelling rule aloud. Then remind kiddos that when “Magic E” is present, the vowel sound changes from short to long. Next, I write a few examples of this on the board. To illustrate it, I like to write the vowels for each word in red and add “Magic E” in red as well. Here are a few words that make great examples for kiddos just beginning to work with “Magic E”:
- tap: changes to tape
- hid: changes to hide
- man: changes to mane
- cap: changes to cape
- not: changes to note
There are tons more words you can use, but I find that just a few examples during our group lesson are perfect to set the tone. After we've had a chance to go over this lesson, I have the kiddos break off into small groups and centers for more in-depth practice.
Working with Magic E in Small Groups
When it comes to the primary classroom, we all know how important practice is for mastery of grammar and spelling. Personally, I love diving into the majority of this practice in small groups. It gives me the opportunity to help guide, redirect, and provide more examples to my kiddos as they put their new skills into practice.
When it comes to teaching “Magic E”, there is one hands-on activity I use time and time again. To keep in line with the “magic” theme, I make “magic wands” for my kiddos out of popsicle sticks.
To do this, I just write the letter “e” on simple star cutouts. I glue the stars to the top of the popsicle sticks. Then, I use flashcards with common CVC words that we can add “Magic E” to. For each word, we say it aloud. Then, hold our magic wands down to the end of the word to “magically” change it into a new one!
This activity is great for illustrating how the letter e does all the work in changing the vowel sound in the CVC word. My kiddos LOVE this activity and it's a great way to get plenty of practice in building CVCe words. You can mix this by using letter tiles or magnetic letters to build CVC words as well. All of these options are a great way to practice CVCe words and get familiar with “Magic E”.
Practicing Spelling Words with Magic E During Centers
In my classroom, the typical instruction framework I use includes, starting with a whole group lesson, practicing in small groups over a few days, and then practicing more during center time. Center time is where the lessons we worked on during small groups really sink in and my students become masters of whatever new skill we're learning.
When it comes to teaching “Magic E” or “Silent E”, there's one resource that's always a huge hit in our classroom!
These Magic E Spelling Boom Cards are by far my favorite way to help my students master CVCe words.
If you're new to Boom Cards, be sure to check out this post detailing everything you need to know about Boom Cards.
In short, they are a digital activity that's great for projecting during a whole class or small group lesson, center time, homework, and other independent learning opportunities.
Each set of my Boom Cards comes with sound so that the directions can be read aloud before the students complete the task.
Boom Cards are also self-correcting and collect data so you'll be able to see the progress each student is making over time.
Using Boom Cards for Magic E
Boom Cards can be used to teach just about anything, but they are especially great for tricky topics like “Magic E”-words.
Each card in the “Magic E” deck reads the name of each picture on the card. Students can click the speaker to hear it again if they missed it.
After they've heard the word, they use the drag and drop function on the Boom Cards to move the letters and spell a word. These Boom Cards mirror the activities we used in small groups to practice “Magic E” in a new, interactive way!
We use these Boom Cards during centers, and independent learning time, but I also love to assign them for homework to help my kiddos get continued practice with CVCe words. And. . . parents love that at-home screen time has a learning objective.
I like to revisit our whole group lesson after my kiddos have a firm grasp on “Magic E” for one last check-in as well. This time around though, I actually put the Boom Cards up on the Smart Board and call kiddos up to help solve each one. This is a fun way to check on student understanding or offer a quick review later in the year.
Even More Boom Cards for CVCe Words
If you'd like to try out these Magic E Boom Cards in your classroom, you're in luck! Enter your email below to be sent a FREE deck of Boom Cards that focus on CVCe words. This is a great opportunity to test out my method for teaching silent e in your classroom!
And if you're looking for even more activities to practice CVCe words, be sure to check out my BUNDLE of Boom Cards dedicated to CVCe word work activities! This bundle includes 7 decks with fun and engaging practice games that your students will LOVE! These fun activities will help your students get the practice they need to master those tricky CVCe words and “Magic E”!
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