How to Teach Silent E Words Virtually and in the Classroom

It has so many names: silent E, magic E, super E, sneaky E. No matter how you call the words with silent E, today I'll share my step-by-step process on how to teach silent E words virtually or in the classroom.

Step 1: Introduce and practice silent E words

This is how I introduce Silent E

Write letters L I K E in a mixed order. Ask kids to unscramble the word. Let them read this word. Then ask kids to finish the phrase "I like...".

I like cats.

Then explain why we read this word this way. Mention magic E or sneaky E.

After that you can ask kids to think of words that rhyme with like (cake, make, rake, lake, bake).

Use the magic E story for introduction

I love the story from Delilah. You can fin it here.

Practice silent E words

You can use many known ways and some new ways:

pool noodles
bingo + virtual bingo (create bingo cards yourself or use this site to make virtual bingo cards)
tic-tac-toe
snakes and ladders
word searches (create online using this site)

You can create the word search online and give the link to your students to complete online.

You can also download or print the word search.

Download CVCe puzzles freebie

Practice CVCe words with these quick puzzles! Download your freebie here. The puzzles can be used during St.Patrick's Day celebration or throughout the year.

Step 2: Use Epic books

I've used these books to practice silent E words virtually. You can use other books and read them with your kids.

Step 3: Practice with a whole class

Think of as many words with silent E as possible (for the reference, use the list below). You can divide students into 2 teams and set a timer. If you teach virtually, you can divide students into cohorts / rooms and set the online timer.

Here is the list of silent E words

Silent E Words with Long A

bake, cage, cake, came, cane, cape, case cave, date, face, fake, fame, fate, gate, gave, hate, lace, lake, lane, late, made, make, male, mate, maze, name, page, pale, race, rake, rate, safe, same, save, take, tame, tape, vase, wake, wave

Silent E Words with Long I

bike, bite, dice, dime, dine, dive, file, fine, five, hide, hike, hive, kite, like, lime, line, mice, mile, mime, mine, nice, nine, pile, pine, rice, ride, side, site, tile, time, wide, wine, wipe, wise

Silent E Words with Long O

bone, code, cone, doze, hole, home, hope, hose, joke, mode, mole, note, pole, robe, rode, role, rope, rose, vote, woke

Silent E Words with Long U

cube, cute, dune, fume, huge, mule, muse, mute, tube

Want to save this list for later? Pin it to your board!

Step 4: Scavenger hunts

Ask kids to go and find ____ in the house / classroom + add color.

Go find a pink vase.

Use words from step 3.

Step 5: Use videos and songs to practice silent E words

I've used this video and the following song to practice words with magic E.

Step 6: Use ready made resources

Check out this bundle with Silent E activities which you can assign in Google Classroom or any other platform (they are originally made for Google Slides).