3.2 Explicitly Teach Magic 'e'

Now it’s time to teach! 

If you decide to use The Alphabet Queen story (based on The Alphabet King (opens in new window), an original story by dyslexia therapist Jennings Miller), that will be your students' introduction to magic 'e'. You'll review the parts of the story about closed and open syllables, then read the magic 'e' part to introduce the concept.

Or you can start with this step-by-step lesson for teaching magic 'e'. (If you are using our phonics lesson daily checklist (opens in new window), this will fit in the New/Review section.)

On the board, write the word name. Ask,

What is the first vowel that you see? (Students should say 'a'.) What kind of letter do you see after the 'a'? (Some may say 'm' but guide them to the answer that it is a consonant.) What letter do you see after the consonant? (Students should say 'e'.)

Tell students,

Write the word note on the board. Say,

Let's look at the next word. What is the first vowel? (Students say 'o'.) What kind of letter is right after that vowel? (Students say a consonant.) What letter do you see next? (Students say 'e'.) 

Yes! I see the pattern vowel-consonant-e, which means this is a magic 'e' word! If the 'e' jumps back over the 't' and bonks the 'o' on its head, what will the 'o' say? (Students say /ō/.) Yes, the sounds in this word are /n/, /ō/, /t/, so what is the word? (Students say note.)

Show students the new flash cards (opens in new window) to be added to the flash card deck.

Practice each magic 'e' sound with the keywords, saying:

'a', consonant, 'e', cake, /ā/

'o', consonant, 'e', home, /ō/

'i', consonant, 'e', kite, /ī/

'e', consonant, 'e', eve, /ē/

'u', consonant, 'e', cube, /ū/

'u', consonant, 'e', tune, /oo/

When students know the sounds with the keywords, you can take the keywords away. Students can instead practice: 'a', consonant, 'e', says /ā/

Important Note: Depending on your grade, you may introduce one or two magic 'e' patterns a day, using words for reading and dictation with just those vowel patterns. You may want to teach 'e_e' and 'u_e' last given that 'e_e' is rare in one-syllable words and 'u_e' is the most difficult. 

Now you will show students how to mark and label magic 'e' syllables, which will help them when they're reading multisyllabic words. Students should have already learned open and closed syllables, so magic 'e' will be their third syllable type! Marking and labeling helps the students unlock the sound of the vowel. This portion of the lesson will fit into the syllable work section of our lesson plan.

Start with a quick review of closed and open syllables. Remind students that vowels say their short sounds when they are closed in by — or followed by — a consonant. Use the words cap and not as examples, writing them on the board.

Say,

Magic 'e' is a spelling pattern and a syllable type. Now we will take what we learned about magic 'e' and learn how to recognize magic 'e' syllables. This will help you read bigger words.

Here, students will practice identifying magic 'e' syllables. These step-by-step procedures for marking and labeling a syllable will help unlock the sound of the vowel. Practice this with magic 'e' syllables first, then add in some open and closed syllables. This reiterates that students can now identify and read three syllable types.

Have students do the following:

Steps for Identifying a Syllable Type

1. Look through the syllable from left to right and find the first vowel. Underline the vowel and write a 'v' for the vowel underneath it.

2. Touch the vowel and look "next door" (right after the vowel). This is where the syllable types magic 'e', open, and closed will be determined. 

3. Is there a consonant next door? 

• If no, then the syllable is open and the vowel is long.
• If yes, write 'c' for consonant under it. Then, look to see if there is an 'e' right after that consonant. If yes, then it is a magic 'e' syllable and the vowel will make its long sound.
• If there is no 'e' then it is a closed syllable and the vowel will make its short.

4. Label the syllable type.

• If the syllable is magic 'e', draw an arch from the 'e', back over the consonant, to land on the first vowel with a macron and label the syllable as magic 'e' with a capital 'E' for magic 'e' and circle it.
• If it is open, mark the vowel long with a macron and label the syllable with an 'O' for open and circle it.
• If it is closed, mark the vowel with a breve and label the syllable with a 'C' for closed and circle it. 

6. Review what the vowel will say in the word.

7. Read the syllable.

Here's some language you might use when introducing marking and labeling for magic 'e'. You can also use this during the syllable work portion of subsequent lessons, which is when you practice coding and labeling: 

I am going to spell a syllable for you. Please do not blurt out the syllable! We are going to move through the syllable — both marking and labeling. Here we go.

Write 'b', 'i', 'n', 'e' on the whiteboard, and say,

Now, look all the way through the syllable and touch the first vowel. Underline the vowel and mark it with a 'v' for vowel.

Now, look all the way through the syllable and touch the first vowel. Underline the vowel and mark it with a 'v' for vowel.

Next, look and see if there is an 'e' after the consonant. If there is, the syllable is magic 'e', and the first vowel sound is long, saying its name. Make an arch from the 'e' over the consonant to the first vowel and add a macron. Label the syllable as magic 'e' with an 'E' and a circle around it.

What's the vowel sound?

Students give the vowel sound, /ī/.

Now let's tap and read the syllable together.

/b/, /ī/, /n/. /bīn/.

When students are confident with this process, you should fade out the marking and labeling. Those are scaffolds, not the skill itself, so stop when students can decode without them.

However, each time students learn a new syllable type, they'll return to using all the steps for identifying a syllable until they master that new skill.

Spelling magic 'e' syllables with the /k/ sound at the end can be tricky. Students will need to use what they know about 'c' vs. 'k' vs. '-ck'. Do not teach this on day one of magic 'e' instruction. This can be its own lesson.

Tell students you're going to practice magic 'e' words that end in the /k/ sound, like bake, cake, and joke. 

You can start by having students read a list of words with both long and short vowel sounds, like this one:

back - bake
tack -  take
lack - lake
lick - like
Mick - Mike

Next you'll have students practice spelling words that end in the /k/ sound. Explain that if the vowel sound is short and /k/ is at the end, they should spell it with 'ck'. If the vowel sound is long, they should spell it as a magic 'e' word, with 'k', 'e' at the end. Here are some words for spelling:

tack - take
rack - rake
snack - snake
lick - lake