5. Lesson Plans for Magic ‘e’

In this section, you’ll find:

• Lesson plans for introducing magic ‘e’ syllables
• Support for adding syllable work in your phonics routine  
• Word lists to support lessons and student practice with reading and spelling closed syllables

The Reading Universe lesson plans are free to download and use in your classroom. They have all the resources you need to get going right away.

Use this lesson plan when introducing magic ‘e’ syllables. 

Here is a checklist you can use each time you introduce a new syllable type.

Once students know how to identify a closed, open, or magic ‘e’ syllable, you can add syllable work into your daily phonics routine. This will become even more important as students learn more syllable types and begin practicing with multisyllable words.

During syllable work, you spell syllables aloud and then have children practice coding and labeling them using the steps.

You can also incorporate syllable work into the other parts of your lesson. For example, during your listening game, say a word and have students identify the vowel sound as short by making the motion of a breve symbol (arms in the air above their heads in the shape of a smile) while saying the short vowel sound or making a macron (arms in a straight line out like a ‘t’) while saying a long vowel sound. 

Or you can add syllables to your flash cards as part of your warm-up. Ask students to identify the vowel, then guide them to look immediately after the vowel and ask if the syllable is closed, open, or magic ‘e’. Then have them identify the vowel sound and read the word.

Ultimately, syllable work is all about decoding words. Doing syllable work in small groups focusing on reading is a great way to provide guided practice in this skill. Remember that students should stop using scaffolds such as marking and labeling as soon as they begin to read words automatically.

When choosing words to use as examples in your lessons, start with simple ones and build toward more complex ones.

For example, when we begin with magic ‘e’ syllables, we want to use simple CVCe words, like note and same. We do not want to initially use words with digraphs, like shine, or blends, like slope. 

Using nonsense syllables alongside actual syllables is an excellent way for students to practice the steps of identifying magic ‘e’ syllables in unfamiliar and familiar ways. 

We’ve made it easy for you to select words for your lessons! Our lesson plans and activities include words, phrases, and sentences for practicing magic ‘e’ syllables.

Here are lists of words, phrases, and sentences with magic ‘e’ syllables.