Teaching "magic e"

Question

Teaching "magic e"

Manabiocean · Accepted Answer

Explain to the students what the magic e does. Write some examples from the textbook on the whiteboard…
- tap → tape
- cut → cute
- pet → Pete
- kit → kite
- hop → hope
Remind students of the two ways of pronouncing a, u, e, i, and o – the alphabet sounds and the phonics sounds. Explain to them how you would normally use the phonics pronunciation when reading words. Emphasize this by reading the words in the left bracket. (“Tap. a! / Cut. u! / Pet. e!...”)
Now, explain that what the magic e at the end does is simply to change the pronunciation of the letter back to the alphabet sound. Emphasize by reading the words from the right bracket. (“Tape. a! / Cute. u! / Pete. e!...”)
Finally, repeat the words from the left bracket followed by the right bracket. Try to get students to really notice how the magic e changes the pronunciation of a, u, e, i, o from the phonics sound to the alphabet sound.