📖 ReadingLevel 1Lesson 5
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Long Vowel Patterns — Silent-e Words

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Learning Objectives

  • 1Understand that a silent e at the end of a word makes the middle vowel say its long name
  • 2Read silent-e words correctly by applying the CVCe pattern
  • 3Match short-vowel base words with their silent-e long-vowel counterparts
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Mini Lesson

You know the five short vowel sounds: /a/ /e/ /i/ /o/ /u/. Now meet their long versions — where the vowel says its own name: /A/ /E/ /I/ /O/ /U/. The magic that makes this happen is a silent e at the end of the word!

The silent-e rule (CVCe pattern)

  • Consonant + Vowel + Consonant + e = the vowel says its long name.
  • The e at the end is silent — you do not say it!
  • Example: cap (/a/ short) → add e → cape (/A/ long).
  • The e "reaches back" across the consonant to make the vowel long.

Five vowel examples

  • a-e: cap → cape · mat → mate · plan → plane
  • i-e: bit → bite · pin → pine · kit → kite
  • o-e: hop → hope · not → note · rob → robe
  • u-e: cub → cube · tub → tube · cut → cute
  • e-e: (rare) — Pete, eve

How to read a silent-e word

  • See the e at the end → remember it is silent.
  • Say the vowel in the middle with its long name.
  • Read: consonant + long vowel + consonant. Done!
The magic-e transformation on four word pairsFour rows each showing a short CVC word becoming a silent-e CVCe word: cap to cape, kit to kite, hop to hope, and cub to cube. A small e flies in with a curved arrow to each.Add the magic e!capecapekitekitehopehopecubecubeshort vowellong vowel
A silent e flies in — and the middle vowel now says its name.
Short and long vowel sounds side by sideFive rows, one for each vowel, showing the short sound on the left with a short-word example and the long sound on the right with a silent-e word example.Short vs Long VowelShort · CVCLong · CVCea/a/ — caplike in bat/A/ — capesays its namee/e/ — petlike in bed/E/ — Peterare patterni/i/ — kitlike in sit/I/ — kitesays its nameo/o/ — hoplike in dog/O/ — hopesays its nameu/u/ — cublike in bug/U/ — cubesays its nameThe silent e makes the vowel say its name.
Each vowel has a short sound and a long sound — the silent e unlocks the long one.
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Ask yourself: "Is there an e at the end? Then make the middle vowel say its name!"

Vocabulary
Silent e
An e at the end of a word that is not pronounced, but makes the middle vowel say its long namee.g. the e in cape, bite, hope, cube
CVCe pattern
Consonant – Vowel – Consonant – silent e — the word pattern that triggers the long-vowel sounde.g. cape, kite, note, tube
Long vowel
The vowel sound that says the letter's name — /A/ /E/ /I/ /O/ /U/e.g. the a in cape, the i in kite
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