From FreeReading
| Activity Type: Introduce |
| Activity Form: Standard |
| Grade: K, 1, 2 |
| Group Size: Small Group, Whole Class |
| Length: 6 minutes |
| Materials: Optional: CVC/CVCe index cards (print them here) |
| Goal: Given a printed word ending vowel-consonant-e, say the word ( VCe-word -> "VCe-word" ) |
| Items: dime, cube, hop, hope, cut, cute, not, note, con, cone |
What to do
- Write the word dime on the board in letters at least a foot tall (or use these index cards).
- Who can sound out this word? Remember the magic rule: the e stays silent but it makes the vowel say its name. Cover up the e. Which letter here is the vowel? Right, the i. Uncover the e. So instead of /i/, the i says what? Yes, its name: /ī/. So sound out the word with me: dīīīmmm, dime. Good..
- Now I'm going to try to trick you. Erase dime and replace it with cube. Remember the rule is that the e stays silent but it makes the vowel say its name. Cover up the e. Which letter here is the vowel? Right, the u. Uncover the e. So instead of /u/, the u says what? Its name: /ū/. So sound out the word with me: cūūūb, cube. Right!
- Let's do another. Sound out this word. Erase cube and write hop on the board. Hooop, hop. Now if I put an e on the end, what happens? Remember the rule: the e stays silent but it makes the vowel say its name. Cover up the e. Which letter here is the vowel? Right, the o. Uncover the e. So instead of /o/, the o says its name: /ō /. So the word is hōōōp, hope.
- Now you try. Erase hope and write cut. Sound out this word. Students: cuuut. What's the word? Students: cut. Now add the e. Now sound out the word. Students: cūūūt. What's the word? Students: cute. Right! Cute.
- Watch for students who don't get it. Walk them through the rule on their own, modeling for them if necessary. If a student continues to have trouble, make a note in an Activity Log and move on.
- Continue with not / note, con / coneuntil everyone gets it. Try to give all the less accomplished students an individual turn.
Notes
- It's important that students sound out words when they are first learning the VCe rule, else they may just learn to recognize the words and fail to learn the rule.
- Some teachers like to define or give example sentences for words that students may not know (eg, “The shape of a square block is called a cube.”) Other teachers worry that this may overload students and prefer to focus on the VCe rule.
- For a list of practice words—CVC words that can be changed into another word by adding e—click here.
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