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Silent e Worksheets

11 free PDFsUS Letter or A4Answer key includedNo login

A silent e chart and word list, add-the-e word building, sorts, fill-ins, pick-the-word, matching, sentences and a short story, with answer keys.

Download the silent e worksheets

Silent e chart and word list

Add the e and sort

See what the e does, then sort words and pictures. The picture sort comes as cut and paste and as a no-cut page.

Read and write silent e words

Print at 100% (actual size) for the cleanest tracing lines.

About these silent e worksheets

Silent e is the e at the end of a word like cake, kite, bone and cube. It makes no sound of its own, but it changes the vowel before it: cap becomes cape, kit becomes kite and hop becomes hope. Many teachers call it magic e or bossy e, and words built this way are often called CVCe words (consonant, vowel, consonant, e).

These silent e worksheets start with a chart and a word list for a_e, i_e, o_e and u_e. Then children add the e to change short vowel words into long vowel words, sort short vowel and silent e words, sort pictures by vowel (with a cut and paste version and a no-cut version), write the missing letters, pick the right word for a picture and read silent e words in sentences and a short story.

Silent e is a core 1st grade phonics skill. Children are ready for it once they read short vowel words like cap and pin easily. All pages print in black and white on US Letter or A4, and every page with right answers has an answer key on page 2.

Standards

  • CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RF.1.3.CKnow final -e and common vowel team conventions for representing long vowel sounds.
  • CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RF.1.2.ADistinguish long from short vowel sounds in spoken single-syllable words.
  • CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RF.1.3.BDecode regularly spelled one-syllable words.
  • CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.L.1.2.DUse conventional spelling for words with common spelling patterns and for frequently occurring irregular words.
  • CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RF.1.4.ARead grade-level text with purpose and understanding.
  • CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RF.1.4.CUse context to confirm or self-correct word recognition and understanding, rereading as necessary.

How to use them

  1. Begin with the chart. Read each row together and notice that the vowel says its name and the e is quiet.
  2. Use the add-the-e page next. Reading cap, then cape, shows children exactly what the e does.
  3. Move on to the sorts and fill-ins, then the sentences and story, where children have to read silent e words in context.
  4. Pick the cut and paste sort or its no-cut twin. Both practice the same words; the no-cut page has children write each word, which is extra spelling practice.

Teaching tips

  • Have children cover the e with a finger and read the word, then uncover it and read again: tub, tube. Hearing the change is the whole lesson.
  • Watch for children who read every e as silent e. In bed and pen the e is a short vowel; silent e comes at the end, after one consonant.
  • Some common words break the pattern: have, give, live, come, some and love. Teach them as tricky words.
  • u_e has two sounds: cube and mule (you) and rule and tune (oo). Both are right.

Questions teachers and parents ask

What is the silent e rule?

When a word ends in a vowel, a consonant and then an e, the e is silent and the first vowel usually says its name: cape, kite, rope, cube. Without the e, the vowel is short: cap, kit, hop, cub.

What is magic e?

Magic e is another name for silent e. It is called magic because adding it changes the sound of the vowel and makes a new word, like pin to pine.

What grade learns silent e?

Silent e is a 1st grade skill. Most children learn it after they can read short vowel words with blends and digraphs, usually around the middle of 1st grade.

What are some silent e words?

a_e: cake, game, lake, name, snake, plane. i_e: bike, kite, five, ride, time, slide. o_e: bone, home, nose, rope, phone. u_e: cube, cute, mule, tube, flute.

Do these sheets have answer keys?

Yes. Every page with right answers has an answer key on page 2.