Vowels
Long vowels and silent e
Silent e is the first spelling pattern that changes a word a student already reads: “cap” becomes “cape”, “kit” becomes “kite”. The e at the end makes no sound of its own and reaches back over one consonant to make the vowel say its own name.
Often called magic e or bossy e. Teaching it alongside the matching short vowel word, as a pair, is what makes the rule visible rather than memorised.
Patterns and example words
Every word below is from the word list Cody generates from, not a hand-picked sample. The count is how many words in that list carry the pattern.
long a
9,933 wordssay saying sayings made make makes making take
long e
4,782 wordsbe being beings he we these me she
long i
9,492 wordsi my by like liked likes liking time
long o
10,788 wordsthose go going so no also over overs
long u
1,613 wordsuse used include includes issue issued issues continue
1 syllable silent e
1,531 wordsare were have those these gone there more
Curricula that teach this
Cody generates material against the scope and sequence you already teach. This skill appears in Cody Curriculum, Custom Pattern Selection, UFLI Inspired, Wilson Reading System.
Common questions
Why is it called silent e?
Because the e makes no sound itself. Its whole job is changing the vowel before it from short to long, as in hop and hope.
Make a decodable story for this skill
Cody generates stories, word lists and worksheets constrained to the patterns a student has already been taught, so practice on long vowels and silent e does not smuggle in something they have not met yet.