Parent guide · Grade 1 Phonics & Reading: Long Vowels and Many Words · Unit 2
Lesson 2.1 Silent e: a_e
Written for the parent. Read the Say this lines aloud as they are, or in your own words. Answers for you are marked Listen for.
At a glance
- Time
- 5 sessions of 15–20 minutes
- Goal
- I can say /ā/ when I see a_e (as in cake ), and write it. I can tap and blend words such as cake , gate , made . I can read the heart words gone , goes and say which part is learned by heart. I can read “Baby Moses in a Basket” and tell it back.
- You need
- Sound cards (printables pack)
- Heart-word cards (printables pack)
- Primary-ruled paper and a pencil
- A King James Bible
- the lesson page (it also has an explainer to read aloud (about 8 minutes))
Steps
Do this: Say cap, then cape. mad, made. tap, tape. What did the silent e do? It made the a say its name.
Do this: New sound: a_e. Show the card and say: “This says /ā/, as in cake.” Your child says it three times, then writes it in the air, on the table with a finger, and on paper. Then play a quick ears game: you say words and your child gives a thumbs up whenever /ā/ is in the word.
Do this: Tap and blend. For each word your child touches each letter (or letter team) and says its sound, then sweeps a finger under the whole word and says it smoothly. Never guess from the first letter or a picture. If a word is misread, point to the part that was missed and blend again from the start.
Do this: Spell it. Say a word. Your child says it back, taps the sounds on his or her fingers, then writes one letter (or letter team) for each sound. Check together, sound by sound.
Do this: Heart words. A heart word is mostly regular. We tap it like any other word, and draw a heart over the one part that does not follow the rules we know yet. Practise the heart words on cards every day this week (see the table below).
Do this: The week at a glance. Day 1: warm-up, new sound, handwriting. Day 2: card review, word lists, spelling. Day 3: second new sound or more words, heart words. Day 4: read the story, talk about it. Day 5: reread the story for fluency, play the game, quick check (10 words, 1 sentence, 5 spelling words). Read the read-aloud at another time of day.
New cards:
- a_e says /ā/, as in cake. Make a sound card: write a_e on the front and draw a cake on the back.
Show: Blend cake.
Say this: “Touch and say: /c/ /a_e/ /k/.”
Say this: “Sweep your finger under the word and say the sounds again, faster, without stopping between them.”
Say this: “Say the word: cake . Use it in a sentence.”
Answer: cake
Show: Blend gate.
Say this: “Touch and say: /g/ /a_e/ /t/.”
Say this: “Sweep your finger under the word and say the sounds again, faster, without stopping between them.”
Say this: “Say the word: gate . Use it in a sentence.”
Answer: gate
Do this: Your child does these with you. Let them try first; help only after a real try.
Ask: Read: cake · gate · made · name
Listen for: cake = c | a_e | k; gate = g | a_e | t; made = m | a_e | d; name = n | a_e | m
Ask: Read: came · lake · same · tape
Listen for: came = c | a_e | m; lake = l | a_e | k; same = s | a_e | m; tape = t | a_e | p
Ask: Read: safe · plane · shade · grape
Listen for: safe = s | a_e | f; plane = p | l | a_e | n; shade = sh | a_e | d; grape = g | r | a_e | p
4 more practice items on the lesson page.
- Saying the silent e. It makes no sound of its own; it tells the vowel to say its name.
- Guessing from the first letter or the picture. Cover the picture and ask the child to tap every sound.
- Copy: Moses is safe.
- Use the ball-and-stick lines: tall letters touch the top line, short letters touch the middle line, tails go below the base line.
Copywork: Write each word once, saying the sounds as you write: cake, gate, made, name, came, lake.
Word Sounds Heart part gone /g/ /ŏ/ /n/ ♥ o says /ŏ/; e is silent goes /g/ /ō/ /z/ ♥ oe says /ō/ (regular after oe is taught) Baby Moses in a Basket
The bad king Pharaoh made a bad plan: "Toss all the baby sons in the Nile!"
A mom had a baby son. She hid him. At last she made a basket. She set the baby in it, and set the basket on the Nile.
Miriam, his big sis, had to stand and gaze at the basket. Then the king’s lass came to the Nile to splash. She spots the basket. The baby yells!
She felt sad for him. "I will take him as my son," she said. Miriam ran up. "Can I get a mom to help you with him?" And she ran and got ... his mom! God kept baby Moses safe.
Retold from Exodus 2. Before reading, show your child these story words and read them together: Moses, Pharaoh, Miriam, Nile, baby, basket.
Every word in this story uses only the sounds and heart words taught so far (checked by the School Launch decodability checker). Read a page a day on Days 3 and 4, and the whole story on Day 5.
- What was Pharaoh’s bad plan?
Answer
To throw the baby boys into the Nile.
- What did Moses’ mother make?
Answer
A basket.
- Who found the baby?
Answer
Pharaoh’s daughter.
- Who did Miriam bring to help?
Answer
Moses’ own mother.
Then ask your child to tell the whole story back in his or her own words (narration).
- What was Pharaoh’s bad plan?
Exodus 2:1–10. Read aloud.
The read-aloud is for listening, not decoding. Read it to your child at another time of day.
Turn cap into cape, tap into tape, mad into made, can into cane. Read both words each time.
Say this: “Tell me the new sounds you learned this week, and read me one word.”
Listen for: I can say /ā/ when I see a_e (as in cake ), and write it.; I can tap and blend words such as cake , gate , made .; I can read the heart words gone , goes and say which part is learned by heart.; I can read “Baby Moses in a Basket” and tell it back.
God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble.
This week: Big voice. Speak so a person at the back of the room hears every word. Big, not shouting: fill the room, do not scream.
- Day 1: The teacher says it twice; the child echoes it one line at a time.
- Days 2–4: Say it together each morning; drop one line of help each day.
- Day 5: Say the reference, then the verse, then the reference again. Stand up and say it alone for the family.
And the child grew, and she brought him unto Pharaoh’s daughter, and he became her son. And she called his name Moses: and she said, Because I drew him out of the water.
Moses means “drawn out.”
Spread over the week
5 sessions of 15–20 minutes. Stop while it is still going well.
- Session 1. Warm-up, then New sound: a_e. Finish with a little practice or the game.
- Session 2. Warm-up, then Tap and blend. Finish with a little practice or the game.
- Session 3. Warm-up, then Spell it. Finish with a little practice or the game.
- Session 4. Warm-up, then Heart words. Finish with a little practice or the game.
- Session 5. Warm-up, then The week at a glance. Finish with a little practice or the game.
For you
For families. Keep each session short and cheerful: 15 to 20 minutes, then stop. If your child is tired or frustrated, stop and finish tomorrow. A lesson can take more than a week; move on when the quick check on Day 5 is mostly “Got it.”