How to Teach Pinchy E (Final Silent E)
Prepare
As you prepare to teach Pinchy E, focus first on the word LIKE. To prepare, write the letters for LIKE, one letter per notecard.
Teach
Tell the children that they are going to help you teach by doing a little skit about someone named Pinchy E. Give a letter each to four children, lining them up in order to spell LIKE. Tell them that E doesn’t really say anything at all because he’s so busy being sneaky. While the other letters are each saying a sound, he’s quietly reaching behind K and pinching i. When he pinches i, i gets startled and says his name “i” (long sound, not short sound).
Guide the children into sounding out the word. The child holding L will say /L/ when you point to her, the child holding i will say long i louder because Sneaky E is pinching him at that moment. K then says /K/. Blend together to say LIKE.
You may repeat this little play with four different children using other words such as MIKE, BIKE, HIKE. Switch vowels and do the same play with AKE words: LAKE, CAKE, TAKE, BAKE, WAKE. Let the children end the lesson by looking though books to find words with the Pinchy E in them.
Additional Help
Try our book, Sounds & Their Spelling Patterns for more demonstrations like the one above.
Also in How to Teach Other Things
Teaching Homophone Triplets Without Tears
How to Teach Digraphs
