How to teach "magic e" with phonics

[DontcallmeSteven]

I know it's not called magic e anymore but couldn't think what else to use in the thread title. 4yo DD is learning to read and I'm trying to teach her with the phonic method. She can do CVC words and some digraphs (e.g. chip, book). How do you explain how the "magic e" works without resorting to actually saying "magic e" which I don't think fits with phonics nowadays? I haven't talked about which letters are called vowels and which are called consonants, which comes into all the explanations I've read, is this something I'd need to explain first?

It's still called Magic E on Alphablocks which is supposedly proper phonics.

DS in Reception uses the phrase "this E makes the A/E/I/O/U say its name" which seems logical to me.

I don't think children are bothered whether or not you call it the magic e. It's some crusty old adults who object. But seeing as they're not the ones who are learning to read I don't worry about it. I found the magic e incredibly useful. My daughter uses both magic e and split digraphs and doesn't have a problem with either.

DD taught herself the magic e way by watching alphablocks and has had no problems switching to using diagraphs (split) at school.

'Magic e' is just one approach to teaching this, regardless of what you call it, (and you don't really have to call it anything), where the final 'e' makes the preceding vowel say its name. It does depend on the DC knowing the names of the vowels. The split diagraph approach is where the sounds are taught individually as a-e, e-e, i-e, o-u or u-e, where the diagraph is split by the consonant in between. For example, 'magic e' turns hop to hope, whereas with with the split diagraph it becomes hope by splitting the diagraph in hoe with the 'p'.

They're both useful because magic e is not only funky and amusing, but easy to demonstrate and grasp, whereas the digraph and split digraph is a bit more theoretical. But also magic e is at the end of a word whereas a split digraph can occur anywhere. At home we call the ones on the end magic es and the others split digraphs. The differentiation of the two was my daughter's idea. I once told her that pineapple had a magic e in the middle of it and she lectured me on how impossible that was. She explained to me that magic e has to be at the end of a word. The other one is a split digraph. So it's been like that ever since. I know I'm right about the pineapple, but there's no point in arguing.

learnandsay Chip off the old block then...I bet you'll have some lovely conversations!

Reminds me of when DS told me to 'Stop being so pedantic!'

magic e is not only funky and amusing, but easy to demonstrate and grasp, whereas the digraph and split digraph is a bit more theoretical.

Both are undermined by the many common words which have a surplus -e endings (have, are, gone - cf. save, care, bone).

Dropping -e from the words in which it is merely decorative would be a very simple way of making the English spelling system more consistent and comprehensible.

Masha Bell

For learning the vowels look up vowelbat on youtube, mine found it v entertaining!