Magic e is the silent e at the end of a word that makes the vowel before it say its name: cap becomes cape. In Zupzi Read's program it is Level 5: 9 lessons, one for each vowel, a review, soft c and soft g, and the silent e that is just there to help.
- 9 lessons
- Level 5: Magic E
- 8 spellings
- 74 practice words
This page describes Zupzi Read's program: the order the app teaches in, lesson by lesson. Zupzi Read is coming soon to the App Store, and it goes there only with the whole program, ages 3 to 8.
Short vowel or long vowel
The goal of Level 5 is to tell a short vowel from a long one by the silent e at the end. Each vowel gets its lesson: a-e as in cake, i-e as in kite, o-e as in bone, e-e as in these and u-e as in cute. In the lists below, the vowel and its silent e are in bold.
Add an e: word pairs
Each pair is a word from an earlier lesson and a Level 5 word that is the same word plus a silent e: only the vowel changes, from its short sound to its long sound.
- mad → made
- tap → tape
- can → cane
- kit → kite
- hid → hide
- fin → fine
- pin → pine
- hop → hope
- not → note
- cut → cute
- tub → tube
- cap → cape
The 8 spellings in this part of the path
- a-e as in cake
- i-e as in kite
- o-e as in bone
- e-e as in these
- u-e as in cute
- c before e, i or y says /s/
- g before e, i or y says /j/
- silent e
Where it sits in the path: 9 lessons
In the order the app teaches them, with the new spellings, a few of the lesson words and the heart words.
Level 5: Magic E9 lessons here, of 9
- 1a-e as in cakeNew: a-e as in cake · Words: cake, made, game, late, name, gate, tape, wave
- 2i-e as in kiteNew: i-e as in kite · Words: bike, kite, time, like, hide, ride, fine, pine
- 3o-e as in boneNew: o-e as in bone · Words: bone, home, rope, nose, hope, note, cone, poke · Heart words: done, gone
- 4e-e as in theseNew: e-e as in these · Words: these, theme, eve, pete
- 5u-e as in cuteNew: u-e as in cute · Words: cute, mule, cube, tune, june, rude, flute, tube
- 6Magic e reviewWords: cap, cape, kit, kite, hop, hope, cub, cube
- 7-ce: soft cNew: c before e, i or y says /s/ · Words: ice, rice, face, race, mice, nice, place, space
- 8-ge: soft gNew: g before e, i or y says /j/ · Words: age, page, cage, huge, stage, rage, wage, sage
- 9Silent e helpersNew: silent e · Words: have, dance, fence, hinge, prince, since · Heart words: give, live, love, move
Practice words from these lessons
All 74 words from the word lists of these lessons, in the order they come up.
- cake
- made
- game
- late
- name
- gate
- tape
- wave
- cane
- safe
- bike
- kite
- time
- like
- hide
- ride
- fine
- pine
- wipe
- five
- bone
- home
- rope
- nose
- hope
- note
- cone
- poke
- vote
- woke
- these
- theme
- eve
- pete
- cute
- mule
- cube
- tune
- june
- rude
- flute
- tube
- fuse
- dune
- cap
- cape
- kit
- hop
- cub
- tap
- ice
- rice
- face
- race
- mice
- nice
- place
- space
- lace
- dice
- age
- page
- cage
- huge
- stage
- rage
- wage
- sage
- have
- dance
- fence
- hinge
- prince
- since
Word pronunciations come from the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary, Copyright (C) 1993-2015 Carnegie Mellon University. All rights reserved.
Questions about magic e
What is magic e?
A silent e at the end of a word that makes the vowel before it long: tap and tape, kit and kite, hop and hope.
What are soft c and soft g?
In -ce and -ge endings, c says /s/ (ice) and g says /j/ (age). Zupzi Read's program teaches them in Level 5, right after the magic e lessons.
More of the path
Phonics, step by step:
By age and grade:
Or jump to a level of the scope and sequence:
