LumiraWhat is a split vowel (magic e)?
A silent e at the end of a word reaches back over one consonant and makes the vowel say its own name. It is one of the highest-value patterns in English because it changes the meaning of so many short words.
Magic e words — word list
Every word below appears in the decodable book on this page, so a reader who practises the list will meet the same words again in context.
- bike
- brave
- cake
- cube
- gate
- home
- hope
- kite
- like
- theme
Free decodable book: Decodable VCE Magic E
This is an original Lumira decodable reader, written so that a child can sound out nearly every word using patterns they have already been taught. The full text is below — read it here, or open it in the app to read it together with the words highlighting as you speak.
Mia had a cake. Leo had a cake too. Mia and Leo like the cake.
Leo shut the gate. Mia shut the gate too. Mia and Leo like the gate.
Mia got a bike. Leo got a bike too. Mia and Leo like the bike.
Leo had a kite. Mia had a kite too. Mia and Leo ran with the kite.
Mia did hope to go home. Leo did hope to go home too.
Leo had a cube. Mia had a cube too. Mia and Leo like the cube.
Mia and Leo went in June. The theme was big.
Leo is brave. Mia is brave too. Mia and Leo like to be brave.
Cake gate bike kite hope home cube June theme brave. Mia and Leo like them all.
How to teach it
- Say the sound on its own first, several times, before showing any letters.
- Show the spelling and name it explicitly — tell the reader what it says rather than asking them to work it out.
- Blend two or three words from the list together, out loud, slowly.
- Read the decodable book above, where the pattern repeats in real sentences.
- Come back to it two or three days later. Cumulative review is what makes it stick.
Lessons that practise this pattern
Build words: magic e (a_e, i_e, o_e, u_e)
Read split digraphs: silent e makes the vowel say its name (Literacy Hub phase 9 / UFLI L54–58)