The silent "e" rule is one that I think most parents will remember from their childhoods' if taught by a phonics method. But the silent "e" rule, I think, requires some refinement. First, there are exceptions like "come" and "have" to contend with. Second, where the "e" and the other vowel are separated by more than one consonant, some sources indicate that the silent e rule may not apply. An example is the word "antler" or "spotted." The silent "e" is also sometimes invisible entirely, such as when the "e" is replaced with an "ing" as in "bite" and "biting." Third, silent "e" sometimes is found in the middle of a word such as a compound word (two words put together to make a new word).
I think the silent "e" is still our friend, provided we understand that it is not always an exact science. First, we just have to recognize there are some exceptions and not teach the rule as if it is absolute. I just tell me daughter that certain words are "weird" because they do not follow all of the rules. Second, I have told her that sometimes the silent "e" does not work when there is more than one consonant between the first vowel and the e. And, I did show her the biting example - although I think a refresher course is in order.
Another issue I've run across is the -ed - d ending situation. For instance, baked is just "bake" with the d added. But then there is a word like "spotted," and its not a silent "e" but "spot" with an extra t and an -ed. I'm still working out how to explain fully these situations - except that in "spotted," I can use the two consonant between the e and vowel explanation.
If anyone has any observations on how better to explain the silent "e" conundrum or would like to add further observations, please do post a comment.
I just came across your blog last night. It's been over a year since you posted this, so you probably have answered some of your own questions by now. If not, explaining the "-ed" issue is actually pretty straightforward.
ReplyDeleteWhen we make a verb past tense with "-ed", we don't pronounce the "-ed" as a whole new syllable except where the end of the verb stem is "d" or "t" ("t" is nearly the same sound as "d"--look up voiced and unvoiced consonants for more on that). It's enough just to pronounce a "d" (or actually a "t" after unvoiced consonants) after the other 24 letters to signify that we've made the verb past tense.
For the silent "e" conundrum, I've explained to my children that vowel sounds in English words have changed over the centuries while the spelling hasn't, thus making it so not all words follow the silent "e" "rule". Also, we are teaching our children German, and frequently the "weird" words can be explained by referencing the similar German word (for example, the German word "komm"--pronounced roughly like "comb"--means "come"). For really weird words, I often just blame the French. ;)