Teaching the Final “E” Rule in Spelling Wouldn’t it be great if you could take the frustration and confusion out of spelling lessons? Here’s the good news – with the right instructional design, you can do just that! Here’s the better news – if you can follow a script, you can solve the problem! Here’s an example lesson covering the Final “e” Rule in spelling. There are literally thousands of words which are affected by the Final E Rule. Here is the rule. You drop the final ‘e’ from a word when the word part ends with an ‘e’ and the part you are adding begins with a vowel letter. Here are a couple of examples. The word ‘love’ ends with an ‘e’. If the part you are adding is ‘ing’, it begins with the vowel letter ‘i’. So when you write ‘love’ + ‘ing’, you drop the ‘e’ and write ‘loving’. The ending ‘ly’ does not begin with a vowel letter, so when you write ‘love’ + ‘ly’, you do not drop the ‘e’ and you write ‘lovely’. In order to make it easier for parents and teachers to teach this rule to their students, I have written a script for you to follow. Click here to view and download a pdf version of this lesson – free with no obligation. The Rule Say to the student, âNow we are going to learn a rule about when you drop the final ‘e’ from a word. Hereâs the rule. You drop the final ‘eâ, if the word ends with an ‘eâ and the next part begins with a vowel letter. Listen Again. You drop the final ‘eâ if the word ends with ‘eâ and the next part begins with a vowel letter. Letâs do the first part of the rule. You drop the final ‘eâ in a word if the word ends with an ‘eâ.” Tell the student, “Say that with me.” The student repeats with you, âYou drop the final ‘eâ in a word if the word ends with an ‘eâ.” Repeat that part of the rule until the student can say it quickly and correctly. Then say to the student, âHere is the next part of that rule. Listen. “and the next part begins with a vowel letter.” Listen again. “and the next part begins with a vowel letter.” Tell the student, “Say that part of the rule with me.” The student repeats with you, âand the next part begins with a vowel letterâ. Repeat that part of the rule until the student can say it quickly and correctly. Say to the student, âNow listen to the entire rule. You drop the final ‘eâ, if the word ends with an ‘eâand the next part begins with a vowel letter. Listen Again. You drop the final ‘eâ if the word ends with ‘eâ and the next part you are adding begins with a vowel letter.” Say to the student, âSay that whole rule with me. Ready.â The student repeats with you, âYou drop the final âeâ, if the word ends with an ‘eâ and the next part begins with a vowel letter.â Repeat the entire rule until the student can say it quickly and correctly. Say to the student, âNow it is your turn to say the rule all by yourself. Ready.â The student says, âYou drop the final ‘eâ, if the word ends with an ‘eâ and the next part begins with a vowel letter.â Say to the student, âSay the entire rule one more time. Ready.â Praise the student for the good work they have done. Directed Practice Write the list of words that are given below on the board or on a sheet of paper. Hope, file, fill, form, make, bare, use, match, strange, hate, name, like. Point to the first word. Say to the student, âRead the first word in the list.â Student reads, âHope.â Say to the student, âDoes âhopeâ end with an âeâ? âStudent says, âYes.â Say to the student, âThatâs correct. Hope ends with an âeâ.â Repeat with each word in the list. Then return to the first word. Say to the student, “Look at the last letter in âhopeâ. Is it an âeâ?” âStudent says, âYes.â Say to the student, âWe are going to add the ending âlessâ to the word âhopeâ. Does âlessâ begin with a vowel letter? Student says, âNo.â Say to the student, âSo “less” does not fit the rule. Do we drop the final âeâ in âhopeâ when we add the ending âlessâ?â The student says âNo.â Say to the student, âSpell âhopelessâ.â Student spells âh-o-p-e-l-e-s-s.” Say to the student, âThatâs correct. Good using your rule. Now we will add âingâ to the word âhopeâ. Does âingâ begin with a vowel letter?â The student says, âYes.â Say to the student, âThatâs right. Do we drop the final âeâ in âhopeâ when we add the ending âingâ? âStudent says, âYes.â Say to the student, âThatâs correct. Spell ‘hoping’.â The student spells, âh-o-p-i-n-g.â Say to the student, âThatâs great. Good using your rule. Letâs look at some words and see if we drop the final âeâ before we add the ending.â Point to the next word in the list ‘file’ and then write the ending âingâ. Point to âhaveâ and say to the student, âDoes âfileâ end with an âeâ?âStudent says,âYesâ Say to the student, âDoes “ing” begin with a vowel letter?â Student says, âYes.â Say to the student, âSo do you drop the âeâ from âfileâ when you add the ending âingâ?â Student says, âYes.â Say to the student, Spell filing Student spells, âf-i-l-i-n-g.â Say to the student, âRead the next word on the list.â Student reads âfill.â Say to the student, âDoes fill end with an ‘e’?â Student says âNo.â Say to the student, “Spell ‘filling’.” Students spells, “f-i-l-l-i-n-g.” Continue with each word in the list. Worksheet Practice Spelling Words: Hope, file, fill, form, make, bare, use, match, strange, hate, name, like. Writing Exercise. Put the new words together with the endings. 1. Hope + less ________________ 2. File + ing ________________ 3. Fill + ing ________________ 4. Form + ed ________________ 5. Make + shift _______________ 6. Bare + er _________________ 7.Use + ful _________________ 8. Match + ing _______________ 9. Strange + er _______________ 10. Hate + ed ________________ 11. Name + less _______________ 12. Like + ly _________________ Correction Procedure Once student has completed the worksheet so that they are getting no more than two errors, you can do a one-minute timing to see how well they know the rule and can apply it. Students should be able to write 20-30 words per minute in the blanks with no more than 2 errors. Practice daily until they are fluent in applying the rule at this rate with this degree of accuracy. Once the student has completed the worksheet, correct each word to make sure that it has the right ending. Review any errors as follows: Say to the student, âLook at this word. Does it end with âeâ? Depending on the example, the student answers âYesâ or âNoâ. Say to the student, âSo does the final âeâ rule apply.â Student answers either, âyesâ or ânoâ depending on the example. Say to the student, âThatâs correct. Change the spelling so that it follows the rule.â Determining Fluency With The One-Minute Timing Say to the student, âNow we are going to do a one-minute timing to see how well you can use the final ‘e’ rule. Here is another sheet of words. I am gong to give you one minute to write as many correct words as you can. Write the answers in the blanks beside the words. Remember to use your rule. When I say âPlease beginâ, start writing as many words as you can. When the minute is up, I will say âThank youâ. Make a mark after the last word you write so we can see where you stopped. Ready. Please begin.â Student begins writing words using the rule. After one minute, say to the student, âThank you. Now letâs count the number of words that you wrote. I will check your work for any errors. Then we will chart your score for today and see if you did better than the last time.â Correct the studentâs work; count the number correct answers and the number of errors. Subtract the number of errors from the total number of words written. Record the correct and error scores on the studentâs chart. Review the data with the student. Say to the student, âWhen you are fluent in using this rule, you should be able to write the answers for 20 to 30 words in one minute. Today you did X words per minute with Y errors.â Determine if that score is an improvement and whether or not the student has reached fluency with this rule. Repeat procedure until the student can write 20- 30 words per minute with no more than 2 errors. Have the student complete the worksheet as an independent exercise. Fluency Check – Final ‘e’ Rule One-Minute Timing Worksheet Final ‘e’ Rule: Drop the final ‘e’ if the next part begins with a vowel. 1. have + ing = _____________ 2. relate + ed = _____________ 3. dine + ing = ______________ 4. like + able = ______________ 5. use + less = ______________ 6. wide + est = ______________ 7. care + less = _____________ 8. serve + ing = _____________ 9. hate + ed = ______________ 10. fine + est = ______________ 11. shine + y = ______________ 12. write + ing = _____________ 13. strange + ly = _____________ 14. take + ing = _______________ 15. wide + er = _______________ 16. hope + ful = _______________ 17. dine + er ________________ 18. like + ness = _______________ 19. name + less = _______________ 20. slope + ed = ________________ 21. hope + less = _______________ 22. promise + ing = ______________ 23. wide + ly = ___________________ 24. like+ ness = _________________ 25. use + ing = ___________________ 26. mistake + en = ________________ 27. care + ing = __________________ 28. hate + ful = _________________ 29. bare + ly = ___________________ 30. change + ing = ________________ 31. note + able = _________________ 32. trace + ing = __________________ 33. tame + er =_________________ 34. wide + ly = __________________ 35. face + ing = __________________ 36. refine + ed = _________________ 37. care + ful = __________________ 38. name + ing = ________________ 39. shame + ful = ________________ 40. use + able = _________________ The Reward System Some children do not need extrinsic rewards for working hard. The joy of learning is sufficient. Other students struggle. These students often need praise, encouragement and attention to maintain their attention as they build the skills that will eventually take on sufficient rewarding qualities to maintain it. Some students respond best to extrinsic rewards such as points that they can use for activities or articles that they want. Each level of rewards needs to be carefully considered so that the minimum effective strategy is employed. In the case where points are used, students can earn points for working hard, listening to instructions, following directions, completing their worksheets and doing their fluency checks. Points are delivered by the teacher at the end of each lesson and recorded in the points chart. Generally 50 points are available for each lesson. Bonus points for exceptional performance are also available. I generally use a scale of one penny per point in terms of monetary value. Points can be cashed in for things the student works for after the points have been earned. Sometimes praise and learning are sufficient rewards to get students to work hard and do well. The reward system is available for situations in which that may not be the case. Parents and teachers are encouraged to use their own discretion regarding rewards for academic performance. Sometimes giving the students a chance to participate in selected activities is also effective. Negotiate a fair price in terms of the points needed to pay for the time and effort required to allow this activity to be available. Points/Rewards If you are using a points system, award points for good work. Points can be awarded for: Listening to Instructions – 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Bonus ____ Following Directions – 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Bonus ____ Working Hard – 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Bonus _____ Completing Fluency Checks – 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Bonus _____ For a printable pdf version of this lesson, click here.
