After students have mastered short vowels and CVC words, you can teach them how to read CVCe words with long vowels. I typically teach these after I've already taught digraphs and consonant blends. CVCe stands for Consonant-Vowel-Consonant-e, like the words tape, rope, and kite. When an 'e' is added to a CVC pattern, it becomes a CVCe word and the vowel is now pronounced with the long vowel sound. For example, cap becomes cape.

As a special education teacher, I usually teach one long vowel CVCe pattern a week. If you’re teaching general education, you may find that you’re able to progress more quickly. I follow the same general lesson plan for phonics each week, which is easier for both you and your students. In this post, I’ll use long A CVCe words for the examples and explain how I would teach words with this pattern over the course of one week. You can follow the same structure when teaching CVCe words with the other long vowels.

Day 1

Write or show the word “tap” and have students tell you the word. Explain that in tap, the a says /ă/ (the short a sound.) Explain that a can also make another sound, /ā/ (the long a sound.) Explain that an e at the end of the word usually makes the a say /ā/. Add or write an e after “tap,” making the word tape. Say that now the a will say /ā/, and say /t/ /ā/ /p/, “tape.” Repeat with a few more words, like gate and cape. After modeling, lead students in guided practice of reading more long A CVCe words. Then, practice reading fluency sentences together that contain long a CVCe words and other mastered words. You can find the needed picture cards, word cards, and fluency sentences in my Phonics by Design CVCe Words Unit.

Day 2

Briefly review what you taught yesterday, and then tell students they’ll be practicing writing words with the /ā/ sound today. Show a picture card with a long A CVCe word, such as game. Model segmenting the word (/g/ /ā/ /m/) and then writing each corresponding letter write the word on the board or chart paper. Emphasize adding the letter e at the end because the a makes the /ā/ sound, not the short a sound. Continue with other picture cards, having students segment the sounds as a group or taking turns. Finally, have students practice on their own by dictating words to them and having them write them down. You can also dictate a few short sentences that include only CVCe words and other mastered word types.

Day 3

Today students will independently practice reading and writing long A CVCe words. I use the activity sheets included in my Phonics by Design CVCe Words Unit and in my No Prep Pack.

Day 4

Review reading and spelling long a CVCe words before introducing a simple CVCe matching game they can play in pairs. Spread out the cards in a grid face down. When it’s their turn, the student will turn over two cards and identify the pictures and/or read the words. If it’s a match, they keep the pair. If not, they put the cards back, face down. Students alternate turns until all pairs have been matched. The student with the most pairs wins. You can find digraph matching games in my Phonics by Design CVCe Words Unit.

Day 5

Assess students by dictating ten long A CVCe words and having them record them. If you have time and a small enough group, you may also wish to have individual students read a few words for you as well.

This lesson plan schedule for teaching CVCe words is simple but effective! I start with long A, and then cover long I, O, and U for one week each. While the CVCe pattern does apply to ‘e’ as well, I don’t spend a week on long e CVCe words, because there are very few one syllable words with this pattern. Pete, theme, and eve are pretty much it!

Save yourself time by snagging everything you need to teach CVCe words in one place with my Phonics by Design CVCe Word Unit Bundle. You’ll get all the materials mentioned in this post for each type of CVCe word (picture cards, word cards, fluency sentences, activity sheets, matching game), plus posters, flapbooks, and more! Snag it here.

How to Teach CVCe Words