Split digraphs – sometimes called the ‘bossy e’ or ‘magic e’ or ‘first use of the silent e’ – are tricky for many kids (and adults) who are learning to read! Even though many reading teachers are taught to focus on the so-called ‘silent e’, we would all do better by learners to focus on the different vowel speech sounds – the true difference between the words in each pair.

In this sentence resource, we extend the contrast approach to help us to teach the split digraph in sentences. Each sentence contains both members of a word pair (or, in some cases, near word pair). For example: Do not ever make Eve cross because she will hold a grudge.

To improve reading accuracy and speed, repetition is key. For this reason, this pack contains 32 sentences featuring word pairs, including <e_e>.