Marilyn's Photos - Sep 30 2026 - The Parable of the Silent E
What popped up yesterday, but another sort of parable. The Mighty Silent E by Kimberlee Gard
Little "e" is a quiet letter who feels unnoticed at school because he doesn't make any sound when he speaks. The other letters ignore him because they don't think he contributes anything.
One day, Little "e" misses class. The letters C, A, and K try to line up to form a delicious dessert, but no matter how hard they try, they can only make the short-vowel sound "cak". They realize they cannot complete the word "cake" without him. The same thing happens to K-I-T (stuck as "kit" instead of "kite") and R-O-S (stuck as "ros" instead of "rose").
Little "e" returns and takes his position at the very end of the words. Even though he stays completely silent, his presence gives a "superpower" to the first vowel, forcing it to "say its name" (changing from a short vowel to a long vowel sound).
Tom Lehrer wrote the classic song Silent E in the 1970s for the children's television show The Electric Company - here it is. While it is fun the parable of the silent E has a better ending.
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