Phonics Skill Guide
9 Illustrated Words

Short E Sound (/ĕ/)

The letter 'e' represents the short /ɛ/ vowel sound in closed syllables.

Practice Words with Sound Boxes

Each word below features explicit Elkonin sound boxes. Have the child tap each sound box while saying the individual sound, then blend them together.

Illustration of bed
bed-ed
3 letters • 3 sounds
b/b/
e/ɛ/
d/d/
Illustration of hen
hen-en
3 letters • 3 sounds
h/h/
e/ɛ/
n/n/
Illustration of pen
pen-en
3 letters • 3 sounds
p/p/
e/ɛ/
n/n/
Illustration of leg
leg-eg
3 letters • 3 sounds
l/l/
e/ɛ/
g/ɡ/
Illustration of net
net-et
3 letters • 3 sounds
n/n/
e/ɛ/
t/t/
Illustration of wet
wet-et
3 letters • 3 sounds
w/w/
e/ɛ/
t/t/
Illustration of red
red-ed
3 letters • 3 sounds
r/r/
e/ɛ/
d/d/
Illustration of den
den-en
3 letters • 3 sounds
d/d/
e/ɛ/
n/n/
Illustration of pet
pet-et
3 letters • 3 sounds
p/p/
e/ɛ/
t/t/
Free Printable

Short E Worksheets

Practice the short e sound with a print-ready worksheet. Each worksheet is built from the same verified word data as this skill guide.

Short E Missing Vowel

6 illustrated CVC words — students fill in the missing e.

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Short E Sound Boxes

6 illustrated CVC words — students stretch sounds and map to Elkonin boxes.

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Short E Picture Match

6 illustrated CVC words — students draw lines to match pictures to words.

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