Drop the e before adding a vowel ending in a compelling game of solitaire.
Line the inside of a folder with post-its on which you’ve written silent e words. Cover the faces of a die with the vowel endings -ed, -er, -y, -ing, -est, and *. The player rolls the die and goes to the first space where the ending that’s been rolled makes a sensible word. If a * is rolled, s/he has to use an ending that works for the word on the very next post-it. The object, as I had originally envisioned it, was simply to get from Start to End while merrily practicing dropping the e before the vowel endings. As it turns out, most of my students get a sense of satisfaction from having every post-it filled in. So after getting to End, they go through the game track subsequent times, filling in the remaining post-its as dictated by the roll of the die.
Laura Hulbert 