One of the easiest ways to teach the short vowel "e" sound is to name a list of objects and animals that have the short "e" sound somewhere in the word. Some examples include: elephant, red, bed, egg and jet.
Cut the shape of a chair out of felt and place a magnet or Velcro on the back (depending upon where you will display the examples). Next, cut out the shape of a boy from the felt.
Explain that you have a trick for the students to remember their short vowels by thinking about the boy and the chair. As you say the following, move the felt boy to the various positions.
For "A": Move the boy next to the chair. Tell the students that he is at the chair. He is not sitting. He is just at it. "At" makes the short "a" sound.
For "E": Move the figure to sit on the edge of the chair. Tell the students that he is on the edge of the chair. He is sitting as though ready to stand back up. "Edge" makes the short "e" sound.
For "I": Move the figure so he is completing sitting in the chair. Tell the students that "in" stands for vowel "i." In makes the short "i" sound.
For "O": Take the felt figure and bend his knees until he is kneeling on the chair. Tell the students that "on" stands for the short vowel "o."
For "U": Place the felt figure under the chair. Tell the students that "under" stands for the short vowel "u."
Make up bingo cards with the five vowels a, e, i, o and u. Do not call out the letters, but only their sounds. The first person to correctly get bingo wins a small prize. If your students are more advanced, you could use words and have them identify which word has the short vowel "e" sound.
Kidzone offers a printable worksheet that allows students to match the vowel "e" to the picture that makes that same sound. You will find similar worksheets at Phonics World, where the student can fill in the letters that make up the word and see where the short "e" fits.