2.2.C.ii
The Standard
spelling words with silent letters such as knife and gnat
Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills for English Language Arts and Reading · The student develops word structure knowledge through phonological awareness, print concepts, phonics, and morphology to communicate, decode, and spell.
Teacher's field guide
What This Standard Means
What Students Need to Do
- Students hear and spell words that contain a consonant that is written but not pronounced. They use familiar patterns such as kn, gn, wr, and mb to choose the correct spelling.
What Mastery Looks Like
- Students spell taught words such as knee, gnome, wrist, and lamb with every required letter. They identify the unpronounced letter and use known patterns when spelling similar words.
Common Misconceptions
- Students may write knee as nee or wrist as rist because they record only the sounds they hear. Some try to pronounce every letter. Others add silent letters to words that do not follow these patterns.
How to Assess It
- Dictate knee, gnome, wrist, and lamb. Have students write each word, then circle the letter that is not pronounced.
Lesson moves
Ways to Teach It
Give pairs word cards and magnetic letters to sort and build words with kn, gn, wr, and mb patterns.
Ask students to write two sentences explaining why knee and write contain letters they cannot hear.
Play silent-letter bingo by calling words while students cover the matching spelling on their boards.
Have students search classroom books and labels for silent-letter words, then record each word and where they found it.
Keep exploring
Related Standards
- 5.2.B.ii
spelling words with consonant changes, including /t/ to /sh/ such as in select and selection and /k/ to /sh/ such as music and musician;
- 1.2.C.ii
spelling words with initial and final consonant blends, digraphs, and trigraphs;
- 2.2.B.ii
decoding words with silent letters such as knife and gnat;
- 2.2.C.v
spelling words using knowledge of syllable division patterns, including words with double consonants in the middle of the word; and
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