5th Grade Decoding/ Word AttackSilent Letters

Lesson 23

Look at these words:whistle assign kneel

Look at these words:whistle assign kneel

Did you notice that in the words above the letter that is underlined is silent? In some

words, some consonants are silent.

With your partner, read each of the words below. Identify the silent consonant(s) and decide where it belongs in the chart below.

science, crumb, lightning, numb, fighting, knead, autumn, know, column, scenery

Silent Letters in Consonant Pairs

silent c silent gh silent k silent b silent n

science lightning knead crumb autumn

scenery fighting know numb column

Independent PracticeWith your partner look through your science or social studies book for three other examples of words with silent consonants. Take turns saying the words. While one partner speaks, the other partner tells which letter or letters are silent and

writes the word correctly on a sheet of paper. When you are finished, have your partner check

your paper.