Grade 3 Phonics, Decoding & Spelling Patterns: Silent Letters: gn
180 printable 3rd Grade phonics worksheets on Silent Letters: gn. 5 activity types: Crack the Code, Read and Draw, Roll and Read, Sentence Scramble. The first three are free to download; All Access opens all 180.
Practice pages support a program; they are not the lesson. These sheets reinforce Phonics, Decoding, and Early Fluency — Grade 3, the complete K–5 reading curriculum from Faith Readers. See every program →
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Includes 5 activity types: Crack the Code, Read and Draw, Roll and Read, Sentence Scramble, Word Search.
Teaching Silent Letters: gn
What it is
In the gn spelling the g is silent and only the n is heard, both at the front of a word (gnat, gnaw, gnome) and at the end (sign, design, align). The g is written because it often comes back in a related word.
When a child is ready
Teach it after silent b in mb, once the idea of a written but unspoken letter has settled.
If they struggle
Show the pair rather than the rule: read signal, then cover the a and the l and read sign; design and designate work the same way. Hearing the g in the longer word turns the silent g into a reason instead of a trick, and the gn-at-the-front words are few enough to read as one short family.
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