Do not let a gnome into your home. At first you will think it is nice.
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© Cammeraydave | Dreamstime.com (Gnomes); BrightSpace/Adobe Stock (kitchen); Shutterstock.com (All Other Images); Otto Pleska/Alamy Stock Photo (Slipper); © Cammeraydave | Dreamstime.com (Gnomes); BrightSpace/Adobe Stock (kitchen); Shutterstock.com (All Other Images)
Knock, Knock! It’s a Gnome
Have fun with decodable text.
By Janice Behrens | Design by Marybeth Butler Rivera
From the May/June 2025 Issue
Learning Objective: Students will decode words with a silent letter k or g and understand the sequence of events in a story.
Knock, Knock! It’s a Gnome
It will sit on your knee. It will knit hat after hat. It has a knack for that. It will knit you one too.
But you must know. A gnome is a pest. It will bug you like a gnat.
It will knock over your plant.
It will gnaw on the bed.
It will make a big knot. You will not get the knot out.
It will want to use a knife. There will be a big mess. Oh, such a mess.
Then there will be another knock! You will turn the knob. It will be another gnome.
The two gnomes will knock over your game. They will gnaw on your slipper. They will make a bigger knot.
You will have to hide the knife. You will gnash your teeth.
But they will not stop. Knock, knock, knock! Is that another gnome? Will you turn the knob this time? No! You will not.
You will take them all to the garden. They like it there.
And now you know. Do not let a gnome into your home!
Games
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Activities
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Skills Activities
Answer Key
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More About the Article
English Language Arts Focus
Phonics and Phonological Awareness
Fluency
Phonics Focus
Silent Letter k
Silent Letter g
Word List
knock, gnome, knee, knit, knack, know, gnat, gnaw, knot, knife, knob, gnash
Words with kn- : knack, knit, knee, knife, knob, knock, knot, know
Words with gn- : gnat, gnash, gnaw, gnome
High Frequency Words
after, another, first, over, there, they, your
Step-by-Step Lesson Plan
Implementation
- Whole group
- Small group
- Technology time
Pairings and Text Connections
- From the Storyworks 1 archive: “Silly Story: A Cake for Jake” (February 2023); “Silly Story: Snore, Snore, Snore” (March/April 2024)
- Suggested books: No, No Gnome! by Ashlyn Anstee; I’m a Gnome! by Jessica Peill-Meininghaus
Before-Reading Resources
- Word sounds slideshow (3 minutes) Warm up reading muscles by practicing reading words with silent letters k and g.
Suggested Reading Focus
Phonics/Comprehension (30 minutes)
- Tell students that there are many words we use in English that originated from other languages. Some of these words start with a silent letter k or a silent letter g followed by the letter n where we only hear the /n/ sound. We sometimes see silent letter g followed by n at the ends of words as well.
- Practice the silent k and silent g spelling patterns by writing the words on an easel. Identify the silent letter and the beginning sound of the word. Use continuous blending to sound out each word and state the word as a whole.
- knock
- gnome
- knit
- gnat
- knob
- gnash
- Review high-frequency words from the story. Students can practice words with a partner, as a class, and individually.
- As children read, check comprehension: Why would you think a gnome is nice? What does it mean to be a pest? What did the gnome do that made it a pest? Why didn’t the boy let the other gnomes into his home? Where did the boy take them? How did taking the gnomes to the garden make them happy?
- Have students review the story and highlight words with a silent letter k in one color and silent letter g in another color. They can practice reading the words aloud.
After-Reading Skills Practice
- Skills: Decoding (15 minutes)
Text-to-Speech