📚 Wheeler's Speller • Lesson 45 (Homophones: No & Know)
BOOK 1 • LESSON 45 WHEELER'S ELEMENTARY SPELLER • ORTHOGRAPHIC MASTER KEY TEACHER INSTRUCTIONAL KEY
Teacher Instructional Guide • Lesson 45
Homophone Matrix • Answer Key • Decodable Dictation
M Linguistic & Diacritical Matrix: Analysis of homophone pair no & know and the kn- silent digraph.
Word Pronunciation / IPA Webster Mark Part of Speech Etymology Orthographic Rules & Teaching Notes
no nō /noʊ/ nō Adverb / Determiner Old English nā (from ne 'not' + ā 'ever') Open syllable ending in long vowel ō. Represents negation, refusal, or quantity zero.
know nō /noʊ/ knōw Verb (irregular: knew, known) Old English cnāwan (Proto-Germanic *knēaną) Initial silent digraph kn- (historical /kn/ simplified to /n/ in Early Modern English). Digraph ow represents long /oʊ/.
knee, knife, knot nē, nīf, nŏt kn- Nouns (kn- family) Old English cognates Reinforce to students that English words with Germanic origins often preserve the silent k in spelling before n.
K Master Answer Key: Exercise 1 literature breakdown & Exercise 2 riddle solutions.
Exercise 1 Literature Identification
• Moral Maxim: “Always say no when asked to do wrong.” (Negation / refusal)
• Lucy Larcom: “You know not, little one...” (Understanding / perception)
• Jean Ingelow: “The lambs play always, they know no better.” (Both words in consecutive sequence!)
Exercise 2 Riddles & Context Solutions
1. Opposite of yes → no
2. Perfectly sure → “I know it.”
3. Shepherd saw no wolves near the meadow.
4. Do you know why dim stars shine like suns?
Exercise 3 Sample Responses: “I know there is no snow on the ground.” • “They know of no other way home.” • “Do you know why there is no bell ringing?”
D Decodable Dictation Sentences: Read aloud clearly for students to practice auditory discrimination between no and know.
Sentence 1 (know, no, frost, grass)
“I know that there is no frost on the grass this morning.”
Sentence 2 (no, wrong, know)
“Always say no when asked to do what you know is wrong.”
Sentence 3 (know, lambs, no, place)
“Do you know if the lambs have no place to sleep tonight?”
Sentence 4 (know, dim, star, sun)
“We know that every dim star in the clear sky is a sun.”
Wheeler's Elementary Speller • Orthographic Master Key Lesson 45 • Teacher Instructional Guide Page 1 of 1