sh wh th ch digraphs

Say fish. Can you hear the sh sound at the end of fish?
Can you think of a letter in the ABCs that makes
that sh sound? No, so a special team had to be created.

There are many consonant blends. Each letter keeps its own sound and blends with other consonants: bl black, br brick, cl clock, cr crack, sn sneeze, sm small, etc.

There are only six digraph teams. The letters drop their standard sounds and melt together to make a special sound. Sh shoe, wh what,  th thorn, ch cheese, ph photo, gh laugh. 

Let's try sh. Ask your student to point to each word as you read the list. Say the words together. Ask your child to point to the letters that make the sh sound. Ask your student to read the words to you and use each word in a sentence.

she         shell        shack       shadow       shoe        shimmer        shiver

Now, try those same steps with words that end with sh:

fish                wish               bash            cash            dash           mash        splash 

   
dish            squish               rash            crash           lash           smash        trash

Let's try wh with the same steps:

whale     whip     whistle   whisper    what     when   where     whether  which   why    

Rule: when o comes after wh, the w is silent: who, who's,  whose, whom, whole

Let's try th words with the same steps:

thorn    thimble   thread   the    there    these   those   them   them   this   that   thin  thick

And, at the end:    tooth      teeth   

Let's try ch with the same steps:

cheese    chip     chipmunk     chill      chili   child   children    chase     choose (zoo)    chose

 

at the end: peach     beach      reach    teach    inch     pinch   trench   gulch    search

_________ 3rd Grade lessons: 

Ph always says f: photograph   graph     phone     telephone    triumph

Gh says f: laugh  enough   cough   tough   rough   slough (A snake sloughs its skin.)  

Gh is a silent team: bright, delight, fight, flight, fright, height, knight, night, light, might, right, sight, slight, tight.

Also: bought, brought, caught, fought, sought, taught, thought // though, although, thorough  

 

Realize that children are learning these lessons at the same time they are also learning to control the tiny muscles in their tongues. Expect that learning to read these special teams sh, wh, th, ch, and consonant blends will take repetition.

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My books blend the tricky phonics with sight words and a special comprehension method, all come with my contact info; email or call me.

Write with any questions, Have a great day, Mary Maisner