ch sound quiz

           Say baby chicks and chicken.            
Do you hear that ch sound
at the start of chicks and chickens? You do not
hear the ch sound anywhere in the word rooster.

Chair and cheese use the most common sound for ch. Ch can also use the k sound you hear in anchor and echo. A few ch words use the sh sound as in Chicago and charade.

Early readers need to start with ch as chair since it is the most often seen by them. Letters c and h drop their standard sounds and melt together to make a special sound.

Ask your student to point to each word as you read it; your student can repeat the word after you. Tell each other sentences using each word:

chair        chin        cheek         cherry

chain       chili         cheer         chick

chase      chirp       cheese      chicken


When you are reading stories together, look for ch at the start, middle, and end of words.
Do not assume your child sees something if you do not bring it to his attention - ask him to point to the ch word and try to read the ch word. Tell him the word after two tries.

Let's look at words that use ch at the end. Ask your child to point as you read, let your child repeat the word with you. Notice this is a rhyming word family:

each        reach     beach      speech

peach      teach     bleach     leech

Let's try:
match    patch     catch        latch

batch     hatch     scratch     attach

Let your child try this quiz. He should tell you yes if the word will have a ch sound; no, if not:

1. chat              yes    or   no
2. chimney       yes  or   no
3. chipmunk     yes   or   no
4. check     yes   or    no
5. each       yes   or   no
6. pinch      yes   or   no
7. shell       yes   or   no
8. pitcher   yes   or   no

You may want to look through the list of lessons on the right side of this blog. You may also like to see the books I have to strengthen your reader.  I now use ebay as my website. Search Instant Reading Help all my books will pop up for you to consider.

You may have seen the recently published test results showing that less than 50% of our children are successfully connecting vocabulary to comprehension. All of my books, from Kindergarten forward, focus upon this essential part of the reading puzzle by teaching my own easy, special method.

Answers: 1. yes, 2. yes, 3. yes, 4. yes, 5. yes, 6. yes, 7. no, sh as in shell, ship, 8. yes - if your child correctly thought pitcher used the ch sound - celebrate and give him a treat!! If he correctly said the word, pitcher; ask him how he did it!

Remember to watch for ch words as you read stories together! Mary Maisner