📖 ReadingLevel 1Lesson 3
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Consonant Digraphs — ch, sh, th, and wh

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Learning Objectives

  • 1Recognize that ch, sh, th, and wh are two letters that make one new sound
  • 2Read words beginning or ending with ch, sh, th, and wh correctly
  • 3Sort words by their digraph sound into the correct group
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Mini Lesson

You have learned to blend three sounds in CVC words. Today you will learn about digraphs — pairs of letters that team up to make one brand-new sound. Neither letter says its usual sound; together they make something new!

ch — the "chuh" sound

  • Sounds like: ch in chip, chat, bench, much
  • Say it: put your tongue behind your top teeth and push air out — ch!

sh — the "shh" sound

  • Sounds like: sh in ship, shop, fish, dash
  • Say it: put a finger to your lips like "shh!" — that is the sound.

th — the "thh" sound

  • Sounds like: th in this, that, thin, bath
  • Say it: put your tongue gently between your teeth and blow.

wh — the "wh" sound

  • Sounds like: wh in when, whip, which, where
  • In most accents it sounds like a regular /w/ — wh words are often question words!
The four consonant digraphsFour colored tiles showing ch, sh, th, and wh, each with a simple icon and an example word.Two letters → one new soundchchairshshipththumbwhwhale
Four digraphs — each pair of letters makes one fresh sound.
A digraph is 2 letters joined to make 1 soundFour rows show each pair of letters (c + h, s + h, t + h, w + h) being joined by a bracket into a single sound shown coming out of a speaker.2 letters = 1 soundc+h"ch"/tʃ/s+h"sh"/ʃ/t+h"th"/θ/w+h"wh"/w/Two letters — one fresh sound out of the speaker.
Each pair of letters joins into a single fresh sound.
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Ask yourself: "Do I see two letters together at the start or end of this word? What one sound do they make?"

Vocabulary
Digraph
Two letters that work together to make ONE new sounde.g. ch, sh, th, wh
Consonant
A letter that is not a vowel (a, e, i, o, u)e.g. b, c, d, f, g, h…
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← Lesson 2: Blending CVC WordsLesson 4: Consonant Blends — bl, cr, st, tr, and pl →