Consonant digraphs: sh, ch, th, wh
Two letters that team up to make one new sound, and how to blend, read and spell the words that use them
About four short lessons of 20 to 30 minutes
Two letters that team up to make a new sound
You already know the sounds letters make on their own. But some letters are better together. When s and h stand side by side in a word, they stop making their own sounds and team up to make a brand new one, /sh/, the sound you make when you want everyone to be quiet.
Two letters, one sound. That is a digraph. Today you will meet four of these letter teams, sh, ch, th and wh, and learn to read and spell the everyday words that use them.
- ships and h team up to make /sh/ at the start
- chipc and h team up to make /ch/
- thumbt and h team up to make /th/
- whalew and h team up, and for most of us wh says /w/
What students will be able to do
Students will understand that a consonant digraph is two letters that spell one sound, will say the sounds for sh, ch, th and wh, will blend those digraphs with other sounds to read one-syllable words, will spell simple words that contain them, and will tell a digraph (one sound) apart from a consonant blend (two sounds you can still hear).
- I can hear that two letters like s and h can make one new sound, /sh/.
- I can say the sound for sh, ch, th and wh.
- I can blend a digraph with other sounds to read a word like ship, chat and then.
- I can spell simple words that use these digraphs.
- I can tell a digraph (one sound) apart from a blend (two sounds I can still hear).
Standards this unit teaches
- RF.1.3.aCommon Core (US)Spelling-sound correspondences for consonant digraphs
Know the spelling-sound correspondences for common consonant digraphs.
- RF.1.2.bCommon Core (US)Blend sounds to make single-syllable words
Orally produce single-syllable words by blending sounds (phonemes), including consonant blends.
- RF.1.3.bCommon Core (US)Decode regularly spelled one-syllable words
Decode regularly spelled one-syllable words.
- AC9E1LY10Australian Curriculum v9 (ACARA)Phonic knowledge and blending to read words
Use phonic knowledge of common and split digraphs, blends and vowel and consonant graphs when reading one-syllable and two-syllable words, and blend sounds to read words.
Prior knowledge
This unit builds on skills students should already have met. Revisit any that are shaky first.
- Short and long vowel sortingthe vowel sounds children blend between the digraphs must be secure first
- Using decodable readerschildren should already blend simple CVC words like ship's cousins cat and pin
- Sight wordsthe heart words (the, was, said) that cannot be sounded out yet, learned alongside decoding
Words to teach and display
- Digraph
- two letters that together spell one sound, like sh in ship
- Consonant blend
- two consonants where you still hear each sound, like st in stop, not one new sound
- Phoneme
- the smallest single sound in a word; ship has three, /sh/ /i/ /p/
- Grapheme
- the letter or letters that spell one sound; sh is one grapheme made of two letters
- Blending
- pushing sounds together in order to read a whole word
- Voiced and unvoiced th
- th has two sounds: a buzzy one in then and a soft one in thin
Teach it: model, guided practice, independent
The lesson moves from hearing the new sound, to blending it inside words, to reading and spelling those words. Every example is a real word a child can sound out, so the phonics is practised on words rather than learned as a rule. Say each sound clearly and have children echo it before they read.
1. Two letters, one sound
Start with the big idea and a friendly picture: some letters work as a team. On their own, s says /s/ and h says /h/, but when they stand together in a word they team up to make a brand new sound, /sh/, the sound you make to say be quiet. Two letters, one sound. That team of two letters is called a digraph.
Say it and feel it. Have children say /sh/ and notice it is one smooth sound, not /s/ then /h/. Do the same for /ch/ (the sound at the start of chip), /th/ (the sound in thumb) and /wh/.
Anchor the count: the word ship has four letters but only three sounds, /sh/ /i/ /p/, because sh is one sound made of two letters. This is the idea the whole unit rests on.
- What sound do the letters s and h make when they team up?
- How many sounds are in ship? How many letters?
- Why do we call sh a digraph?
2. Meet each digraph
Introduce the four digraphs one at a time, each with a keyword and a short set of example words. Say the sound, say the keyword, then read the words together, pointing under each word as the class blends it. Keep the words to ones children can fully sound out.
sh says /sh/ as in ship. More words: shop, shell, fish, wish, cash, brush.
ch says /ch/ as in chip. More words: chat, chin, chop, rich, much, lunch.
th says /th/ as in thin, and also a buzzy /th/ as in then. More words: this, that, with, bath, path, moth.
wh says /w/ as in when for most speakers. More words: which, whip, whiff, wheel, white, whale.
- Which digraph do you hear at the start of chop?
- Say two more words that begin with sh.
- Where is the digraph in fish, at the start or the end?
3. Blending digraph words
Now blend. The digraph counts as a single sound in the blending sequence, so the child treats sh, ch, th and wh exactly like any other sound and pushes the sounds together into a word. Model it slowly, then speed it up until the word pops out.
Point under each sound as you blend. Treat the digraph as one push, not two. The most common slip is sounding out both letters of the digraph, so keep saying 'sh is one sound'.
Blend these three words, treating the digraph as one sound.
- ship: /sh/ ... /i/ ... /p/, then push them together, ship.
- chat: /ch/ ... /a/ ... /t/, then push them together, chat.
- then: /th/ ... /e/ ... /n/, then push them together, then.
Answer: ship, chat, then. Each starts with a digraph that is blended as a single sound with the vowel and the last sound.
- How many sounds did you push together to read chat?
- What is the first sound in then?
4. Reading and spelling them
Reading and spelling are two directions of the same skill. To read, you blend sounds into a word. To spell, you break a word into its sounds and write the grapheme for each one. The key move for these words is remembering that the one digraph sound is written with two letters.
Segment out loud before writing. Stretch the word, count the sounds on your fingers, then write a grapheme for each sound. When a sound is /sh/, /ch/, /th/ or /wh/, that one sound needs its two-letter team.
Spell the word fish by breaking it into sounds.
- Stretch and count the sounds: /f/ ... /i/ ... /sh/. That is three sounds.
- Write a grapheme for each sound: f, then i, then the /sh/ sound.
- Remember the /sh/ sound is written with two letters, s and h.
Answer: fish. Three sounds, /f/ /i/ /sh/, but four letters, because the last sound uses the two-letter digraph sh.
- How many sounds are in fish? How many letters?
- Which two letters spell the last sound in fish?
5. Common confusions
Close by clearing up the mix-ups these digraphs cause. The biggest is confusing a digraph with a blend. In a blend like st, you still hear both sounds, /s/ and /t/. In a digraph like sh, the two letters make one brand new sound and you do not hear /s/ then /h/. Sort a few words together so the difference is heard, not just told.
Digraph or blend: shop (digraph sh, one sound) against stop (blend st, two sounds). Have children say each and decide whether they hear one new sound or two.
The two sounds of th: run your hand on your throat to feel the buzz in then, and the quiet air in thin. Both are the th team, just voiced and unvoiced.
wh usually just says /w/, so when sounds like wen. There is no separate letter making an extra sound.
- Is sh a digraph or a blend? How do you know?
- Say then and thin. Which one buzzes in your throat?
- In stop, do you hear one sound or two at the start?
Common misconceptions and how to address them
MisconceptionEach letter of a digraph makes its own sound, so ship starts with /s/ then /h/.
Why it happens: Children have just learned single-letter sounds, so they apply that habit to every letter they see.
How to address it: Say the word slowly and show there is no /s/ then /h/, just one /sh/. Cover the s and h with a single card labelled sh so it looks like one unit. Repeat 'two letters, one sound' every time.
MisconceptionA digraph is the same as a consonant blend.
Why it happens: Both are two consonants side by side, so they look alike on the page.
How to address it: Contrast pairs by ear: sh in shop (one new sound) against st in stop (two sounds still heard). In a blend you hear each letter, in a digraph the letters make one sound.
Misconceptionth makes only one sound.
Why it happens: Children meet one th word first and assume the sound never changes.
How to address it: Feel the difference with a hand on the throat: then buzzes (voiced), thin does not (unvoiced). Both belong to the th team, they are just two versions of it.
MisconceptionThe /sh/ sound can be written with a single letter, so fish is spelled fis or fih.
Why it happens: If a child hears one sound, they expect to write one letter.
How to address it: Point out that the /sh/ sound is a team job: it always needs both s and h. Segment the word, and when the sound is /sh/, write two letters for that one sound.
Misconceptionwh must say a special sound that is different from w.
Why it happens: The extra h makes children expect an extra sound they cannot produce.
How to address it: For most speakers wh simply says /w/, so when sounds like wen and which sounds like wich. Reassure them there is no hidden sound to hunt for.
Guided practice (with answers)
1. Blend this word aloud, treating the digraph as one sound: sh, o, p.
Answer: shop. Three sounds pushed together, /sh/ /o/ /p/.
2. How many sounds are in the word chin, and what are they?
Answer: Three sounds: /ch/ /i/ /n/. The ch digraph is one sound even though it is two letters.
3. Spell the word bath by breaking it into sounds.
Answer: b, a, th. Three sounds, /b/ /a/ /th/, with the last sound written as the two-letter digraph th.
4. Which of these starts with a digraph and which with a blend: chat or clap?
Answer: chat starts with the digraph ch (one sound). clap starts with the blend cl (two sounds, /c/ and /l/, both heard).
5. Read this word and say the digraph you hear: when.
Answer: when. The digraph is wh at the start, which says /w/, so it sounds like wen.
6. Say then and thin. Which digraph do they share, and how are the two th sounds different?
Answer: Both use the th digraph. then has the buzzy voiced th, thin has the quiet unvoiced th.
Independent practice worksheets
Set the matching ChalkBee phonics worksheets for independent work, one digraph at a time, then bring them together in a decodable reader so children apply the sounds in a real story.
Differentiation
- Teach one digraph per lesson rather than all four at once, and revisit it the next day before adding the next.
- Use letter cards where sh, ch, th and wh are printed on a single card, so the digraph looks like one unit.
- Blend with the digraph already read for the child, so they only add the vowel and final sound at first.
- Keep the vowel constant (ship, shop, shut) so only the digraph and last sound change.
- Add digraphs at the end of words as well as the start (fish, rich, bath, with).
- Introduce two-syllable words that contain a digraph, such as sunfish or chicken, once one-syllable words are secure.
- Sort a mixed pile of digraph and blend words into two columns by ear.
- Have children write their own short sentence using two digraph words and read it to a partner.
Assessment: exit ticket
A quick three-part exit check done with the teacher or on a slip. It samples saying the sound, blending to read, and spelling by segmenting.
1. Say the sound each digraph makes: sh, ch, th, wh.
Answer: /sh/ as in ship, /ch/ as in chip, /th/ as in thin or then, /wh/ which usually says /w/ as in when.
2. Read this word aloud: chop.
Answer: chop, blended as /ch/ /o/ /p/, three sounds.
3. Spell the word wish.
Answer: w, i, sh. Three sounds, /w/ /i/ /sh/, with the last sound written as the digraph sh.
Teacher notes and timings
- Rough timing across four short lessons: Lesson 1 the two-letters-one-sound idea plus meeting sh and ch (sections 1 and 2), Lesson 2 th and wh plus blending (sections 2 and 3), Lesson 3 reading and spelling (section 4), Lesson 4 common confusions plus the exit check (section 5 and assessment).
- Language to keep saying: two letters, one sound. It heads off the single biggest error, sounding out both letters of the digraph.
- Keep single-letter sound cards and a digraph card side by side so children physically see the digraph as one unit during blending and spelling.
- th genuinely has two sounds (voiced in then, unvoiced in thin). Teach both from the start rather than pretending it is one, so children are not confused later.
- wh is pronounced /w/ by most speakers, so do not hunt for a separate sound. If your dialect uses a breathy /wh/, model whichever is natural for your class.
- Present mode and print both work: use the Print button for a clean teacher copy or a student handout, and project the word lists to blend straight from the screen.