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🤝 Beginning Digraphs: sh, ch, th

K-1 Phonics & Early Literacy ⏱ 20 min Prep: low Parent Led
Materials: Letter tiles or paper squares (including digraph cards for sh, ch, th), index cards, marker, optional: mirror

Two Letters, One Sound!

Alright, friend, this is a really fun one. Your child has been learning that each letter makes its own sound, and that is true. But English has a special trick: sometimes two letters team up and make a completely new sound that neither letter makes on its own. We call these digraphs, and the three most important ones for beginning readers are sh, ch, and th.

Meet the Digraphs

SH - The "Quiet" Sound

Put your finger to your lips like you are shushing someone. That is /sh/! S and H together create this soft, breezy sound.

SH words: ship, shop, shell, shin, shed, shut, shake, shape, share

Have your child practice: say /s/ by itself, then /h/ by itself, then /sh/ together. They are completely different! That is what makes digraphs special.

CH - The "Choo Choo" Sound

Think of a train or a sneeze: /ch/! This sound is a little burst of air.

CH words: chip, chop, chin, chat, chest, check, chain, cheese, child

A fun way to remember: "CH is the train sound!" Let your child move their arms like a train while saying /ch/-/ch/-/ch/.

TH - The "Tongue" Sound

This one is unique because your tongue peeks out between your teeth! Put your tongue tip between your upper and lower teeth and blow air out: /th/.

TH words: thin, this, that, then, them, the, thick, think, three

Use a mirror for this one. Kids love seeing their tongue stick out, and it helps them remember the mouth position. There are actually two versions of TH - the quiet one (as in think) and the buzzy one (as in this). For now, just teach them as "TH" and your child will naturally learn both through exposure.

Hands-On Activities

Digraph Card Sort (5 minutes): Write SH, CH, and TH on three separate plates or papers. Say words one at a time and have your child place a token (coin, button, or cracker) on the matching digraph. "Ship" - that starts with SH! "Chin" - that is CH!

Digraph Hunt (5 minutes): Read a simple book together and have your child point every time they spot SH, CH, or TH in a word. You will be surprised how many there are! Keep a tally of each one.

Build Digraph Words (5 minutes): Make letter tile cards for SH, CH, and TH (keep each pair on ONE card so your child treats it as a single sound). Add vowels and ending consonants. Build words: SH + I + P = ship! CH + O + P = chop! TH + I + N = thin!

Silly Sentences (5 minutes): Create silly sentences together that use lots of digraph words: "She chose the thick, chunky cheese on the shelf." The sillier, the better. Kids remember what makes them laugh.

Why Digraphs Matter

Once your child recognizes SH, CH, and TH as single sounds, they can decode hundreds of new words. These three digraphs appear in some of the most common English words (the, this, that, she, they). Without them, reading stalls. With them, it accelerates.

Quick Reference

Digraph Sound Memory Trick Example Words
SH /sh/ Shushing sound ship, shop, shell
CH /ch/ Train sound chip, chop, chin
TH /th/ Tongue out! thin, this, that

Keep these digraph cards handy. You will use them constantly as your child encounters new words. And remember, this is a lesson to revisit many times; digraphs take repetition to really stick. You have got this!

💬 Parent Script

You know how each letter makes its own sound? Well, sometimes two letters get together and make a completely NEW sound that is different from either letter by itself! We call these digraphs, which is just a fancy word for 'two letters, one sound.' Let me show you: S says /s/ and H says /h/, but when S and H stand next to each other - SH - they make /sh/! Like in 'shoe' and 'ship.' Is that not cool? Let us learn three of these letter teams today.

🔽 If Your Child Struggles

Introduce just one digraph at a time and spend a full session (or more) on it before adding another. SH is typically the easiest to start with because the /sh/ sound is familiar (like shushing someone). Use the mirror to show how the mouth moves differently for /sh/ versus /s/ and /h/ separately. Create a dedicated card for each digraph that your child can hold as a single unit; this helps them see it as one sound, not two. If they keep sounding out each letter individually, gently remind them: 'Those two are a team! They stick together.'

🔼 Challenge Version

Add ending digraphs: fish, much, bath (the same digraphs can appear at the end of words too). Practice reading words with digraphs AND word families combined: chat, shin, thin, shop, chop, thot. Write sentences using digraph words: 'She had a chip and a thin fish.' Introduce the voiced TH (as in 'this' and 'that') versus the unvoiced TH (as in 'think' and 'thin').

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