Same Reading › Letters and sounds › Digraphs
What is a digraph?
A digraph is two letters that make one sound: sh in ship, ch in chin, th in thin, wh in when, and ck in duck. The two letters work as a team, so kids learn them as one sound, not two.
- sh is one sound: /sh/.
- i and p keep their usual sounds.
- Common digraphs: sh, ch, th, wh, ck
Why schools teach it
Sounding out letter by letter breaks here
A child who reads ship as /s/ /h/ /i/ /p/ gets nonsense. First graders learn the common consonant digraphs (RF.1.3a) so they see sh as one unit before blending.
Th has two sounds, quiet in thin and buzzing in this, and ck shows up right after a short vowel, as in duck and back. Teachers introduce these one or two at a time.
At the kitchen table
What to say, and what to skip
Say this
Do you see a letter team? Say it as one sound.
Underline the team before you read the word.
Is it the quiet /th/ or the buzzy /th/?
Hand on your throat: this buzzes, thin doesn't.Where do you hear /ch/: at the start or the end?
chin, rich
Skip this
S-H says shuh.
Drop the “uh”: /sh/, like asking for quiet.- Sounding out each letter in a team./c/ /h/ won't give you /ch/.
- Calling them blends.A blend keeps both sounds, like st in stop. A digraph makes one new sound.
See it in action
Reading “chop”
Spot the team and underline it
chopSay the team as one sound, then the rest
/ch/ /o/ /p/Blend
chop
Underlining letter teams before reading is a habit that helps again with vowel teams later.
Free practice sheet
Make a digraphs sheet
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Parents also ask
What's the difference between a digraph and a blend?
In a digraph, two letters make one new sound (sh). In a blend, you can hear both letters (st).
Why does ck only come at the end?
In short words, the /k/ sound right after a short vowel is spelled ck: duck, back, kick. At the start of a word it's c or k.
Is ph a digraph?
Yes, as in phone. It's taught later because it's less common in early books.
How many sounds does th make?
Two: the quiet one in thin and the buzzy one in this. Both are spelled th.