From digraph activities to digraph worksheets to digraph games, you are sure to find something for your classroom!
My friend recently shared this story: “My daughter has been grabbing easy chapter books from our home bookshelves. Last night, she came to me and said, “Mom, I can’t figure out this word. I said each sound, but when I put the sounds together it did not make a word I know.” “Tell me the sounds, and I will help you,” I said. She said “/c/, /h/, /ai/, /r/.” “Oh, sweet girl! That word has a digraph at the beginning! The letters c and h work together to make one sound /ch/. That word is chair.” “That makes sense! The girl sat in the chair. Thanks, Mom!”
Digraphs can be tricky for our beginning readers. They have to know what letters make a digraph, what sound the two letters make together, and be looking for them in words. Let’s chat about what digraphs are and some activities to help with them today on the blog!
A digraph is when two letters make one sound. When we say the word “chair”, we hear the digraph “ch” at the beginning, making one sound /ch/. We do not hear the c and the h making their individual sounds.
Digraphs can be found at the beginning, middle, and end of words. Some examples include: this, wish, batch, whale, tack, and teacher.
Some educators also use the word digraphs to talk about vowel teams. An example would be the vowel team “ea”. Sometimes vowel teams are two letters that work together to make one sound. Oftentimes, though they make more than one sound. Today we will use the word digraphs, to refer to consonant digraphs.
The most common digraphs are sh, th, wh, and ch. These are sometimes called the h brothers. Other less common digraphs include ph and ck.
It is important to explicitly teach digraphs to our students so they are able to decode them in words. We don’t want them to see a word with a digraph and try to break apart the digraph and decode each letter when reading. They need to be able to recognize them so that they can effectively decode them.
Digraphs should be taught after your students have been introduced to and practiced words with short vowels and blends.
Digraphs can be taught explicitly during whole group instruction or can be taught in a small group depending on your grade and where your students are. They can also be practiced during literacy centers.
Here are some activities you can use in your classroom to teach your students what digraphs are and and for practice!
Do you have a favorite activity for teaching digraphs? I’d love to hear about it in the comments!
Want to use the latest research to boost your readers during small groups? This FREE guide is packed with engaging ideas to help them grow!
I’m a K-1 teacher who is passionate about making lessons your students love and that are easy to implement for teachers. Helping teachers like you navigate their way through their literacy block brings me great joy. I am a lifelong learner who loves staying on top of current literacy learning and practices. Here, you’ll find the tools you need to move your K-2 students forward!
