Phonics: Consonant digraphs th, sh, wh, ch, ck - Cristian, Jessica, Ricardo

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CONSONANT DIGRAPHS

Consonant digraphs refer to a joint set of consonants that form one sound. The main are: -th /θ/ as in think /θɪŋk/, -sh /ʃ/ as in shut /ʃʌt/, -wh /h/, /hw/ as in whole /hoʊl/, -ch /tʃ/as in teach /titʃ/ and -ck /k/ as in rock /rɑk/.

Some digraphs can be found at both the beginning and end of a word. Others are strictly initial consonant digraphs like -kn /n/ as in knight /naɪt/, or final consonant digraphs like -ck as in lock /lɑk/ (Spellingcity, n.d.)

The consonant digraph -th /θ/ is a voiceless sound. To pronounce it, the tip of the tongue is placed behind the top front teeth. The friction occurs between the tip of the tongue and the top front teeth. The lips are kept relaxed (Pronuncian.com, n.d). As it is shown in the following image:

The consonant digraph -sh /ʃ/ is a voiceless sound. To pronounce it, the air is forced between a wide groove in the center of the front of the tongue and the back of the tooth ridge. The sides of the blade of the tongue may touch the side teeth. The lips are kept slightly tense (Pronuncian.com, n.d). As it is shown in the following image:

The consonant digraph -wh /h/, /hw/ is a voiceless sound. To pronounce it, the lips are rounded and the tip of the tongue is kept between in the middle of the mouth. There are two ways to pronounce this sound, one is making emphasis on the -w as in why /waɪ/. And the other, making the emphasis on the -h sound as in who /hu/ (Tarle, 2018).

The consonant digraph -ch /tʃ/ is a voiceless sound. To pronounce it, air is briefly prevented from leaving the vocal tract when the tip of the tongue presses against the back-tooth ridge while the sides of the tongue press against the upper side teeth. The sound is aspirated when the air is released with friction (Pronuncian.com, n.d). As it is shown in the following image:

The consonant digraph -ck /k/ is a voiceless sound. Air is briefly prevented from leaving the vocal tract when the back of the tongue lifts and presses against the soft palate at the back of the mouth. The sound is aspirated when the air is released.

-th /θ/	-sh /ʃ/	-wh /h/, /hw/	-ch /tʃ/	-ck /k/
Thumb /θʌm/	Crash /kræʃ/	What /ˈhwɒt/	Chair /tʃɛr/	Brick /brɪk/
Thirteen /ˈθɝˈtin/	Shelf /ʃɛlf/	When /ˈhwɛn/	Lunch /lʌntʃ/	Clock /klɑk/
Mouth /maʊθ/	Shoe /ʃu/	Whisper /ˈhwɪspɚ, ˈwɪspɚ/	Punch /pʌntʃ/	Back /bæk/
Math /mæθ/	Ship /ʃɪp/	Wheel /hwil, wil/	Catch /kætʃ/	Sick /sɪk/
Thin /θɪn/	Push /pʊʃ/	Whale /hweɪl, weɪl/	Chess /tʃɛs/	Neck /nɛk/
Thunder /ˈθʌndɚ/	Wash /wɒʃ/	Wheat /hwit, wit/	Chain  /tʃeɪn/	Duck /dʌk/
Tooth /tuθ/	Shower /ˈʃaʊɚ/	White /ˈhwaɪt/	Cheese /tʃiz/	Sock /sɑk/
Theatre /ˈθēətər/	Sheep /ʃip/	Whistle /ˈhwɪsəl/	Chocolate /ˈtʃɔkəlɪt/	Truck /trʌk/

LET'S BE CREATIVE AND RESOURCEFUL

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Flashcards

Images taken from: Shutterstock.com, freepik.es and 123R

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Poems

-ch

-ck

-sh

-th

-wh

Click on the icon to listen to Cristian, Ricardo, and

Jessica's recordings of the poems.

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Video song

The digraph song

We chose two videos. The first one covers digraphs -sh, -wh, -ch, and -th. Its name is “The digraph song”, it was taken from https://youtu.be/bFQ2g_AZW4c. We will only show it from minute 00:00 to 02:30 since this fragment includes the consonant digraphs mentioned previously. So, from the beginning of the video to the minute 0:24 children will watch the explanation of what a digraph is. After this, the song will start (at 0:25), and we would let children listen to it once, and then we would sing and practice with them.

This is the digraph song,

so sing along, long, long.

Just me and you, you, you,

until we´re through, through, through. (x2)

Oh how I wish, wish, wish,

that I could fish, fish, fish

O’ what a dish, dish dish

I’d make of that fish, fish, fish

This is the digraph song,

so sing along, long, long.

Just me and you, you, you,

until we´re through, through, through.

Please tell me where, where, where

I can find a whale, whale, whale.

I looked at the wharf, wharf, wharf

for a long, long, while, while, while.

 

This is the digraph song,

so sing along, long, long.

Just me and you, you, you,

until we´re through, through, through.

I knew a chicken, chicken, chicken,

with manners and charm, charm, charm.

He ate his chowder, chowder, chowder

sitting on a chair, chair, chair.

This is the digraph song,

so sing along, long, long.

Just me and you, you, you,

until we’re through, through, through.

There was a girl named Ruth, Ruth, Ruth.

I’m telling the truth, truth, truth.

She practices math, math, math

soaking in the bath, bath, bath

 

This is the digraph song,

so sing along, long, long.

Just me and you, you, you,

until we’re through, through, through.

Tick Tock

The second video song is “Tick Tock”, taken from https://youtu.be/u6B66nU8Ccc. This video helps children to listen and practice -ck pronunciation. So, firstly, children will watch the video from the minute 0:10 to 0:24 in order to get familiar with the sounds, words, and pictures of the song. Then, they will pay attention to the video song. After this, the video will be repeated, and we would sing and encourage children to sing along with us following the lyrics and movements (gray color) of the video:

Tick tock, tick tock.

Tick tock tock.

What’s this sound tick tock tock tock?

It’s a clock! It’s a clock! (Pointing to the wrist)

Clock says tick tock tick tock tock.

Knock, knock, knock, knock, knock, knock, knock.

What’s this sound knock, knock, knock, knock? (Simulating knocking a door)

It is Jack! It is Jack!

Jack did knock a knock knock knock.

Quack, quack, quack, quack, quack, quack, quack.

What’s this sound quack, quack, quack, quack?

It’s a duck! It’s a duck!

Duck says quack, quack, quack, quack, quack. (Waving the arms like duck wings) 

 

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Game

Connect Four Digraphs Game

This is a game for 3-4 players. It requires the following wheel, a board for every player and 20 pieces for each one.

Boards (4):

 Taken and adapted from: https://youclevermonkeyshop.com/products/connect-four-word-work-game-digraphs-ch-ph-sh-th-wh-trigraph-tch

How to play:

1.  Each player must take a board.
2.  Spin the wheel. Whoever the arrow points to, is the one who goes first. Then, the game continues to the right side.
3.  Each player spins the wheel and matches the sound spun to a square with the same sound on his/her own board.
4.  Place a piece over the selected square and read aloud the word on the square.
5.  Pass the wheel to the person next to you and keep following the steps above.
6.  The first to connect four squares in a row vertically, horizontally or diagonally wins!

 

For example:

      

Vertically                               Horizontally                            Diagonally

Rules:

1. After placing a piece on a square, you are not allowed to move it anymore.
2. When a player is spinning the wheel and matching the sounds, the other players cannot move anything on their boards.
3. You can connect squares in a row even if they do not have the same sound.

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Short short story

The selected video of a short short story is called “How to Catch a Star by Oliver Jeffers”, it is narrated by David Edgren.

The purpose of the video is to share a story of a boy trying to catch a star. The way it is narrated is peaceful which allows kids to imagine while they listen to it and easily comprehend the words that include the digraph consonants. Firstly, the video will be shown from the minutes: 0:11-4:00 in order to show kids the complete story without interruptions. Then, it will be shown from the minutes: 0:11-1:27 and kids will be asked to predict the following event of the story: Do you think a star will appear? What will the boy do when it happens? in order to encourage them to assume the role of the boy and imagine the feelings he would have by catching a star. Later, the video will be shown from the minutes: 1:27-2:47 and kids will be asked: What can the boy do to catch a star? in order to enhance kids’ imagination and allow them to express their ideas freely. Since they have already felt like the boy, it would be easier to answer the question and use creativity. At the end, kids will have enjoyed the story and learned that we can make closer the things that seem far away.

Narrator: Once there was a boy and the boy loved stars very much. Every night the boy watched the stars from his widow and wished he had one of his very own. He dreamed that the star might be his friend. They would play hide-and-go-seek and take long walks together. The boy decided he would try to catch a star. He thought that getting up early in the morning would be best, because then the star would be tired from being up in the sky all night long.

Narrator: So, the next day he set out at sunrise. But he could not see a star anywhere. He sat down and waited for one to appear. He waited...and he waited...and ate lunch...and waited. And after dinner he waited some more. Finally, just before the sun was about to get away he saw a star. The boy tried to jump and grab it. But he could not jump high enough. So, very carefully, he climbed to the top of the tallest tree he could find. But the star was still way out of touch. He thought he might lasso the star with the life belt from his father’s boat. But it was much too heavy for him to carry. He thought he could fly up in his spaceship and just grab the star. But his spaceship had run out of petrol last Tuesday when he flew to the moon. Perhaps he could get a seagull to help him fly up into the sky to reach his star? But the only seagull he could find didn’t want to help at all. The boy thought he would never catch a star. Just then he noticed something floating in the water. It was the prettiest star he had ever seen. Just a baby star. It must have fallen from the sky. He tried to fish the star out with his hands. But he could not reach it. Then he had an idea. The star might wash up on the share. He ran back along the jetty to the beach. Then he waited and walked...and watched and waited...and sure enough, the star washed up on the bright golden sand. The boy had caught a star. A star of his very own.

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Worksheet

Own design. Images taken from Shutterstock.com - Poem taken from https://pin.it/5U3QCiC

References:

SpellingCity. (n.d). Digraph Practice Lists. SpellingCity. https://www.spellingcity.com/digraphs.html

Pronuncian.com. (n.d). How to pronounce the voiced and unvoiced 'th sounds' /ð,θ/. Pronuncian.com. https://pronuncian.com/pronounce-th-sounds

Pronuncian.com. (n.d). How to pronounce the 'sh sound' /ʃ/. Pronuncian.com. https://pronuncian.com/pronounce-sh-sound

Tarle, J. (2018). Silent Letter: How to Pronounce the letters WH as the H (who, whom) & W (when, why) sounds. Tarle Speech & Language Services - English Pronunciation. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vCG0Syu32Io&ab_channel=TarleSpeech%26LanguageServices-EnglishPronunciation

Pronuncian.com. (n.d). How to pronounce the 'ch sound' /ʧ/. Pronuncian.com. https://pronuncian.com/pronounce-ch-sound

Images of the fashcards taken from Shutterstock.com, Freepik.es and 123.rf.com

Edgren, D. (2016). How to Catch a Star - Oliver Jeffers. Dave Edgren. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_3oQcKxE-ck&t=95s&ab_channel=DaveEdgren