Jamie was in first grade. She knew some letter sounds, but she wasn’t blending sounds together to read words. Her classmates were reading books with a variety of words, even hard words like “bicycle” and “swimming.” Jamie couldn’t read any books at all, as her teacher struggled to find books at Jamie’s level. When the other kids brought out their books, she felt left out. In addition, she was bored. Since she couldn’t read books in the classroom, she found ways to fill up her time. Thus, during reading time, she colored and tried to talk to her friends. Finally, Jamie had access to systematic phonics books and progressed to the sh digraph. She was reading!
First, a definition of consonant digraphs
The sh digraph is a consonant digraph.
Consonant digraphs are two or more consonants that make one sound. Some common consonant digraphs include: sh, th, ch, _tch, _ck, _ing, _ng, _ang.
Reading Elephant offers printable books that focus on each of these digraphs.
Teaching the sh digraph
Teaching the sh digraph can be an exciting time in your student’s literacy journey: it’s the first time she’ll progress beyond the basics of letter sounds. Phonics books get just a tad bit more complex. Now, she can read a sh digraph book. It is time to push beyond reading phrases like, “The cat ran to the mat.”
At this time, your student should be able to read short vowel words like: sat, fan, get, let, him, sit, hop, mom, tub, hum. Short vowel sounds include:
a_ as in apple
e_ as in elephant
i_ as in igloo
o_ as in octopus
u_ as in up
Since your student can only read short vowel sounds (like those above) be sure to include only short vowel words into your lesson. The free printable sh digraph book and lesson (in this post) only uses short vowel sounds.
Sh digraph book
At the beginning of your sh digraph lesson, have your student read a book. If the sh digraph is brand new, she can read short vowel books. If the sh digraph has been introduced before, have her read the sh book called, “A Wish.” Click the following link for the book:
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As your student reads, encourage her to read sound-by-sound. At this point, she might start to feel more comfortable reading some common words. As a result, she will effortlessly read words like “the, was, in, had, big…etc.” Let her read these common words quickly.
However, when she comes across a more uncommon word like “hush” encourage her to slow down. Have her focus on sound-by-sound phonetic reading methods. Her focus on phonics will pay huge dividends. Eventually, down the road, she’ll gain speed AND, MOST IMPORTANTLY, she’ll be an accurate reader.
I hope your student enjoys the book! For more printable phonics books, visit my shop.
Sh digraph sound cards
After your student reads a sh book, prepare a lesson for additional practice. Be sure your student reviews sound cards. Write the phonics units your student knows on flashcards. Though flashcards have a bad rep, reading is a visual experience; it’s critical that kids see the sound units! Write the following on sound cards:
a_ as in apple
e_ as in elephant
i_ as in igloo
o_ as in octopus
u_ as in up
sh as in ship
Include only the letter sounds your student currently struggle with. For example, she might struggle with /b/, /d/ so write these on sound cards.
Sh digraph Lesson
In the free printable sh digraph word lists, your student should feel successful. Have her read the words sound-by-sound. In this activity, she can practice a skill she’s already mastered: short vowel words. In addition, she can work on reading sh words. Click the following link for the free sh digraph word lists:
There are two lists. Use only one per lesson. Space out practice by about 24 hours. For example, if she reads the first one on Monday, have her read the second one on Wednesday.
Sight words
In the sh digraph book “A Wish,” there are a few sight words your student will need to know. “A Wish” contains the following sight words:
the, said, was, a, they, gold, there
When your student comes across a sight word, let her try and read. If she miscues, just give her the word. Sight words break the phonetic code in some way, so sound-by-sound reading will not lead her to the correct pronunciation.
Sh words & spelling
At the end of the lesson, do some guided spelling. What is guided spelling? First, let’s define what it is not. Guided spelling is NOT a test. In guided spelling activities, help the student segment words first. Then, encourage her to spell phoneme-by-phoneme or sound-by-sound.
Here’s a sample spelling list for this activity:
- top
- dash
- tell
- pit
- They had fun.
Notice how the above list includes a variety of phonics sounds. In fact, only one word includes the sh digraph. The above list also varies the middle vowel and beginning and ending sounds. This ensures that the student doesn’t just memorize how to spell each word.
Memorization is not a good tactic for spelling.
However, segmentation is a great spelling strategy.
First, encourage her to segment the word. Here’s a sample:
TEACHER: Top. Jane wore a red top to school. Sound?
STUDENT: t-ooooo-p (As your student points, use a left-to-right visual diagram) For example, you can line up toy trains, dolls or cars. For each sound, she points to one toy from left to right.
TEACHER: Write top. First sound?
STUDENT: t [writes t]
TEACHER: Middle sound?
STUDENT: oooooo [writes o]
TEACHER: And finish.
STUDENT: [writes p]
Notice how the teacher really guides the student through this process. It’s a very interactive experience. Keep your teacher remarks concise. Don’t blabber and waste instructional time. Instead, give pithy statements that get your student thinking about the next step.
I hope your student learns the sh digraph well, as it’s very common. Usually, struggling readers learn the /sh/ digraph in about 2-3 research-based phonics lessons.
Discover printable phonics books in the Reading Elephant shop.
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