Introduction to Consonant Digraphs

"A scoop more of peanuts, and this batch will be perfect!" It looks like Kala is making some trail mix to take on a hike. She is mixing different ingredients together to make new flavors, kind of like consonant digraphs. What are consonant digraphs? You might already know that consonants are any letters that aren't vowels and that the vowels are the letters A, E, I, O, and U! Consonant digraphs have two consonants in a row. While there are two letters, we only hear one new sound! Uh oh! It looks like Kala has dropped some trail mix and formed letters! The first letter she accidentally made is S and the second letter she accidentally made is H. What happens when the letters S and H are together in a row? They make a brand-new sound! S and H make the digraph /sh/. Like in the words ship, brushes, and dish. Let's practice saying the S H digraph with Kala! /Sh/ /sh/ /sh/. It looks like Kala has dropped more trail mix! What letters did she accidentally make this time? Kala accidentally made the letters C and H when she dropped the trail mix! What digraph do you think the letters C and H make together? C and H make the /ch/ digraph when they are next to each other in a word. Like in the words chip, teacher, and peach! Practice saying the C H digraph with Kala! /Ch/ /ch/ /ch/. Oh goodness, Kala has dropped for trail mix! Can you tell what letters she has made this time? Kala accidentally made the letters T and H when she dropped her trail mix! What happens when the letters T and H are next to each other in a word? They make a brand-new sound! T and H make the digraph /th/. Like in the words think, feather, and math! Let's practice one last time saying the /th/ digraph with Kala! /Th/ /th/ /th/! Before we see what happened to all of that trail mix that got spilled, let's review. Today we learned about consonant digraphs, which is when there are two consonants in a row that make a NEW sound when they are together! We also learned about three different consonant digraphs. The /sh/ digraph like in the word shout, the /ch/ digraph like in the word chair, and the /th/ digraph, like in the word three! Now, let's see about that spilled trail mix! It looks like Kala doesn't need to pick it up after all and has made a new friend as well!