ch
Background Information & Activities
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| © 1999-2010 BrainPOP. All rights reserved. |
A digraph is a pair of letters that form one phoneme, or sound. This phonics movie will explore the digraph ch and provide different examples. We encourage you to explore books together with children and find words that feature the digraph. We also strongly recommend pausing the movie so children can come up with their own examples. Encourage them to be creative as they explore language and sounds.
Review the alphabet with your children. Explain that vowels are the letters a, e, i, o, u, and sometimes y. The consonants are all the other letters. Each letter has its own sound. Sometimes when consonants come together, they form a different sound.
Remind children that the letter c makes a kuh sound, as in cat or cape. The letter h makes a huh sound, as in hat or hope. The digraph ch makes the ch sound, as in chip or chain. What other words use the sound? Brainstorm words and draw pictures to help children with comprehension. Some examples include cheap, chick, chimp, much, touch, achoo, sandwich, chat, and children. Challenge them to come up with words where the digraph appears in the beginning, middle, or end of the word. What is a word that has ch in the beginning and end? Church! Encourage children to employ rhyming strategies to come up with more words and practice writing them. Remind children that when they read and encounter
Some children may note that ch can also make a shh sound, as in machine. Challenge them to come up with more words that follow this pronunciation, such as chef, chute, Michigan, and Chicago.
Children may also recognize that ch can make a kuh sound, as in the word school. Encourage them to come up with other examples, such as Christmas, stomach, ache, echo, chorus, chord, orchid, character, or even chameleon.
When children encounter a new word with this digraph, encourage them to use the ch as in chip sound first, since it’s the most common, to see if the word makes sense. If it doesn’t, encourage children to read it using the other sounds ch can make. But above all, encourage children to read more! Introduce them to new words in different contexts and inspire curiosity about language and reading.
ch Teacher Activities – Click Here!
ch Family Activities – Click Here!
ch Teacher Activities
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| © 1999-2010 BrainPOP. All rights reserved. |
The ch Song
Create a song together about the digraph ch. Choose words for your song that include the digraph in the beginning, middle, and end. You may want to set your song to a popular tune or even create a rap! Write the lyrics down together and post them in the classroom. Sing the song several times and have students read along to help increase phonemic awareness and reinforce reading skills.
Ch-Ch-Challenge!
Challenge your students to go for an hour without using any words with the ch sound. It's harder than you think! Whenever someone accidentally says a word with ch, write the word down on the board or have students write them in their notebooks. You may want to "accidentally" say a few words during the hour.
ch Family Activities
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| © 1999-2010 BrainPOP. All rights reserved. |
The Search for ch
Walk around your home together and look for objects that have ch in their names. Repeat the name and write it together on a sticky note to label the object. You may also want to challenge your child to spell it on his or her own. Remind your child to look for objects that use the sound in the beginning, middle, or end of the word.
Read, Read, Read
Read a book together out loud. Then go back and have your child look for words that use ch. If possible, have him or her write the words down in a notebook. For new words, have him or her draw a picture to illustrate the word. Go back to the list to review the words and add new words as you read more books together.