th, sh, and wh
Background Information & Activities

© 1999-2012 BrainPOP. All rights reserved.

A digraph is a pair of letters that form one phoneme, or sound. This phonics movie will explore the digraphs th, sh, and wh. You may also wish to explore our phonics movie on the ch sound in conjunction with this topic. We encourage you to explore books together with children and look for words that feature the digraphs. We also strongly recommend pausing the movie and providing opportunities for children to come up with their own examples.

Remind children that vowels are the letters a, e, i, o, u, and sometimes y. Consonants are all the other letters in the alphabet. Sometimes when consonants come together, they form a different sound.

Remind children that the letter t makes the ttt sound, as in top, time, and tame. The letter h makes the hhh sound, as in hip, home, and help. Together the letters make the th sound, as in then, this, and think. Find different examples of words that use the th sound, including words where the digraph appears in the beginning, middle, or end of the word. Examples include path, math, brother, father, and mother. There are a few exceptions to the pronunciation of this digraph, including Thomas, Thames, and thyme.

Review with children that the letter s makes the sss sound, as in sun, sip, and seat. The letter h makes the hhh sound, as in hand, hope, and house. Together the letters make the sh sound, as in ship, shake, and shell. Find different words that use the sh sound. Examples include fisherman, mushroom, crash, bush, and shore.

Review with children that the letter w makes the www sound, as in win, well, and wake. The letter h makes the hhh sound, as in hiss, ham, and hole. Together the letters can make the wh sound, as in whale, what, when, and whine. Some children may notice that the digraph wh can make the same sound as the letter w. The pronunciation of this digraph can differ with regional and cultural accents—some people may have a more aspirated pronunciation. The digraph wh can also make the hhh sound as in who or whole. In those words, the digraph makes the same sound as the letter h. When children encounter a word with wh, encourage them to pronounce it with the wh sound first, since that is more common.

Remind children that when they encounter a word with a digraph, they should not sound each letter out separately. Instead they should pronounce the letters together, with one sound. Present children with challenging words or sentences and have them read the sentences aloud, taking care to pronounce each digraph as one unit of sound.

Encourage children to read out loud and explore different sounds letters can make. Help them explore language and listen to its musicality. We recommend doing plenty of read-alouds together and coming up with tongue twisters to explore different digraphs.

See more lesson plans and resources: BrainPOP Educators.

th, sh, and wh Teacher Activities

© 1999-2012 BrainPOP. All rights reserved.

Think of Th!

Challenge your students to think of as many th words as they can in five minutes. Remind them that the digraph can appear in the beginning, middle, or end of a word, and encourage the use rhyming strategies. At the end of the challenge, have students come together in small groups and share their words with each other. Which words did multiple students write? Was anyone able to think of a word that no one else had? Alternatively, you may wish to have students complete the brainstorming portion of this activity in cooperative groups. Then award the groups one point for each correct word they’ve written. Which group can come up with the most words?

Mad Libs

Have pairs do "mad libs" together. One student can write a short paragraph or story and then erase key words. The student should label each space as an adjective, verb, or noun. Then have the partner name words that not only fit the category, but also use th, sh, or wh. Younger students may choose to write a single sentence with a th, sh, or wh word in it, then erase the digraph word. Children can then switch papers with one another and try to guess the missing word.

th, sh, and wh Family Activities

© 1999-2012 BrainPOP. All rights reserved.

Shhh

Have your child pick a paragraph or passage from a book, magazine, lyrics, or other form of writing. Then have him or her find all the words that use sh and replace them with words that do not have sh. This is a fun challenge that reinforces the role of digraph words in everyday life, and provides a great way to develop vocabulary and discover new synonyms!

Tongue Twisters

Remind your child that a tongue twister is a sentence or poem that is hard to say aloud because it repeats the same or similar sounds over and over again. You may want to share different examples with your child. Then write or create a tongue twister together, using the th, sh, or wh sound over and over again. Encourage your child to make illustrations to go along with his or her tongue twister.