A Look at Literacy: Dissecting Digraphs

This week's literacy post is in response to a Literacy Volunteer's question about what digraphs are and how to teach them to students. Have you found an effective and engaging way to teach digraphs? Please share in the comments section below. A digraph consists of two letters that produce one sound (vs. a consonant blend like bl- in which two letters produce to different sounds).Students develop their phonemic skills by memorizing these pairings.There are two types of digraphs: consonant digraphs (two consonants) and vowel digraphs (two vowels).The consonant digraphs sh, ch, and th create unique sounds that are not usually associated with any individual letters of the alphabet. The digraphs kn and gn are associated with the sound of /n/, and the digraph ph is associated with the sound of /f/.Vowel digraphs more often sound like at least one of the letters of which it’s comprised. Examples: ai (long /a/ sound) , ee/ea (long /e/ sound), oi (sounds like -oy) , etc.Digraph ch: children, chair, which, reach,Digraph sh: she, push, shall, show, wash, fish;Digraph th: the, they, them, there, three, with, mother, father, brother, both;Digraph kn: know, knew, knock, knee, knot;Digraph ph: phone, graph, geography, trophy;Digraph: gn: gnat, gnaw, sign, design, reign.Digraph ai: paint, faint, saintDigraph ea: sea, meal, steal, realDigraph oi: boil, toil, oil, soilThere are some great worksheets you can download and print for free here: http://www.havefunteaching.com/worksheets/phonics-worksheets/digraphs-worksheets