What Are Digraphs: Consonant Digraphs with Digraph Lists

A digraph is a combination of two letters that work together to make one sound, or phoneme. For example, the letters PH in the word graph work together to make the /f/ sound. The letters CK in duck work together to make the /k/ sound, and the letters CH in chin work together to make the phoneme /ch/.

When the letters in a digraph are both consonants, these are called consonant digraphs. When the letters are vowels, these are called vowel digraphs or vowel teams. For the sake of this article, we will focus on consonant digraphs.

Pro Tip: When three letters form one sound, it is called a trigraph. Examples of trigraphs include tch and dge.
 

Digraphs are different than consonant blends. A consonant blend occurs when two consonants appear side-by-side in a word. With consonant blends, both letters can be heard on their own. For example, in the word black, the /b/ and /l/ can both be heard. The /k/ formed by the ck, on the other hand, makes a single sound because it is a digraph. 
 

Digraphs are taught early in a child’s education, but when they are taught varies from curriculum to curriculum. Some curriculums teach digraphs immediately after short vowels, while others first teach consonant blends. 

 At Charge Mommy Books, we focus on teaching letter blends first, followed by digraphs. Mastering consonant blends first enables a child to read a broader range of words including digraphs, which enables them to get more practice with digraphs.

Our scope and sequence features digraphs as the third stage of learning, and contains 8 consonant digraphs: CH, CK, NG, PH, QU, SH, TH, and WH.

The CH digraph uses the phoneme /ch/. This digraph can appear at the beginning, middle, or end of a word. The CH digraph appears in words such as chin, cheek, and chore. 

When teaching CH words, keep in mind the sounds your child already knows. Although all three words listed above use the /ch/ sound, only chin would be decodable by a reader learning digraphs. That is because both cheek and chore use more advanced phonics tools that beginning readers are unlikely to be familiar with.

Pro tip: The letters CH do not always make the /ch/ sound. In word such as chord and charisma, the ch makes a /k/ sound. In the word chef, the ch makes an /sh/ sound. Be sure when teaching digraphs only to use words that use the phoneme /ch/.

Some CH words to begin with include: bench, chant, chap, chest, chick, chimp, chin, lunch, hunch, mulch, and trench.

One way to practice CH words is by writing decodable sentences or stories using these words. Here's one example:

Chet at Bat

Chet gets up from the bench.
Chet has to pinch hit.
“Chet, Chet, Chet,” his pals chant.
Chet checks his bat.
Chet steps up an inch.
Chet swings the bat past his chest.
Chet is the champ!

The CK digraph uses the phoneme /k/. This digraph appears at the middle or end of a word. The CK digraph appears in words such as duck, chicken, and bucket. 
Remember when first teaching CK words to use only those words that feature short vowel sounds. Some CK words to begin with include: back, brick, jack, snack, truck, and wick.

Practice reading CK words with decodable text featuring the CK digraph, like the story below:

The Trick

Puck has a chick.
Puck checks on the chick.
The chick quacks.
Puck is in shock.
The chick is not a chick.
The chick is a duck.
What a trick!

Want more CK stories? Check out Stuck in the Muck, part of the Charge into Reading Digraph Decodable Reader Set.

The NG digraph uses the phoneme /ng/. This digraph appears at the middle or end of a word. The NG digraph appears in words such as finger, sang, and spring. 

Pro tip: The letters ng do not always use the /ng/ sound. For example, in the word range, the letters n and g can both be heard.

While we teach NG as a digraph, not all curriculum agree. Some consider it a glued sound. Glued sounds are letter combinations in which both sounds (or phonemes) can be heard, but they are hard to separate. An example of this is the NK sound, which builds on the NG digraph and is pronounced as /ng/ + /k/.

Remember when teaching NG words to use only those words that feature short vowel sounds. Some NG words to begin with include: bang, clang, king, prong, slang, swing, and zing.

Practice reading NG words with decodable text featuring the NG digraph, like the story below:

Ding Dong

“Ding, dong, ding,” the king sings.
The king gets a gong.
The king swings a club at the gong.
It is a strong swing.
The gong clangs.
The king hangs up the club.
The king grins at the song of the gong.

Want more NG digraph stories? Check out The Swing, part of the Charge into Reading Digraph Decodable Reader Set.

The PH digraph uses the phoneme /f/. This digraph appears at the beginning, middle, or end of a word. The PH digraph appears in words such as phase, elephant, and graph.

Although early readers may learn the sound made by the PH digraph, there are very few decodable words at this stage of reading. The few PH digraph words to begin with include graph and phonics.

As a child's reading develops, they will encounter and be able to read more words using the digraph PH.

The QU digraph is one that arouses much argument about teachers. Unlike other digraphs, it does not contain two consonants nor does it contain two vowels like vowel teams. More than that, the digraph QU it actually contains two phonemes: /k/ /w/, which makes calling it a digraph contentious. But there is a catch: the Q is almost never used without the U. For that reason, it is taught as a digraph.

The QU digraph appears at the beginning or middle of a word. The QU digraph appears in words such as quite, quip, and quick. As with most digraphs, many QU words are too challenging for early readers. Some QU words to begin with include: quack, quad, quest, quick, quid, quilt, quint, quip, quit, quiz.

The WH digraph uses the phoneme /w/. This digraph typically appears at the beginning of a word. The WH digraph is a bit unlike the others in that its second consonant—the H—is largely silent. Rather than forming a sound together, the WH digraph is often taught as the /w/ with breath.

Try saying the following words. See where the /w/ sits alone and where you can hear the /w/ with breath in the word:

• Win
• Whisk (with breath)
• Wand
• Whistle (with breath)
• Why (with breath)
• Whether (with breath)
• Wing

The WH digraph appears in words such as when, whisk, and whistle.

 When teaching WH words, be sure to use only those words that feature short vowel sounds. Some WH words to begin with include: whack, wham, when, which, whim, and whisk.

Because there are so few decodable PH, QU, and WH at this stage of reading, the Charge into Reading Digraph Decodable Reader Set combines these three sounds into one book. 

Practice reading these sounds with a decodable passage like the one below:

The Whisk

Phil is on a quest.
Phil must get a whisk.
Phil checks the loft.
Phil spots a lot of whisks.
“Which whisk do I pick?” Phil asks.
Phil picks a whisk.
It was a quick quest.

Want more PH, QU, and WH stories? Check out Quack, part of the Charge into Reading Digraph Decodable Reader Set.

The SH digraph uses the phoneme /sh/. This digraph can appear at the beginning, middle, or end of a word. The SH digraph appears in words such as ship, shone, and brush. 

When teaching SH words, be sure to use only those words that feature short vowel sounds. Some SH words to begin with include: brush, fish, flash, mash, plush, posh, sham, shock, swish, and wash.

The TH digraph uses the phoneme /th/. This digraph can appear at the beginning, middle, or end of a word. 

Unlike most digraphs which make one sound, the digraph TH makes two unique sounds Words such as think, throw, and thumb use what is called the unvoiced TH. This means that the /th/ sound in these words can be said without engaging the vocal cords. Words such as this, that, and other use what is called the voiced TH. Saying these words requires the vocal chords to vibrate.

One of the best ways to tell if a word is voiced or unvoiced is to put your hand to your throat as you say it. If you feel your vocal chords vibrating, it is a voiced TH. Ask your child to say some of the words below. Encourage them to feel for the movement of their vocal chords as they speak:

• Thimble (unvoiced)
• This (voiced)
• Thank (unvoiced)
• Feather (voiced)
• Thorn (unvoiced)
• Mother (voiced)
• Math (unvoiced)

Some TH words to begin with include: math, month, sixth, sloth, thick, throb, thud, and with.

Encourage children to tap out the phonemes in a word. Then ask them to write each letter (or digraph) in its own box. Remind them that digraphs should sit together in one box.

Create sight cards with pictures that children can identify. Rather than writing out the full word on the card, only include the digraph. Then encourage the child to say the word aloud, listening for the sound the digraph makes.

Create a chart or grid featuring only words that use one kind of consonant blend. Reading several of the same digraph in a row helps build familiarity and will help readers to understand how the digraph is formed and how it sounds in familiar words.

Below is a sample CK fluency grid:

Ask children to listen to a word that features a digraph. Then ask them whether the digraph appeared at the beginning or end of the word. This is particularly valuable with digraphs that can appear at the beginning or end of a word, such as CH, SH, and TH.

Practice saying words that use the TH digraph. Encourage readers to put their hands on their throats to determine whether the vocal cords move with each word.

Keep in mind when working on digraphs where a reader is in their ability. A word like cheat is going to be a challenge because readers need to not only know the digraph ch but also need to be able to identify the advanced vowel team ea. Instead, focus on decodable text that includes digraphs at the appropriate time.

Remember, children do not need to memorize these digraphs. They just need to recognize HOW to sound them out in order to be successful in reading them! And the more they practice, the more reading digraphs will become second nature.