English · Kindergarten–Grade 2
Free digraphs worksheets
Free printable digraphs worksheets for kindergarten to grade 2 covering sh, ch, th and wh: sort by digraph, fill in the missing digraph, circle the word, read and write lists, sentences, beginning or end, and a word hunt. Answer keys.
Sort 20 words by digraph (sh, ch, th, wh)
Twenty words to sort into sh, ch, th and wh boxes, five each. Answer key on page 2. Free printable PDF.
Fill in the missing digraph
Sixteen words with the digraph missing, pictures where there is one; write sh, ch, th or wh. Answer key on page 2. Free printable PDF.
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Circle the digraph word: 12 pictures
Twelve pictures with three look-alike words each; circle the right one. Answer key on page 2. Free printable PDF.
Read and write: sh and ch words
Eight sh words and eight ch words with the digraph colored, to read aloud and write twice. Free printable PDF.
Read and write: th and wh words
Eight th words and eight wh words with the digraph colored, to read aloud and write twice. Free printable PDF.
Digraph sentences
Eight fill-in sentences full of sh, ch, th and wh words, with a word bank. Answer key on page 2. Free printable PDF.
Beginning or end? Sort 16 words
Sixteen words to sort by whether the digraph starts or ends the word. Answer key on page 2. Free printable PDF.
Digraph word hunt
Twelve sh, ch, th and wh words hidden in a 10 by 10 grid, with the word bank. Solution on page 2. Free printable PDF.
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A digraph is two letters that make one sound: sh in ship, ch in chip, th in bath, wh in whale. They are the first place a child who reads letter by letter gets stuck, because s-h does not sound like "sh". These eight worksheets teach the four consonant digraphs children meet first (sh, ch, th, wh) with 32 words, 16 of them pictured. The order runs from recognizing the digraph in a word to reading and writing it: sort words by digraph, fill the missing pair of letters, circle the right word beside a picture, read and copy lists, complete sentences, decide whether the digraph starts or ends the word, and find the words in a hunt. Six sheets have an answer key on page 2.
What's in this set
- Sort by digraph. Twenty words from a bank into sh, ch, th and wh boxes, five each. Answer key.
- Fill in the digraph. Sixteen words with the digraph missing and a picture where there is one (ship, fish, shell, brush, chin, bench, moth, bath, wheel, whale, dish). Answer key.
- Circle the digraph word. Twelve pictures, each with three look-alike words (ship, shop, chip); circle the match. Answer key.
- Read and write: sh and ch. Eight words of each with the digraph colored, to read aloud and write twice.
- Read and write: th and wh. Same layout for th and wh.
- Digraph sentences. Eight sentences full of digraph words; fill the blank from the bank and underline every digraph. Answer key.
- Beginning or end? Sixteen words to sort by where the digraph sits: ship and chip at the start, fish and bench at the end. Answer key.
- Digraph word hunt. Twelve words hidden in a 10 by 10 grid. Solution on page 2.
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How to use these worksheets
Print at 100% on A4 or US Letter. Introduce one digraph at a time (sh first, it is the easiest to hear), and use the sheets that mix all four only after each has been met on its own.
- Sort by digraph. Read the word, find the two letters, say their one sound, write the word in the box. Have the child underline the digraph in each word they write.
- Fill in the digraph. Say the word slowly and listen for "sh", "ch", "th" or "wh". The key at the bottom (sh as in ship...) is for the child to point at. Words without a picture are read from the letters that are there.
- Circle the digraph word. The wrong words share letters with the right one (shop and chip beside ship), so the child must read to the end. Cover the picture and ask them to read all three first.
- Read and write. The digraph is colored so the child sees it as a unit. Say the digraph sound, then the rest of the word, then the whole word, then write it twice.
- Digraph sentences. Read the whole sentence before choosing. After filling the blanks, hunt for every digraph on the page and underline it: there are more than twenty.
- Beginning or end? Say the word and clap once at the digraph: is the clap at the start or the finish? This sheet is for children who can already read the words.
- Word hunt. Across, down and diagonally. Tick off the bank as you go.
Common mistakes to watch for
- Saying two sounds. "s-h-ip" instead of "sh-ip". Have the child put a finger over both letters together and say one sound.
- Confusing ch and sh. The two most similar digraphs. Exaggerate: "ch" is a sneeze, "sh" is quiet.
- Two th sounds. "this" and "thin" start with different sounds (voiced and unvoiced). Both are spelled th; children do not need the terms, just to hear that the spelling is the same.
- Treating wh as w. In most American English, wh sounds like w. That is fine: the point is to recognize the spelling when reading when, what and which.
Frequently asked questions
What is a digraph?
Two letters that together make one sound: sh, ch, th, wh, and also ck, ng and ph. This set covers the four beginning consonant digraphs. A digraph is different from a blend (bl, st, tr), where you can still hear both letters.
What order should digraphs be taught in?
Most programs teach sh and ch first (easy to hear, many simple words), then th, then wh. ck and ng follow, usually with word endings. The read-and-write sheets are split that way: sh and ch together, then th and wh.
What grade are digraphs taught in?
Kindergarten introduces them, first grade is where most children learn to read and spell them, and second graders who still stumble on them benefit from the same sheets. That is why this set is labelled kindergarten to grade 2.
Do these worksheets have answer keys?
Yes, six of the eight: sort, fill in, circle the word, sentences, beginning or end and the word hunt each have answers on page 2. The two read-and-write sheets are copying pages.
Can I use these in a classroom?
Yes. The PDFs are free for home and classroom use. The sort and the beginning-or-end sheets work well cut up into cards for a small group.
More phonics practice
Before digraphs: the CVC words worksheets and word families worksheets build the short-vowel words digraphs are added to. Alongside them: the cl blend worksheets for consonant blends, the sight words worksheets for the words that cannot be sounded out, and the phonics worksheets for the wider set. Spelling practice continues on the spelling worksheets.
Free library
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