Where Is the Digraph? sh, ch and th in the Word

Eight picture cards fill this 1st grade page in two columns. Each shows a picture, the letter team it contains in a bead above, and an arrow running left to right over three dashed ovals. The child says the picture word, listens for where the team comes, and colors one oval: the first for the beginning, the middle one for the middle and the last for the end. On the sheet shown the pictures are a sheep, a beach, a mushroom, a wheelchair, a tooth, a shovel, a sloth and an armchair.

Knowing a word has sh in it is one skill; knowing where the sound falls is another, and it is the one that helps children spell. The arrow over the ovals shows the direction of the word, so the three spaces stand for the start, the middle and the end of what the child hears. The team is given for every picture, so the page is only about position. On the sheet shown two teams come at the start, three at the end and three in the middle, in mushroom, wheelchair and armchair.

One sheet, eight pictures, eight colored spaces. Clapping or tapping along the arm as you say each word helps children find the place. Name the sheep and the sloth together before starting: the sheep is drawn young and woolly, and a child who calls it a lamb will hear no sh at all. The digraphs in sentences face is the last step, finding teams in running text.