- fish
Two letters, one new sound
Sam has a pet fish. Say fish slowly. The end is not s and then h. It is one new sound, sh. Ch, th and wh work the same way.
shell sh chair ch thumb th whale wh Hear the teams
Sh starts ship and shell. Ch starts chair and ends lunch. Th starts thumb and ends bath. Wh starts whale and wheel.
- frog
Blends keep both sounds
Now say frog. You hear f, then r. Both letters keep their own sound. That is a blend. Stop starts with the blend st. Desk ends with sk.
chin ch: one sound black bl: two sounds Do not mix them up
Chin starts with ch. You hear one new sound, so it is not a blend. Black starts with bl. You hear b and l, so it is a blend.
ship sh chip ch Try this
Sam swaps one team for another. Ship becomes chip. Shop becomes chop. Now put wh in front of eel. What do you get? Wheel!
For parents
Goal: Your child learns to hear and spell the letter teams sh, ch, th and wh, and blends like st, bl and fr.
- Say a word slowly and ask: do you hear one new sound, or two sounds side by side?
- Practice these words together: ship, chip, chin, thumb, whale, lunch, stop, frog, black, desk.
- If chin and a blend get mixed up, try to split the first sound. You cannot split ch into c and h sounds.
Away from the screen: Go on a kitchen hunt for sh, ch, th and wh words, like dish, chair, cheese, wheat and fish. Write each one on a sticky note.