Consonant Digraphs
A consonant digraph is two letters that team up to represent a single sound (phoneme). Unlike consonant blends where both sounds are individually heard, a digraph represents one unified sound.
Elkonin Sound Box Rule for Digraphs
In Elkonin sound boxes, a digraph stays together in one single box because it represents exactly one phoneme. For example, ship has 4 letters but only 3 phonemes: [sh] [i] [p]. This physical representation prevents guessing and cements proper orthographic mapping.
Canonical Consonant Digraphs
Explore the foundational digraphs in the PhonicSheets systematic curriculum:
SH Digraph (/ʃ/)
The unvoiced "quiet" sound heard at the beginning of ship and the end of fish.
Rounded lips, teeth close together, continuous gentle stream of air.
CH Digraph (/tʃ/)
The sharp affricate sound heard in chin, chop, bench, and lunch.
Tongue starts on roof of mouth like /t/, then releases into /ʃ/.
TH Digraph (/θ/ & /ð/)
Both unvoiced (/θ/ in thin, math) and voiced (/ð/ in this, that) sounds.
Tip of the tongue rests gently between front teeth; vocal cords silent for /θ/, vibrating for /ð/.
CK Digraph (/k/)
A common beginner spelling pattern is ck after a short vowel at the end of a one-syllable word.
Back of tongue contacts soft palate, quick release of unvoiced air.
WH Digraph (/w/)
In this beginner word set, wh represents /w/ at the start of the word.
Lips rounded in a tight circle, vocal cords vibrate (/w/).
Ready for Printable Practice?
Check out our SH, CH, and CK Sound Boxes worksheets, our TH Voiced & Unvoiced Word Sort, and our text-based WH Word Mapping worksheet, all built from verified phonics data with teacher answer keys.