Extend Phonemic Awareness with This Consonant Digraph Word List

Consonant digraphs are two-letter consonant combinations that create one phoneme (sound). They can be found at the beginning, in the middle, or at the end of words. This list of 50 words containing some of the more common consonant digraphs in the English language has been compiled to assist you in implementing your phonics program in your classroom. It includes words containing the following consonant digraphs:

• sh (as in show)
• ch (as in chain)
• th (as in think)
• wh (as in what)
• ph (as in phone).

Multiple Applications for This Consonant Digraph Word List

This list of words containing consonant digraphs can be used in numerous ways to support the diverse needs of your learners during your literacy sessions. Here are some of our suggestions:

Word list group challenge

Place the students into small groups. Provide them with large pieces of butcher’s paper and markers. Provide each group with a different consonant digraph from the list. Challenge the students to write down as many words as they can think of that contain their assigned consonant digraph within a set time period, e.g five minutes. The group that comes up with the most words is the word list champion!

Individual practice

Send the lists home so your students can revise decoding (reading) and encoding (spelling) the words on the list. Be sure to include only words containing letter-sound correspondences you have already addressed in class.

Formative assessment

Use the word list as a progress monitoring tool to keep track of your students’ phonemic awareness and to identify the consonant digraphs that require further review.

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