Beginning Digraphs Fill in the Blank Worksheet

A digraph is two letters that team up to spell one single sound, and the beginning digraphs ch, sh, th and wh are the first ones a first grader has to know on sight. Until those letter pairs click, a reader tries to sound out each letter on its own and the word falls apart: c-h-i-c-k becomes a puzzle instead of a chick. This beginning digraphs fill in the blank worksheet gives students focused practice hearing the sound at the start of a word and then choosing the two letters that spell it.

The sheet opens with a small reference box holding all four digraphs, so nobody is stuck guessing which letters are in play. In the first part, students read six short sentences and write the missing digraph inside the word: a pink shell, a yellow wheel, three baby ducks. In the second part, four picture cards ask them to look at the image and finish its name the same way. That order matters on a 1st grade beginning sounds worksheet, because reading the sentence forces students to use meaning as well as sound, and the pictures then let them work from the sound alone. Use it as morning work, as a small-group follow-up to a digraph lesson, or as a quick check before you move on.

What’s Included

• 1 print-ready PDF worksheet
• Answer key
• 6 sentence fill-in-the-blank items and 4 picture-word items covering ch, sh, th and wh

Three things make this beginning digraphs fill in the blank worksheet work. First, every blank has exactly one right answer, so students get honest feedback instead of a lucky guess: only sh makes shell, only wh makes wheel. Second, the blank sits inside the word rather than beside it, which keeps students thinking about the sound in its real position at the start of a word. Third, the two parts practice the same skill through two different doors, sentence meaning and picture naming, and that kind of repetition is what moves a letter pair from something a child decodes to something a child simply knows.

Away from the page, keep the practice quick and playful. Go on a digraph hunt through a favorite picture book and tally every ch, sh, th and wh word you find. Sort a handful of word cards into four piles, then race to name one more word for each pile. Ask students to hold up two fingers whenever they hear a digraph at the start of a word you say aloud, so the two letters become one sound in their hands as well as their eyes. At home, write the four digraphs on sticky notes and let a child stick each one on something in the house it belongs to, from the shoes by the door to the chair at the table.

Related Resources

• Consonant Digraphs Worksheet
• H Digraphs Worksheet – Word Bank
• Vowel Digraphs Worksheet
• 44 Sounds of the English Language Video Lesson (Have Fun Teaching on YouTube)