This Silent Letters Worksheet helps 3rd graders find and write the quiet letters in words like comb, knee, and ghost. Includes a complete answer key, perfect for no-prep phonics practice at home or in class.
This SH CI CH TI worksheet gives 3rd graders a twelve-word sort plus spelling and writing practice for the four ways to spell the /sh/ sound. An answer key is included, so it is ready to check.
Using the Blends, Digraphs, and Trigraphs Activity, students create lists of words that have beginning and ending blends, digraphs, or trigraphs.
In this consonant digraphs ch sh th wh activity, Kindergarten to 3rd Grade students sort 16 picture-word cards by their first sound, with an answer key included for easy checking.
This ou ow matching game worksheet helps 1st graders match pictures to words and write the missing ou or ow. It includes an answer key and builds confident vowel team reading.
Two letters, one sneaky sound
Third graders already know the basic digraphs: sh, ch, th and wh. Now they meet the trickier ones! They learn that ph says /f/ in phone, gh can say /f/ in laugh or be silent in night, and ch can say /k/ in school or /sh/ in chef. In longer words they learn that ti and ci often say /sh/, like in nation and special. They also review silent-letter pairs like kn, wr and gn. The click moment comes when kids stop sounding out every letter and start spotting the team.
Third graders need to see the pattern, hear it and use it in bigger words.
Write /sh/ at the top of the board and collect spellings as a class: ship, chef, nation, special. Kids sort new words into columns by spelling. Seeing all the ways one sound can be spelled helps them read and spell longer words.
Why it works: teaching letter sounds directly and in order is one of the best-supported findings in reading research (National Reading Panel, 2000).
Try it withSH CI CH TI WorksheetWorksheetsOpen it →Hand out letter tiles where the digraph is printed on one tile, like ph or ck. Kids build words and notice that the team always moves together. It stops them from splitting the pair when they decode.
Why it works: going from real objects to pictures to symbols is a core recommendation of the U.S. Department of Education's elementary math guide.
Try it withBlends, Digraphs, and Trigraphs ActivityActivitiesOpen it →Flash words like knee, write and gnome and have kids point to the letter that is not talking. A quick daily round is all it takes, and kids love catching the sneaky letters.
Why it works: researchers who compared ten study methods found practice testing is one of the two that work best (Dunlosky and colleagues, 2013).
Try it withSilent Letters WorksheetWorksheetsOpen it →Spotting letter teams is a game third graders love to win.
ActivitiesPartners race to sort ch, sh, th and wh words into the right bins. Fastest correct team wins!
Open Consonant Digraphs CH SH TH WH Activity →
WorksheetsMatch ou and ow words to their pictures, then decide which sound each one makes.
Open OU OW Matching Game Worksheet →Teacher favorites right now: Silent Letters Worksheet, SH CI CH TI Worksheet and Blends, Digraphs, and Trigraphs Activity.
A digraph is two letters that work together to make one sound, like sh in ship or ph in phone. The sound is usually different from what each letter says alone. Third graders learn the trickier ones, like gh and ch saying /k/.
In a blend, you can still hear each letter, like the b and l in blue. In a digraph, the two letters make one new sound, like the ch in chip. Kids can test it by saying the word slowly.
Many English words come from other languages. Ch says /k/ in words from Greek, like school, and /sh/ in words from French, like chef. Sharing a word origin story helps kids remember.
Point out digraphs on signs, menus and cereal boxes. Ask your child which two letters are working together and what sound they make. Short word hunts are more fun than drills.
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