Study guide: Digraphs, Blends and Long Vowels
Apply read a consonant digraph, keep both sounds in a blend, read final-e words, read a vowel team using supplied texts and original responses.
Ideas to explain in your own words
- A digraph uses two letters for one consonant sound. The beginnings of ship, chip, thin and when differ even though each uses two letters.
- In a consonant blend, each consonant keeps its sound. The /s/ and /t/ in stop both need to be heard, unlike a single-sound digraph.
- A final silent e often makes the earlier vowel long in one-syllable words: cap becomes cape. This is a common pattern, not a rule for every English word.
- Two adjacent vowel letters can work together. In rain, feet, boat and play, the highlighted teams represent one long-vowel sound.
Useful vocabulary
- Read a consonant digraph
- A digraph uses two letters for one consonant sound. The beginnings of ship, chip, thin and when differ even though each uses two letters.
- Keep both sounds in a blend
- In a consonant blend, each consonant keeps its sound. The /s/ and /t/ in stop both need to be heard, unlike a single-sound digraph.
- Read final-e words
- A final silent e often makes the earlier vowel long in one-syllable words: cap becomes cape. This is a common pattern, not a rule for every English word.
- Read a vowel team
- Two adjacent vowel letters can work together. In rain, feet, boat and play, the highlighted teams represent one long-vowel sound.
Watch your reasoning
- Do not read sh as separate /s/ and /h/ sounds.
- Do not drop the second sound.
- Words such as have are exceptions.
- English teams can have other sounds in other words.
A worked review example
Target: ship. Blend: stop. Final-e: cape. Team: rain. Read a consonant digraph: The relevant input states: Target: ship. This fits sh. A digraph uses two letters for one consonant sound. The beginnings of ship, chip, thin and when differ even though each uses two letters. Do not read sh as separate /s/ and /h/ sounds. Keep both sounds in a blend: The relevant input states: Blend: stop. This fits st. In a consonant blend, each consonant keeps its sound. The /s/ and /t/ in stop both need to be heard, unlike a single-sound digraph. Do not drop the second sound. Read final-e words: The relevant input states: Final-e: cape. This fits long a. A final silent e often makes the earlier vowel long in one-syllable words: cap becomes cape. This is a common pattern, not a rule for every English word. Words such as have are exceptions. Read a vowel team: The relevant input states: Team: rain. This fits ai. Two adjacent vowel letters can work together. In rain, feet, boat and play, the highlighted teams represent one long-vowel sound. English teams can have other sounds in other words.
Make a practice plan
- Practice read a consonant digraph: Say the word, underline its first two letters and blend that sound with the remaining sounds.
- Practice keep both sounds in a blend: Point to the first two consonants. Say each sound and slide them together into the rest of the word.
- Practice read final-e words: Find vowel-consonant-e. Say the first vowel name, keep the consonant sound and do not pronounce the final e separately.
- Practice read a vowel team: Underline the team, read its sound in the supplied word and blend with the surrounding consonants.
- Try the new review before opening its answer. Return to the related lesson if you want more help.