Year 1Consonant digraphs
wh words
The letters w and h work together to make the /w/ sound.
wh/w/ as in whale
Words with wh
Tap a word to see its sounds and hear it.
wh at the start
Read wh in a sentence.
Every sentence is checked against the sound.
- 1The whale is white.
- 2I see a white wheel.
- 3The whale had white whiskers.
- 4I whisper to the white whale.
How to teach wh
- Introduce the consonant digraph. Explain that a digraph is two letters that work together to represent a sound.
- Model the target phoneme three times.
- Students repeat.
- Check articulation and correct mouth placement.
- Identify the target phoneme in the example words.
- Optional extension: Explain the spelling generalisation: wh usually represents the /w/ phoneme. It is commonly used at the beginning of question words, such as what, when, where, which, why, and who. Explain that who is an exception because wh represents /h/ in this word.
Other ways to spell /w/
- w
Decodable stories with wh.
From the Phonicspal library. Sign up free to read them.
Make a whole wh lesson.
Slides, words and sentences, matched to the sounds your class has learned.