Articulation of the Unvoiced 'th' Sound

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Katina Johnson: Alright, friends, so you know, we have been working with digraphs, right? And we know that digraphs are ...

Students: Two letters that make one sound.

Katina Johnson: Yes. We've been working with digraphs ... two letters that make one sound. So we've had 'ch', what was that sound?

Students: /ch/ ...

Katina Johnson: We've had 'sh', what was that sound?

Students: /sh/ ...

Narrator: The digraph 'th' spells two sounds that are very similar. One is voiced, meaning your voice vibrates as you say it, like in that and in mother. The unvoiced 'th' is used in words like with and math. Watch as reading specialist Katina Johnson teaches her students how to articulate the unvoiced 'th' digraph.

Katina Johnson: Here is our digraph. It is 'th' ... but I want you to pay close attention. When we look at our form of sound card, we look at the digraph itself, that is ...

Students: Two letters that make one sound ...

Katina Johnson: And then we look. We look to see how the sound is made.

Narrator: Ms. Johnson gives her first graders plenty of chances to practice saying their new digraph, guiding them to feel the air from the unvoiced sound. They use mirrors to check that their mouths are in the correct position.

Katina Johnson: Ready? 'th' says ...

Ms. Johnson and students: /th/ ...

Katina Johnson: Perfect. Now you didn't feel it, but you made it. But I want you to feel it this time. Ready? 'th' says ...

Ms. Johnson and students: /th/ ...

Katina Johnson: Did you feel that air?

Students: Yes.

Katina Johnson: Yes, it is unvoiced that's why there's the red light. Now looking in your mirror. This is the sound. This is what you want to see ... 'th' says ... /th/ ... Good. Now look in your mirror this time ... 'th' says ...

Students: /th/ ...

Katina Johnson: Good.

Narrator: When students can confidently articulate the unvoiced digraph 'th' sound, they're well on their way to confidently spelling it and reading it.

Katina Johnson: Last time ...

Students: 'th' says ... /th/ ...

Katina Johnson: 'th' says ... /th/ ... alright, cool beans.

Students: Reading Universe is made possible by generous support from Jim & Donna Barksdale, the Hastings/Quillen Fund, an advised fund of the Silicon Valley Community Foundation, the AFT, The Emily Hall Tremaine Foundation, and anonymous donors. Special thanks to the Toledo Federation of Teachers, Riverside Elementary School, and Toledo Public Schools in Toledo, Ohio. If you enjoyed this video, please subscribe to our YouTube channel @RUTeaching. Reading Universe is a service of WETA, Washington, D.C., the Barksdale Reading Institute, and First Book.

Katina Johnson: I'm Katina Johnson, and this is Reading Universe.