By this point, students know that the digraph 'ch' makes the /ch/ sound. So now it's time to teach another important letter combination that makes the same sound: '-tch', like in hatch and pitch.

Learning to articulate and read '-tch' as the /ch/ sound is much like learning any other sound-letter correspondence. But figuring out when to spell words with '-tch' rather than 'ch' is where this skill gets tricky! For that reason, there's a lot of focus on spelling in this skill explainer. 

A student-friendly chant that can help your students remember the '-tch' spelling rule is: "Immediately after a short vowel, at the end of a one-syllable word, spell /ch/ … 't', 'c', 'h'!"

The '-tch' rule is one of four short vowel spelling rules. The other three short vowel rules — FLoSS(Z), '-ck', and '-dge' — each have their own skill explainers. We typically introduce '-ck' and FLoSS(Z) first because they follow a more straightforward pattern. We introduce '-tch' and '-dge' later because they have more exceptions and require more decision making during spelling.

Watch first-grade teacher Lynda Knowles introduce the '-tch' spelling rule to her students at Shull Elementary in San Dimas, California.

Reminders on When to Use 'ch' vs. '-tch'

Determining whether to spell with 'ch' or '-tch' requires students to do quite a bit of metacognitive work! Here are some reminders about when to use 'ch' rather than '-tch'.

Students will use 'ch' when the /ch/ sound is:

• At the beginning of a word or syllable, like chat or chip.
• At the end of a word immediately following 'l' or 'n', like in gulch or pinch. We call 'l' and 'n' "blockers," because they are blocking the short vowel from the /ch/ sound, so the 't' isn't needed!
• At the end of a word immediately after an r-controlled vowel or vowel team, like in torch or peach.

After teaching the '-tch' spelling rule and providing students with lots of practice spelling words with '-tch', you'll want to start mixing in words that are spelled with 'ch'. This will give students opportunities to make that spelling decision — '-tch' or 'ch' — based on the sound's position in the word. 

Connecting the '-tch' Spelling Rule to Other Phonics Skills

The structured literacy approach is systematic and cumulative. That means each time you teach a new phonics skill, you need to consider how it interacts with other skills. 

Here are some other phonics skills that connect to the '-tch' spelling rule. You'll want to talk about these interactions explicitly when you come across them. 

Multisyllable Words
Although '-tch' is usually found in one-syllable words, there are a few words in which '-tch' comes at the end of a syllable in a multisyllable word, including kitchen, hatchet, and satchel. These words do not follow the rules and can be addressed as they come up in later lessons. 

Suffixes '-s' and '-es'
If students have already learned the suffixes '-s' and '-es', teaching '-tch' is a great time to revisit these suffixes. When making a word that ends in '-tch' (or 'ch') plural, add suffix -es — like in patches and splotches.