Produced by Reading Universe, a partnership of WETA, Barksdale Reading Institute, and First Book
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Lynda Knowles: So we all know that 'c-h' says ...
Ms. Knowles and students: /ch/, /ch/, /ch/ ...
Lynda Knowles: and 't-c-h' is going to say ...
Ms. Knowles and students: /ch/, /ch/, /ch/, /ch/, /ch/.
Lynda Knowles: Now there's a little bit of a difference. Are you ready?
Student: Yeah.
Lynda Knowles: 'c-h' can be at the beginning of a word. It could be in the middle of a word. It could be at the ...
Ms. Knowles and students: end of the word.
Lynda Knowles: 't-c-h' is going to be at the end of a word immediately following a short vowel. In a short word, one syllable word. Okay. Are you ready to do some work? Okay. Go ahead and turn over your papers and let's look at the top. There's a rule at the top. Everyone say "rule."
Students: "Rule."
Lynda Knowles: So put your fingers on the word. You can read it with me.
Ms. Knowles and students: Immediately after a short vowel at the end of a short word, spell /ch/ as 't-c-h'.
Lynda Knowles: Good job. Say good job to your friend.
Students: Good job!
Note: Some educators and programs call '-tch' and '-dge' trigraphs. Just like a digraph is two letters that make one sound, a trigraph is three letters that make one sound.
Exception to the Rule
The '-tch' rule is generally consistent, but there are four important words that are exceptions: which, rich, much, and such. These words are one-syllable, short vowel words that end with 'ch' — not '-tch.' You can teach these words as irregularly spelled words or rule breakers.
The acronym WoRMS is a fun way for students to remember the four '-tch' exceptions. When they come across one of these four words, they can say, "Worms Alert!" to reinforce the skill.
