Teaching the Digraph 'th'

Katina Johnson: So, you know, we've been working on our digraphs. We're going to go through our letter sound drill first. Okay. Eyes on me. Ready? 'a' says ...

Ms. Johnson and students: /ă/ ... 'a' says /ā/ ...

Katina Johnson: Good deal.

Narrator: Katina Johnson begins her phonics lesson on the digraph 'th' with a quick warmup, reviewing letter names and letter sounds using flashcards.

Ms. Johnson and students: ... and 'o' says /ō/ ...

Katina Johnson: Good.

Ms. Johnson and students: ... 't' says /t/, 'u' says /ŭ/ and 'u' says /ū/ ...

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

Students: Two letters that make one sound.

Katina Johnson: Yes. We've been working with diagraphs ... 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/

Katina Johnson: And now we're going to have a new digraph today. Are you ready? Yes. Here is our digraph. It is 'th' ... but I want you to pay close attention. We look at the digraph itself. That is two letters that make ...

Students: one sound ...

Katina Johnson: And then we look, we look to see how the sound is made. Okay? So we're going to practice that. Are you ready? Okay. I'm going to come around with your mirror. Go ahead and open it up. Get it ready to go. You are very welcome. Ready? 'th' says ...

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 /th/, did you feel that air?

Students: Yes.

Katina Johnson: Yes. 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.

Ms. Johnson and students: 'th' says /th/.

Katina Johnson: Good. Danica, you're looking right in your mirror. Ready? Go.

Danica: 'th' says /th/ ...

Katina Johnson: Good. Do you feel that air? Okay. Listen carefully. I'm going to say some words and every time you hear the /th/ sound, I want you to write it. Now. Are you ready?

Narrator: This writing exercise helps students make the connection between the sound and the letters that spell it, 'th'.

Katina Johnson: Thumb. Thumb. Thumb. Ready?

Ms. Johnson and students: 'th' says for /th/ for Thumb.

Katina Johnson: Good. Think. Say Think.

Students: Think.

Katina Johnson: Oh. Did you hear it? Okay. Write it. Ready?

Ms. Johnson and students: 'th' says for /th/ for Think.

Katina Johnson: Okay. You ready for the next word? Say Thunder.

Students: Thunder.

Katina Johnson: Thunder.

Students: Thunder.

Katina Johnson: Ooh. What did you hear at the beginning of thunder ... /th/ ... okay, write that sound. Ready?

Ms. Johnson and students: 'th' says for /th/ for Thunder.

Katina Johnson: Good. Alright. So now if you did not erase, you should have at least one 'th' digraph on your board. So this time I want you to touch every time you hear the /th/ sound. Are you ready? Okay. We're going to go through pretty quick. Think.

Ms. Johnson and students: Think.

Katina Johnson: Ready? 'th' says for /th/ for Think. Thunder.

Ms. Johnson and students: Thunder. Oh, did you touch it? Good. 'th' says for /th/ for Thunder. Alright. Who's ready to read some words?

Narrator: Now, students will have the chance to blend sounds and read words with their new spelling pattern.

Students: Bath.

Katina Johnson: Bath. Good. Let's see. How about this one?

Students: Path.

Katina Johnson: Path. Good.

Students: Moth.

Katina Johnson: /o/ says /ŏ/ ... I heard somebody ... /m/, /ŏ/, /th/ ...

Students: Moth.

Katina Johnson: What's the word?

Students: Moth.

Katina Johnson: All right, here's a new one.

Students: Win.

Katina Johnson: Win. Good. How about this one?

Students: Chin.

Katina Johnson: Awesome sauce. Before we do our sentences and phrases, we're going to practice our red words really quickly, okay? And you can arm tap them, too. Ready? Here we go.

Ms. Johnson and students: the ... 't', 'h', 'e' ... the ... let's tap it. Here we go.

Narrator: Ms. Johnson uses a multisensory technique, arm tapping, to help students remember words that don't follow the phonics patterns they've learned so far. She calls them red words. You might know them as tricky words or irregular words.

Katina Johnson: Now this one is so tricky. We have a hard time with this guy.

Ms. Johnson and students: Of.

Katina Johnson: Ready? 'o', 'f' ... of. And then ...

Students: With.

Katina Johnson: This is not a red word because now we know the digraph 'th'. Yeah, we know that sound. Okay. So we could actually sound it out. Ready?

Ms. Johnson and students: 'w', /ĭ/, /th/, with ...

Katina Johnson: So what's the word?

Ms. Johnson and students: With.

Katina Johnson: All right, so we're going to go through 'em really quickly. You ready?

Ms. Johnson and students: my ... what ... with.

Katina Johnson: Okay, good. So now here comes some phrases and you'll see some of these words. Alright. Ready?

Ms. Johnson and students: "is thin" ...

Katina Johnson: Try it again.

Ms. Johnson and students: "is thin" ... "dad is thin" ...

Narrator: Reading words, phrases, and sentences with a diagraph 'th' helps students build fluency, both accuracy and automaticity with their new spelling pattern.

Ms. Johnson and students: "on the path" ...

Katina Johnson: Let's read that loud and proud ...

Ms. Johnson and students: "on the path" ...

Katina Johnson: Awesome. We did a really good job today. Give yourself a pat on the back. Say, great job, me!

Students: Great job, me!

Katina Johnson: Awesome.

Ms. Johnson and students: Reading Universe is made possible by generous support from Jim & Donna Barksdale, 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.