Sh Sound Digraph game

Did you know that this week is shark week?  Hooray for sharks.  The other day when I was  sitting  at the doctor’s office with my five year old, there was a book there about sharks .  We  read it together.  I was  amazed  by  all  the  different  types of sharks and by some of the other  facts we learned.  Did you know that great  white sharks can smell blood up to 3 miles away!  My son was loving all the pictures and cool  facts.  He also loved getting mommy time and having someone read to him.

So, anyway, I wanted to share with you a cute and fun method today for teaching the ‘sh’ sound.  I asked Mrs. Karle (my mom) how she used to teach the ‘sh’ sound, and she told me a fabulous idea for a game.  I changed it slightly because I wanted to use sharks!  Your little readers are going to have so much fun playing this game!

Sh Sound Digraph Game

To play you will need:

-A list of words.  If you have readers, pick words they know how to read.  If you do not have readers, you can make this a listening game.
-Make some cards with sharks on them.  Also have some cards that have words that begin with the letters “sh”, and then have cards that have other words on them.

Directions:

1.Print out, cut, and laminate the game cards for the game.  You can print out several copies and use in small groups during centers, or you can use for an entire classroom and play as a class.  The game is loud – so, it may not be a good game for centers – but, the children will love playing!

2.Set a timer for the game to begin.  You can play for as long or as little as you like.  (I recommend 10-15 minutes)

3.Turn the cards upside down and have the first student pick up the card and read the word.  If the word starts with the “sh” sound, the student should SHOUT the word. The student shouts the correct word, he keeps the card.

4.If the card does not begin with the “sh” sound, the children have to say “sh”, “sh” “sh” and WHISPER the word.   If the student whispers the word correctly, she keeps the card.

5.If the child chooses a shark card, all the children must yell “SHARK!!!!”  and then turn in all cards to the center pile.

6.The game ends when time is up, or you run out of time.  The winner is the person with the most cards in their hand.

As I said, this can be a listening game too!  Say a word and have the student either say “sh, sh, sh” or, they will SHOUT the word, or, they will yell “SHARK!”  In the listening version, there is no winner or loser -just good old shouting fun!

I also made a copy of this game.

You can purchase a copy below

or on our TeachersPayTeachers,

educents or

Teacher’s Notebook sites.  Included in the game are game cards with all dolch sight words from pre-primer through level 3.  Shark card, and sh cards (52 [ages in all)

I have some free shark coloring pages as well!  You have to have something fun to do for shark week!!  To get your free shark coloring pages, enter in your information below.  You will be added to our email list where you will find out about other fun things, like freebies!

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