Rationale:  This lesson is intended to help children recognize the digraph /ch/.  Students will become aware that digraphs are groups of two successive letters whose phonemic value is a single sound.  This lesson will also help students recognize and write ch=/ch/.  I will introduce /ch/ in letterbox lesson.  They will identify ch=/ch/ in words they write and in a book.

Materials:  Elkonin boxes; letters (c, h, e, s, o, p, u, m, l, d); flash cards, paper, pencil, and A Peach for Chad.

Procedures:
1. I would like everyone to say /ch/.  Notice the way your teeth are together and your lips are slightly puckered.
2. I will write chalk, chin, chat, and chart on the board and underline the letters ch.  Notice that each of these words begins with the same letters and carries the same sound.
3. I will read a sentence that has the digraph /ch/ in it.  Each time you hear the /ch/ sound, clap so I know you heard it.  Try to count how many of each sound you heard.  “Charlie’s chimpanzee ate cherry chocolate cheesecake.”
4. Now that we have seen some examples of /ch/ we will spell some.
5. Start the letterbox lesson; make sure every child has the appropriate materials.  First spell chess, Great, now let’s spell chop, Good, lets spell chum.
6. Now I will show a card with a word on it and have you read them out loud.  (Flash cards with chess, chop, and chum.)
7. Next I will distribute a copy of A Peach for Chad to students in groups of two.  They will read to each other.  After distributing paper and pencil students will be asked to write at least three words form the story.
8. Assessment: Have students read the book and when they are finished write down words with /ch/ digraph.

Reference: Eldredge, J.L. Teaching Decoding in Holistic Classrooms. (1995) Published by Prentice Hall pg. 156-157.
Cimochowski, Anna. A Peach for Chad
 Murray, Bruce and Lesniak, Teresa (1999). The Letterbox Lesson: A Hands-On Approach for Teaching Decoding. The Reading Teacher, 52, 644-650

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