My daughter came home from first grade one afternoon and told me she had learned something called a “digraph.” She said it very seriously, the way six-year-olds say things they’ve heard for the first time and aren’t entirely sure about. “It’s two letters,” she told me, “but they make one sound.”
She was exactly right. And honestly? That one-sentence definition is better than what I’ve seen in half the materials out there. As both a parent and a literacy teacher, I’ve spent years collecting, testing, and creating digraph worksheets PDF resources — and in this guide I’m sharing everything I’ve learned about teaching digraphs effectively, including where to find the best free printable materials available today.
A digraph is a combination of two letters that together represent a single sound — a sound that neither letter makes on its own in that pairing. The word “digraph” itself tells you this: di means two, graph means written symbol. Two written symbols, one spoken sound.
This is different from a blend, which is an important distinction your students need to understand early. In a blend like st or pl, you can still hear both individual sounds if you listen carefully. In a digraph like sh or ch, the two letters produce a completely new sound — one that doesn’t exist in either letter alone.
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