English · Year 1

Active learning ideas

Spelling Words with Digraphs and Trigraphs

Active learning helps Year 1 students internalise digraphs and trigraphs by turning abstract letter patterns into concrete, hands-on experiences. When children manipulate letters and sounds directly, they move from memorising rules to noticing how these patterns function in real words.

• National Curriculum Attainment Targets
• KS1: English - Writing (Transcription)
• KS1: English - Spelling

• 15–30 min
• Pairs → Whole Class
• 4 activities

Activity 01

• Hundred Languages
• 25 min · Pairs

Magnetic Letter Build: Digraph Dash

Provide trays of magnetic letters including common digraphs and trigraphs. Say a word like 'ship' or 'night'; pairs segment it aloud, find the letters, and build the word on a board. Switch roles after each word, aiming for 10 builds.

Construct words by correctly applying digraph and trigraph knowledge.

Facilitation Tip

During Digraph Dash, circulate and model slow pronunciation of the digraph sound before students build the word to reinforce auditory blending.

What to look for

Provide students with a list of 5 words, some containing digraphs/trigraphs and some not. Ask them to circle the words that contain a digraph or trigraph and write the digraph/trigraph they found. Example words: 'ship', 'cat', 'light', 'dog', 'three'.

• Understand
• Apply
• Create
• Self-Awareness
• Self-Management
• Social Awareness

Activity 02

• Hundred Languages
• 30 min · Small Groups

Sound Button Segment: Trigraph Hunt

Write words with trigraphs on cards, like 'ear' in 'pear'. In small groups, children tap sound buttons while segmenting, then write the word on mini-whiteboards. Groups share one word and spelling with the class.

Differentiate between single letter sounds and digraph/trigraph sounds when spelling.

Facilitation Tip

During Trigraph Hunt, ask students to justify their sorting choices using the sound button cards to deepen metacognitive awareness.

What to look for

Hold up word cards with target digraphs/trigraphs. Ask students to hold up fingers to represent the number of sounds they hear in the word. For example, 'fish' has 3 sounds (/f/ /i/ /sh/), while 'ship' also has 3 sounds (/sh/ /i/ /p/). This checks their ability to recognize the single sound of the digraph.

• Understand
• Apply
• Create
• Self-Awareness
• Self-Management
• Social Awareness

Activity 03

• Hundred Languages
• 20 min · Whole Class

Phonics Bingo: Pattern Match

Create bingo cards with pictures and empty digraph/trigraph spaces. Call out words; students segment, write the pattern in the matching picture square, and shout 'bingo' when a row fills. Review spellings as a class.

Explain the importance of recognizing these patterns for accurate spelling.

Facilitation Tip

During Pattern Match, encourage students to verbalise the pattern they see before marking it on their bingo cards to connect visual and auditory processing.

What to look for

Show students two words, one with a digraph and one with similar single letters, like 'chip' and 'zip'. Ask: 'What is different about the sounds in the middle of these words? How do we spell that sound in 'chip'?' Guide them to explain the 'ch' digraph.

• Understand
• Apply
• Create
• Self-Awareness
• Self-Management
• Social Awareness

Activity 04

• Hundred Languages
• 15 min · Small Groups

Air Write Relay: Word Chain

In lines, the first child air-writes a digraph word like 'thin' with finger-tracing, says it segmented, then tags the next who adds a new word. Continue for five words per line, then write them on paper.

Construct words by correctly applying digraph and trigraph knowledge.

Facilitation Tip

During Air Write Relay, pause between words to ask students to air-write the digraph or trigraph part first, then the whole word.

What to look for

Provide students with a list of 5 words, some containing digraphs/trigraphs and some not. Ask them to circle the words that contain a digraph or trigraph and write the digraph/trigraph they found. Example words: 'ship', 'cat', 'light', 'dog', 'three'.

• Understand
• Apply
• Create
• Self-Awareness
• Self-Management
• Social Awareness

A few notes on teaching this unit

Teach digraphs and trigraphs through multisensory routines that isolate the patterned unit before blending it into the word. Avoid teaching these patterns in isolation for too long, as context helps students generalise. Research shows that frequent, short bursts of focused practice with immediate feedback build automaticity more effectively than lengthy drills.

By the end of these activities, students will confidently identify, build, and spell words with digraphs and trigraphs in isolation and within sentences. They will articulate why these patterns matter and apply this knowledge independently in writing tasks.

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Watch Out for These Misconceptions

• During Digraph Dash, watch for students who pronounce the digraph sounds as individual letters rather than a blended phoneme.

  Prompt students to say the word slowly using a robot voice, isolating the digraph sound (/sh/ in ‘ship’) before building it with magnetic letters. Model blending the digraph sound first, then the whole word.

• During Trigraph Hunt, watch for students who confuse trigraphs with single-letter spellings or overgeneralise patterns.

  Have students compare words like ‘light’ and ‘lit’ using letter tiles, discussing why ‘igh’ is needed to represent the /igh/ sound. Ask them to sort a mixed set of words to reinforce the pattern.

• During Pattern Match, watch for students who assume all words with digraphs or trigraphs follow the same rule without exceptions.

  Include 1-2 irregular words in the bingo game (e.g., ‘said’ with ‘ai’ or ‘one’ with ‘o-e’). Ask students to discuss why the pattern doesn’t match the sound, building flexible thinking.

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Methods used in this brief

• Hundred Languages