PHONICS - Digraphs

A digraph is a single sound, or phoneme, which is represented by two letters. A trigraph is a phoneme which consists of three letters. However, many people will simply use the term 'digraph' generally to describe both combinations. In digraphs, consonants join together to form a kind of consonant team, which makes a special sound. For instance, p and h combine to form ph, which makes the /f/ sound as in phonemic.

When two or more consonants appear together and you hear each sound that each consonant would normally make, the consonant team is called a consonant blend. For instance, the word blend has two consonant blends: bl, for which you hear the sounds for both b and l, and nd, for which you hear the sounds for both n and d.

Digraphs:

ch, which makes the /ch/ sound as in watch, chick, chimpanzee, and champion
ck, which makes the /k/ sound as in chick
ff, which makes the /f/ sound as in cliff
gh, which makes the /g/ sound as in ghost and ghastly
gn, which makes the /n/ sound as in gnome and gnarled
kn, which makes the /n/ sound as in knife and knight
ll, which makes the /l/ sound as in wall
mb, which makes the /m/ sound as in lamb and thumb
ng, which makes the /ng/ sound as in fang, boomerang, and fingerprint
nk, which makes the /nk/ sound as in ink, sink and rink
ph, which makes the /f/ sound as in digraph, phone, and phonics
qu, which makes the /kw/ sound as in quick
sh, which makes the /sh/ sound as in shore, shipwreck, shark, and shield
ss, which makes the /s/ sound as in floss
th, which makes the /th/ sound as in athlete, toothbrush, bathtub, thin, and thunderstorm
th, which makes the /th/ sound as in this, there, and that
wh, which makes the /hw/ sound as in where and which
wr, which makes the /wr/ sound as in write
zz, which makes the /z/ sound as in fuzz and buzz

Trigraphs:

chr, which makes the /chr/ sound as in chrome and chromosome
dge, which makes the /g/ sound as in dodge and partridge
tch, which makes the /tch/ sound as in catch, match

http://www.phonicsontheweb.com/digraphs.php

GRAMMAR - Blends:
Consonant blends (also called consonant clusters) are groups of two or three consonants in words that makes a distinct consonant sound, such as "bl" or "spl." Consonant digraphs include bl, br, ch, ck, cl, cr, dr, fl, fr, gh, gl, gr, ng, ph, pl, pr, qu, sc, sh, sk, sl, sm, sn, sp, st, sw, th, tr, tw, wh, wr. Some trigraphs are nth, sch, scr, shr, spl, spr, squ, str, thr.

There are also digraphs that produce a distinct vowel sound. Some examples are: ai, au, aw, ay, ea, ee, ei, eu, ew, ey, ie, oi, oo, ou, ow, oy.


http://www.enchantedlearning.com/consonantblends/