1st Grade spelling
1st Grade CH Words
First grade ch words: chair, cheese, each, beach, teach, watch, pitch. Play hangman with the list, read it with scores, or print a worksheet.
Read the spelling list
The pattern: One-syllable words where c and h make the /ch/ sound (as in chin), not /k/ as in school.
The digraph ch usually says /ch/, as in chin and chair. This list is made of one-syllable words where it does: each, change, child, chance, chief, choice, charge, coach, reach, beach, cheap, chair, cheese and chest. Some begin with ch, some end with it, and a few finish with the tch or nch spellings, like watch, pitch and branch.
The words were chosen by pattern and each was checked against a pronunciation dictionary for the /ch/ sound, so words where ch says /k/, such as school, are not included. Frequency data kept the list in a first grade band. It is a fun group because the final sound has three spellings that depend on what comes before it: ch after a long vowel or a consonant (each, reach, branch), tch after a short vowel (watch, pitch), and nch after n (inch, branch).
30 entries. Our solver needed 3.3 wrong guesses on average: 5 easy, 17 medium and 8 hard. The toughest is chief (7 misses), the quickest search (0).
- each Medium · 2
- change Medium · 3
- watch Hard · 6
- child Hard · 5
- chance Medium · 3
- march Hard · 6
- chief Hard · 7
- choice Medium · 2
- charge Medium · 2
- coach Hard · 5
- search Easy · 0
- reach Medium · 2
- beach Hard · 6
- choose Medium · 3
- touch Hard · 5
- speech Easy · 0
- cheap Medium · 4
- chair Medium · 3
- launch Medium · 2
- teach Medium · 3
- chain Medium · 4
- branch Medium · 3
- chat Medium · 4
- cheese Easy · 0
- chose Medium · 3
- chest Easy · 1
- inch Medium · 4
- chart Medium · 3
- chase Easy · 0
- pitch Hard · 7
Words worth a closer look
- watchEnds in tch, but the vowel is spelled a, and sounds like o. A tricky word, so the tch rule needs a note.
- pitchShort vowel then tch, a model of the pattern. Compare with rich on the short i list, an exception.
- chooseThe oo spells a long vowel sound. Often confused with chose, which has a long o and means something different.
- chosePast tense of choose, with o_e. It is a useful pairing with choose for teaching the difference.
- touchThe ou makes a short u sound, so the word has to be learned as a whole.
- branchEnds in nch, with an n that gets dropped when children spell by ear.
Teaching it
Start by listing words that begin with ch, then words that end with it. Next introduce the question to ask at the end of a word: what vowel came before the /ch/ sound? If it is a short vowel in a one-syllable word, tch is likely, as in pitch. If it is a long vowel or a consonant, ch is enough, as in beach and march. The exceptions can wait.
Frequent errors include writing c alone (cair for chair), using ch where tch belongs (pich for pitch) and mixing chose with choose. Hangman rounds help here because children must decide on the ending. Pause after the vowel appears and ask whether tch or ch is more likely. The printable provides a short dictation set.
Print a 1st Grade CH Hangman worksheet
Eight puzzles on one US Letter page, with a clue, letter blanks, an empty frame to draw in, an alphabet strip to cross off and circles to count misses. Page two is the answer key.
Need another sheet?
Draw eight different words from this list, right here. Same layout, new answer key.
Keep going
- 1st Grade Short A WordsFirst grade short a words with blends and digraphs: that, back, last, hand, class, match. Play hangman with the list, or print a worksheet.
- 1st Grade Short E WordsFirst grade short e words with blends and digraphs: when, best, next, check, dress, fresh. Play the hangman game, read the list, or print a sheet.
- 1st Grade Short I WordsFirst grade short i words with blends and digraphs: with, this, think, list, ship, fish, stick. Play hangman, read the list, or print a worksheet.
- 1st Grade Short O WordsFirst grade short o words with blends and digraphs: stop, rock, drop, shop, block, clock, frog. Play hangman, read the list, or print a sheet.
- 1st Grade Short U WordsFirst grade short u words with blends and digraphs: just, much, club, luck, jump, lunch, brush. Play hangman, read the list, or print a sheet.
- 1st Grade SH WordsFirst grade sh words: she, shop, ship, fish, dish, wash, sheep, shell. Play hangman with the list, read it with difficulty scores, or print a sheet.