Hi, Chad.
Ha ha ha!
OK, Chad.
Shutterstock.com (All Images); Design Pics/Offset (Parrot with Ranch); Shutterstock.com (All Other Images)
Shh! Do Not Munch So Much!
Have fun with decodable text.
By Janice Behrens | Design by Marybeth Butler Rivera
From the February 2025 Issue
Learning Objective: Students will decode words with a ch or sh digraph and understand the sequence of events in a story.
Shh! Do Not Munch So Much!
Shh! Do not chat.
Got to go, Chad.
Munch, munch, munch.
Hush! Do not munch so much.
Crunch, crunch, crunch.
Shush! Do not munch, and do not crunch. Will you shut that bag?
OK. I will shut the bag. But I will have one last chip. Then I will chuck the bag in the trash.
OK. Just one chip.
Just one chip that I will dip in ranch.
You have ranch?
I do like ranch. It is so fresh.
Yes, it is fresh. Have a chip with ranch. Have a bunch!
OK. I will just check if the ranch is fresh. Crunch, crunch, crunch.
You have some ranch on your chin.
Games
(1)
Activities
(2)
Skills Activities
Answer Key
(1)
More About the Article
English Language Arts Focus
Phonics and Phonological Awareness
Fluency
Phonics Focus
ch digraph
sh digraph
Word List
shh; munch, much, Chad, chat, hush, shush, shut, chip, chuck, ranch, bunch, check, chin
High-Frequency Words
do, not, will, have
Challenge Words
crunch, trash, fresh
Step-by-Step Lesson Plan
Implementation
- Whole group
- Technology time: Encourage students to listen and read along to the read-aloud feature with the article.
Pairings and Text Connections
- From the Storyworks 1 archive: “Silly Story: Wish for a Fish” (October/November 2023); “Silly Story: Bad Luck Duck” (December 2024 /January 2025)
- Suggested books: Giraffes Can’t Dance by Giles Andreae; Mango, Abuela, and Me by Meg Medina; Z Is for Moose by Kelly Bingham
Before-Reading Resources
- Word sounds slideshow (3 minutes)
Suggested Reading Focus
Comprehension (30 minutes)
- Discuss what a digraph is. Explain that digraphs are two letters that make one sound. Review the /ch/ sound for the digraph ch and the /sh/ sound for the digraph sh.
- Practice digraphs by exchanging onset and rime. Using a dryerase easel, write the following rimes on the board: -op, -ip, and -in. Alternate writing an sh and ch in front of the rime to make two different words. Listen closely for student articulation of the sounds.
- Review high-frequency words from the story. Students can practice words with a partner, as a class, and individually.
- As children read, check comprehension. What is the setting of the story? What was the parrot doing at the beginning of the story? Why did the giraffe keep trying to hush the parrot? Who tells the animals to hush at the end of the story?
- Have students review the story and highlight words with ch in one color and words with sh in another color.
After-Reading Skills Practice
- Skills: Digraphs (ch, sh) (15 minutes)
Text-to-Speech