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2nd grade · English Language Arts · Unit 2 of 17

Sound Detectives

sh, ch, ee, ai and more

What your child practices

Letter teams that make one sound (sh, ch, th, wh, ee, ai, oa) and clapping syllables.

New York State Learning Standards learning standard: 2RF3 · syllables, digraphs and vowel teams

How we explain it

Children can open this short lesson before they practice.

  1. Some letter pairs make one sound: sh in ship, ch in chick, th in thumb.
  2. Vowel teams make a long sound: ee in tree, ai in rain.
  3. Clap each beat (syllable) to count the parts of a word.

Example: Which letters are missing? r _ _ n (water from the sky) Water from the sky is rain. The long a in rain is spelled ai. Answer: ai

Sound Detectives in New York

In the New York State Learning Standards, this is unit 2 of 17 in 2nd grade English Language Arts, after Rhyme Time and before Story Builders.

Gradelings describes a child's practice on this unit as Beginning, Approaching, Meeting or Exceeding (Four practice steps). That reflects practice, not a report-card mark: the teacher decides the mark.

Source: New York State Education Department (NYSED)

Sample questions

A taste of this unit. In the app, questions change every time and get easier or harder to match your child.

  1. Question 1

    Clap the word “monkey”. How many claps (syllables)?

    🐒monkey
    • 3
    • 2
    • 1

  2. Question 2

    Which word starts with the “ch” sound?

    • 🐚shell
    • 🚢ship
    • 🍒cherries

  3. Question 3

    Clap the word “watermelon”. How many claps (syllables)?

    🍉watermelon
    • 1
    • 2
    • 4

  4. Question 4

    Which letters are missing?

    🐌sn__l
    • ee
    • oa
    • ai

  5. Question 5

    Which word starts with the “sh” sound?

    • 🐑sheep
    • 🌾wheat
    • 🤍white

  6. Question 6

    Which letters are missing?

    🦶f__t
    • ee
    • ai
    • oa

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