Phonics Activity – ‘Word Sort’ week 4 of serial day placements
The following activities are not compulsory in any sense. They are here for you
to potentially use in consultation with your class teacher. They can be used as
they stand or it may be that you will need to adapt them slightly before being
able to use them; alternatively, it may be that they are not suitable for the
group you are working with, in which case you could seek further ideas from
the class teacher or consider an activity from the ssp scheme they use.
The activities are designed to simply be copied ( and enlarged if preferred)
onto coloured card, cut up and used as a sorting activity where children are
encouraged to decode in order to read and then decide which group a word
should ‘join’. Of course they could also be used in a snap style game - you
could make multiple copies for children to use in pairs; they could be copied
onto paper for children to glue into a simple sorting table. It may be that you
wish to include a segmenting and/or spelling aspect to the activity. You could
read a card and ask children to:
a) count the phonemes on their fingers – orally
b) count the phonemes and then write the words on a white board
c) count the phonemes and then write the word onto a simple table in order to
sort as they go
… or in pairs: one child could read the word and the other write and then sort
together before swapping places. Remember for children working in Phase 2
and 3 the use of magnetic letters may be more suitable if considering
segmenting and spelling rather than writing – again you can discuss this with
the class teacher.
Please note there is a Phase 2 set, Phase 3 set; 2 x Phase 4 sets and 3x Phase 5
sets. Please discuss with the class teacher which set would be most
appropriate for the children in the group you will be working with.
Phase 2 word sort – i and a
sit
sat
tan
pip
pat
it
pin
an
tip
pan
sip
at
tap
pit
pan
in
I would encourage you to add sound buttons to support children in decoding these words
Phase 3 word sort – ch and sh
push
shop
chat
shell
chop
chill
shed
much
shell
such
fish
chug
chin
rush
chip
rich
I would encourage you to add sound buttons to support children in decoding these words
Phase 4 word sort (consonant clusters at the end of words)
cvcc: nk and mp
think
hump
limp
tank
bump
lump
sink
damp
pump
bank
thump
link
bunk
jump
pink
camp
You may wish to add sound buttons to support children in decoding these words
Phase 4 word sort – sort words according to number of syllables: single or 2
syllable
lunchbox
lift
helper
windmill
paint
chest
sandpit
roast
tilt
bank
pondweed
fact
glass
handstand
snake
chimp
chunk
sandwich
milk
golf
These are quite small. You may wish to copy and paste onto landscape orientation and then make
them larger.
*You may wish to adjust the font depending on whether the children are expected to see and read a
joined script.
You may wish to add sound buttons to support children in decoding these words/alternatively you
could add the sound buttons with the children as they complete the activity.
Phase 5 word sort game – (2 graphemes for 1 phoneme) ai and ay
day
rain
lane
great
play
wait
mate straight
may
train
bake
eight
say
brain
snake
they
tray
pain
late
fete
clay
drain
date
*You may wish to adjust the font depending on whether the children are expected to see and read a
joined script.
You may wish to encourage and/or support children to add sound buttons to these words to support
their sorting.
Phase 5 word sort: (same phoneme; different grapheme) ow and ou
out
how
cloud
cow
down
about
found
owl
proud
sprout
pow!
sound
now
loud
loudest town
*You may wish to adjust the font depending on whether the children are expected to see and read a
joined script.
You may wish to encourage and/or support children to add sound buttons to these words to support
their sorting.
Phase 5 Word sort: (same grapheme; alternate phoneme) a/o
was
that
watch
catch
wasp
squash stamp
bat
blast
want
lasting
wallet
wash
thank
what
squad
clasp
match stamp magic
*You may wish to adjust the font depending on whether the children are expected to see and read a
joined script.
You may wish to encourage and/or support children to add sound buttons to these words to support
their sorting.