FREE Phonemic Awareness Sorting Worksheets

This blog post is about teaching primary learners phonemic awareness using sorting worksheets. Phonemic awareness is an important foundational skill that is essential in learning how to read.

What is Phonemic Awareness?

Phonemic awareness is the ability to hear and change individual sounds in spoken words. Some examples include sound matching, sound isolation, and sound segmenting. There are some very easy games you can play today to teach them these skills! Some examples are “thumbs up, thumbs down.” In this game, you pick a sound like /m/ or /r/, and students put their thumbs up or down if the word starts with that letter. You can make a cube with certain letters on it. Students take turns tossing the cube and saying a word that has that same sound! It is very easy to implement phonemic awareness activities in your small group instruction.

Phonemic Awareness Activities

Reading and reciting nursery rhymes
Counting syllables in words
Singing songs that play with sounds (Like the Name Game)
Sorting worksheets that has pictures with no pictures

These FREE beginning sounds worksheets are designed to help your students develop foundational skills. Students sort by the beginning sound and not the beginning sound. So they sort /a/ and not /a/ using the pictures.

They practice rainbow tracing the targeted letter too! Each letter shows the correct formation to make the letter. To challenge students that are ready, students draw a picture of a person, thing, place, or object that matches the beginning sound.

No Prep Beginning Sounds Sort Worksheets

This is a perfect back-to-school activity for several reasons. Students practice their sounds, fine motor skills of cutting and coloring, writing their name, practice sorting, letter writing, and skills that they need to begin reading text.

When you can use it?

These sorting worksheets can be used during literacy centers or guided reading. You can even laminate these worksheets for repeated practice! It’s really up to you how you can use these FREE worksheets in your classroom!

Guided Reading – Word Work
Literacy Centers
Assessments
Homework
Assessment

If you need more professional development on how to implement these activities in your instruction, I recommend that you read Debbie Diller Making the Most of Small Groups: Differentiation for All.“

I use this book as a reference when I want to try new teaching strategies. I strongly recommend this book. *I do not get paid, received, or will receive any monetary benefit to recommending or linking to this textbook.

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