Picture sorts are a valuable tool in
teaching beginning reading. To start
with, students are actively engaged in manipulating pictures during which, they
are thinking about sounds and feeling for them in their mouths. The more students become fluent in
identifying how and where the sound is made in their mouth, the more fluent
their knowledge of letters and sounds becomes. Picture sorts can be a valuable tool in whole group instruction (introduction), small group instruction (reinforcement/remediation), and individual instruction that targets a specific sound based on assessment.
Which Picture Sorts to Use
When introducing sounds, you can simply find a picture sort that matches the sound you are teaching. However, picture sorts are not only a great way to
introduce and practice sounds, but they also can be an important intervention
in which teachers can target student’s specific letter or sound
weaknesses. Look at the assessment below.
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| The test is a 25 word list that has a variety of short vowels, beginning and ending blends and digraphs. This test comes from Kathy Ganske's Word Journeys. You can make your own test, just have a variety of words with these features. |
In the example, you can see that each
time the student is asked to spell the sound of short u, he/she writes an o
(drum, bump, much, mud) and also the opposite, when asked to spell the sound of
o, writes u (chop). In one word, the
student uses both (rub). This student
clearly needs to become fluent in listening and identifying short o vs. short
u. That is when you pull out your O vs. U picture sorts and have the students work on this.
What else could this student work
on? How about sorting pictures with /s/
vs. /sl/? or /d/ vs. /dr/?
Also, when spelling grab, the student used an o. Perhaps that gr blend was difficult and the
student reverted back to an old confusion and could use some practice with that
vowel combination.
Drive-by PD
I created this poster to hang in the workroom of our school, so that teachers could see how to notice and use picture sorts. I call it my Drive-by PD, because teachers just look at it in the workroom while they make copies. Just like kids learn from pretty anchor charts, adults can too. I wish all the PD's I had to attend were nothing but attractive anchor charts!
The Assessments
You can use Kathy Ganske's assessments found in Word Journeys, which has a 25 word test for each stage of spelling, or I have made my own assessments with a variety of short vowels, blends and digraphs. I also made an ending blend assessment
for certain students who, every time they were presented with a word that
contained a difficult ending blend, they would revert back to their short vowel
mistakes that they had mastered in easier words! This informed me that they
needed more practice solidifying their knowledge of certain short vowels and
practice feeling for the short vowel in the presence of blends and
digraphs. This is why speech is related
so much to beginning reading.
If you are interested in obtaining picture sorts, you can download some free samples here:
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| Beginning Consonant Picture Sort |
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| Consonant Blends Picture Sort |
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| Short Vowel Picture Sort |
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| Long Vowel Picture Sort |
Download them here:
If you are interested in purchasing 72 sets of picture sorts that cover all of the levels, you can find them here:
Thanks for stopping by!
Anna Sanders
Great Info!!! I am currently taking a Word Study class. This article is helping me develop a lesson plan for my students. Thanks!
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