

Posted by: Alesia Netuk
Updated: October 30th, 2024
How Putting Spelling Words in Alphabetical Order Helps Build Strong Spelling Skills
How Putting Spelling Words in Alphabetical Order Helps Build Strong Spelling Skills
Putting words in alphabetical order is an important skill to master. It helps kids develop organizational skills and improve word study, manipulation, spelling, and memory. There are so many ways we use alphabetical order throughout the day without realizing we are using ABC order.
How does teaching kids to alphabetize benefit them?
A few reasons why kids need to learn how to alphabetize:
- Finding books in the library;
- Locating songs in a playlist;
- Looking up definitions in the dictionary;
- Locating contact on the phone.
How do you put spelling words in alphabetical order?
To put words in alphabetical order, kids highlight letters, compare them, determine which letter comes first, and sort words accordingly. When sorting words in ABC order, we look at the word’s first letter.
Alphabetical order example: the word b-ag comes before the word d-ad because b comes before d in the alphabet.
When should kids learn alphabetical order?
Before organizing words in ABC order, ensure kids master how to put letters in order. If kids struggle to put letters in order, print the alphabet flashcards that contain every letter of the alphabet. Ask kids to put flashcards in order.
Once kids master the letter, start alphabetizing the first letter. Put a few words on a paper, highlight the first letter, and then compare words and sort accordingly. Having the alphabet chart available is very useful in case of kids forget the order and can refer to the chart anytime.
The last step is learning how to alphabetize words to the second and third letters. Kids will practice words that begin with the same letter (or two letters), highlight the second or third letter letters to determine which letters come first, and organize words.
When kids put words in alphabetical order, they’re paying attention to the correct spellings of words and getting practice in writing those words, too.

Explicit instructiuons when teaching arranging words in alphabetical order
Example 1 – how to alphabetize words to the first letter.
Today you are going to learn how to sort words in alphabetical order. Write words dog, cat, and pig on the board. Let’s say each word. Point to the word dog (dog). Point to the word cat (cat). Point to the word pig (pig).
Now let’s circle and compare the first letters in each word. What is the first letter in the word dog? (d) (circle the letter d). What is the first letter in the word cat? (c) (circle the letter c) What is the first letter in the word pig? (p) (circle the letter p). Now, compare the letters and organize them alphabetically. (c, d, p) (write letters in order on the board)
Now, let’s write words in the same order. What word do we need to write first? (cat) (write cat on the board) What would be the second word? (dog) (write dog on the board) What would be the last word in this list? (pig) (write pig on the board)
Now your words are sorted alphabetically.
Example 2 – how to alphabetize words to the second letter.
Today you are going to learn how to put words that start with the same letter in ABC order. Write words bin, bag, and bed on the board. Let’s say each word. Point to the word bin (bin). Point to the word bag (bag). Point to the word bed (bed). Notice how each word starts with the same letter (point to the letter b in each word) What is this letter? (b)
To put words in ABC order, we need to compare second letters in each word. Let’s circle and compare the second letters in each word. What is the second letter in the word bin? (i) (circle the letter i). What is the second letter in the word bag? (a) (circle the letter a) What is the second letter in the word bed? (e) (circle the letter e). Now, compare the letters and organize them alphabetically (a, e, i) (write letters in order on the board)
Now, let’s write words in the same order. What word do we need to write first? (bag) (write bag on the board) What would be the second word? (bed) (write bed on the board) What would be the last word on this list? (bin) (write bin on the board)
Now your words are sorted alphabetically.
Phonics ABC Order Worksheets (short and long vowels):
AD Word Family Sort Worksheet
Sort AD family words in alphabetical order! Great for assessments, homework, and independent practice. Words: bad, grad, sad, dad, lad, glad, pad, mad.
AD Word Family Sort Worksheet
AG Word Family Sort Worksheet
Sort AG family words in alphabetical order! Great for assessments, homework, and independent practice. Words: bag, flag, wag, stag, drag, sag, rag, tag.
AG Word Family Sort Worksheet
AM Word Family Sort Worksheet
Sort AM family words in alphabetical order! Great for assessments, homework, and independent practice. Words: ham, swam, jam, ram, slam, tram, clam, yam.
AM Word Family Sort Worksheet
AN Word Family Sort Worksheet
Sort AN family words in alphabetical order! Great for assessments, homework, and independent practice. Words: pan, plan, fan, van, can, scan, ran, man.
AN Word Family Sort Worksheet
AP Word Family Sort Worksheet
Sort AP family words in alphabetical order! Great for assessments, homework, and independent practice. Words: cap, nap, map, clap, trap, wrap, gap, tap.
AP Word Family Sort Worksheet
AT Word Family Sort Worksheet
Sort AT family words in alphabetical order! Great for assessments, homework, and independent practice. Words: rat, cat, sat, mat, bat, fat, pat, hat.
AT Word Family Sort Worksheet
AY Word Family Sort Worksheet
Sort AY family words in alphabetical order! Great for assessments, homework, and independent practice. Words: day, lay, say, pay, way, play, ray, hay.
AY Word Family Sort Worksheet
ED Word Family Sort Worksheet
Sort ED family words in alphabetical order! Great for assessments, homework, and independent practice. Words: fed, sled, bed, fled, shred, shed, wed, red.
ED Word Family Sort Worksheet
EN Word Family Sort Worksheet
Sort EN family words in alphabetical order! Great for assessments, homework, and independent practice. Words: hen, wren, men, glen, Ben, pigpen, ten, pen.
EN Word Family Sort Worksheet
ET Word Family Sort Worksheet
Sort ET family words in alphabetical order! Great for assessments, homework, and independent practice. Words: pet, fret, vet, jet, get, set, wet, net.
ET Word Family Sort Worksheet
ID Word Family Sort Worksheet
Sort ID family words in alphabetical order! Great for assessments, homework, and independent practice. Words: hid, mid, kid, slid, bid, grid, squid, lid.
ID Word Family Sort Worksheet
IG Word Family Sort Worksheet
Sort IG family words in alphabetical order! Great for assessments, homework, and independent practice. Words: wig, big, dig, fig, jig, rig, gig, pig.
IG Word Family Sort Worksheet
IN Word Family Sort Worksheet
Sort IN family words in alphabetical order! Great for assessments, homework, and independent practice. Words: bin, win, fin, grin, spin, chin, twin, pin.
IN Word Family Sort Worksheet
IP Word Family Sort Worksheet
Sort IP family words in alphabetical order! Great for assessments, homework, and independent practice. Words: dip, nip, hip, flip, ship, chip, trip, lip.
IP Word Family Sort Worksheet
IT Word Family Sort Worksheet
Sort IT family words in alphabetical order! Great for assessments, homework, and independent practice. Words: hit, knit, pit, sit, lit, kit, bit, fit.
IT Word Family Sort Worksheet
OB Word Family Sort Worksheet
Sort OB family words in alphabetical order! Great for assessments, homework, and independent practice. Words: job, sob, rob, slob, knob, blob, nob, cob.
OB Word Family Sort Worksheet
OG Word Family Sort Worksheet
Sort OG family words in alphabetical order! Great for assessments, homework, and independent practice. Words: dog, cog, hog, fog, clog, frog, log, jog.
OG Word Family Sort Worksheet
OP Word Family Sort Worksheet
Sort OP family words in alphabetical order! Great for assessments, homework, and independent practice. Words: mop, drop, hop, cop, shop, chop, stop, top.
OP Word Family Sort Worksheet
OT Word Family Sort Worksheet
Sort OT family words in alphabetical order! Great for assessments, homework, and independent practice. Words: pot, cot, dot, tot, shot, knot, hot, lot.
OT Word Family Sort Worksheet
UB Word Family Sort Worksheet
Sort UB family words in alphabetical order! Great for assessments, homework, and independent practice. Words: rub, cub, sub, scrub, club, grub, shrub, tub.
UB Word Family Sort Worksheet
UG Word Family Sort Worksheet
Sort UG family words in alphabetical order! Great for assessments, homework, and independent practice. Words: bug, dug, hug, jug, mug, drug, plug, rug.
UG Word Family Sort Worksheet
UM Word Family Sort Worksheet
Sort UM family words in alphabetical order! Great for assessments, homework, and independent practice. Words: gum, drum, hum, mum, sum, chum, glum, yum.
UM Word Family Sort Worksheet
UN Word Family Sort Worksheet
Sort UN family words in alphabetical order! Great for assessments, homework, and independent practice. Words: bun, gun, fun, spun, run, stun, nun, sun.
UN Word Family Sort Worksheet
ACE Word Family Sort Worksheet
Sort ACE family words in alphabetical order! Great for assessments, homework, and independent practice. Words: space, trace, brace, race, pace, mace, lace, face.
ACE Word Family Sort Worksheet
ACK Word Family Sort Worksheet
Sort ACK family words in alphabetical order! Great for assessments, homework, and independent practice. Words: snack, tack, black, rack, pack, lack, hack, back.
ACK Word Family Sort Worksheet
AGE Word Family Sort Worksheet
Sort AGE family words in alphabetical order! Great for assessments, homework, and independent practice. Words: stage, mage, age, wage, sage, rage, cage, page.
AGE Word Family Sort Worksheet
AIL Word Family Sort Worksheet
Sort AIL family words in alphabetical order! Great for assessments, homework, and independent practice. Words: snail, jail, hail, nail, mail, sail, tail, bail.
AIL Word Family Sort Worksheet
AIN Word Family Sort Worksheet
Sort AIN family words in alphabetical order! Great for assessments, homework, and independent practice. Words: train, brain, grain, vain, rain, pain, main, gain.
AIN Word Family Sort Worksheet
AKE Word Family Sort Worksheet
Sort AKE family words in alphabetical order! Great for assessments, homework, and independent practice. Words: make, snake, wake, rake, lake, fake, cake, bake.
AKE Word Family Sort Worksheet
ALE Word Family Sort Worksheet
Sort ALE family words in alphabetical order! Great for assessments, homework, and independent practice. Words: whale, scale, kale, sale, pale, male, tale, gale.
ALE Word Family Sort Worksheet
ALL Word Family Sort Worksheet
Sort ALL family words in alphabetical order! Great for assessments, homework, and independent practice. Words: tall, small, hall, wall, mall, fall, call, ball.
ALL Word Family Sort Worksheet
AME Word Family Sort Worksheet
Sort AME family words in alphabetical order! Great for assessments, homework, and independent practice. Words: blame, lame, flame, game, fame, same, came, name.
AME Word Family Sort Worksheet
AMP Word Family Sort Worksheet
Sort AMP family words in alphabetical order! Great for assessments, homework, and independent practice. Words: cramp, stamp, scamp, champ, damp, camp, lamp, ramp.
AMP Word Family Sort Worksheet
ANE Word Family Sort Worksheet
Sort ANE family words in alphabetical order! Great for assessments, homework, and independent practice. Words: wane, sane, plane, bane, lane, pane, cane, mane.
ANE Word Family Sort Worksheet
ATE Word Family Sort Worksheet
Sort ATE family words in alphabetical order! Great for assessments, homework, and independent practice. Words: grate, skate, plate, gate, fate, date, mate, late.
ATE Word Family Sort Worksheet
EAT Word Family Sort Worksheet
Sort EAT family words in alphabetical order! Great for assessments, homework, and independent practice. Words: feat, eat, pleat, seat, peat, neat, meat, beat.
EAT Word Family Sort Worksheet
ECK Word Family Sort Worksheet
Sort ECK family words in alphabetical order! Great for assessments, homework, and independent practice. Words: check, wreck, speck, peck, neck, fleck, deck, beck.
ECK Word Family Sort Worksheet
EED Word Family Sort Worksheet
Sort EED family words in alphabetical order! Great for assessments, homework, and independent practice. Words: greed, speed, bleed, reed, feed, seed, deed, weed.
EED Word Family Sort Worksheet
EEK Word Family Sort Worksheet
Sort EEK family words in alphabetical order! Great for assessments, homework, and independent practice. Words: reek, geek, cheek, seek, peek, meek, leek, week.
EEK Word Family Sort Worksheet
EEP Word Family Sort Worksheet
Sort EEP family words in alphabetical order! Great for assessments, homework, and independent practice. Words: sheep, weep, sleep, peep, keep, jeep, deep, beep.
EEP Word Family Sort Worksheet
ELL Word Family Sort Worksheet
Sort ELL family words in alphabetical order! Great for assessments, homework, and independent practice. Words: smell, shell, spell, fell, well, cell, yell, bell.
ELL Word Family Sort Worksheet
ENT Word Family Sort Worksheet
Sort ENT family words in alphabetical order! Great for assessments, homework, and independent practice. Words: vent, gent, rent, tent, dent, cent, sent, bent.
ENT Word Family Sort Worksheet
EST Word Family Sort Worksheet
Sort EST family words in alphabetical order! Great for assessments, homework, and independent practice. Words: zest, chest, crest, vest, test, rest, nest, best.
EST Word Family Sort Worksheet
ICE Word Family Sort Worksheet
Sort ICE family words in alphabetical order! Great for assessments, homework, and independent practice. Words: slice, ice, price, rice, nice, mice, lice, dice.
ICE Word Family Sort Worksheet
ICK Word Family Sort Worksheet
Sort ICK family words in alphabetical order! Great for assessments, homework, and independent practice. Words: wick, brick, stick, sick, pick, lick, tick, kick.
ICK Word Family Sort Worksheet
IDE Word Family Sort Worksheet
Sort IDE family words in alphabetical order! Great for assessments, homework, and independent practice. Words: glide, guide, slide, wide, tide, side, ride, hide.
IDE Word Family Sort Worksheet
ILE Word Family Sort Worksheet
Sort ILE family words in alphabetical order! Great for assessments, homework, and independent practice. Words: rile, smile, vile, tile, pile, mile, file, bile.
ILE Word Family Sort Worksheet
ILL Word Family Sort Worksheet
Sort ILL family words in alphabetical order! Great for assessments, homework, and independent practice. Words: gill, spill, grill, pill, mill, hill, dill, bill.
ILL Word Family Sort Worksheet
INE Word Family Sort Worksheet
Sort INE family words in alphabetical order! Great for assessments, homework, and independent practice. Words: nine, mine, vine, pine, tine, line, fine, dine.
INE Word Family Sort Worksheet
ING Word Family Sort Worksheet
Sort ING family words in alphabetical order! Great for assessments, homework, and independent practice. Words: sling, swing, king, ping, wing, sing, ring, ding.
ING Word Family Sort Worksheet
OAT Word Family Sort Worksheet
Sort OAT family words in alphabetical order! Great for assessments, homework, and independent practice. Words: stoat, float, throat, moat, coat, goat, boat, oat.
OAT Word Family Sort Worksheet
OCK Word Family Sort Worksheet
Sort OCK family words in alphabetical order! Great for assessments, homework, and independent practice. Words: block, knock, clock, lock, sock, rock, dock, mock.
OCK Word Family Sort Worksheet
OSE Word Family Sort Worksheet
Sort OSE family words in alphabetical order! Great for assessments, homework, and independent practice. Words: those, chose, prose, close, hose, rose, pose, nose.
OSE Word Family Sort Worksheet
OTE Word Family Sort Worksheet
Sort OTE family words in alphabetical order! Great for assessments, homework, and independent practice. Words: quote, wrote, remote, dote, tote, vote, rote, note.
OTE Word Family Sort Worksheet
UCK Word Family Sort Worksheet
Sort UCK family words in alphabetical order! Great for assessments, homework, and independent practice. Words: truck, stuck, suck, luck, duck, yuck, puck, buck.
UCK Word Family Sort Worksheet
UMP Word Family Sort Worksheet
Sort UMP family words in alphabetical order! Great for assessments, homework, and independent practice. Words: grump, stump, hump, pump, dump, lump, jump, bump.
UMP Word Family Sort Worksheet
UNK Word Family Sort Worksheet
Sort UNK family words in alphabetical order! Great for assessments, homework, and independent practice. Words: trunk, sunk, skunk, junk, hunk, funk, dunk, bunk.
UNK Word Family Sort Worksheet
Words With BR Blend – ABC Order
Sort word with BR blend in alphabetical order! Words: brat, braid, break, bran, brick, brass, brake, brand, brad, brisk, brim.
Words With BR Blend – ABC Order
Words With CL Blend – ABC Order
Sort word with CL blend in alphabetical order! Words: clip, claim, cloud, clam, click, class, clay, cliff, clap, clock, club.
Words With CL Blend – ABC Order
Words With CR Blend – ABC Order
Sort word with CR blend in alphabetical order! Words: crab, crook, crane, crib, crumb, crown, creep, craft, crop, cross, crack.
Words With CR Blend – ABC Order
Words With DR Blend – ABC Order
Sort word with DR blend in alphabetical order! Words: drop, drain, drape, drip, drill, draft, draw, dress, drag, drink, drum.
Words With DR Blend – ABC Order
Words With FL Blend – ABC Order
Sort word with FL blend in alphabetical order! Words: flat, flake, float, flap, flock, flick, fly, flip, flag, floss, flop.
Words With FL Blend – ABC Order
Words With FR Blend – ABC Order
Sort word with FR blend in alphabetical order! Words: frog, freak, freeze, from, front, frizz, free, frost, frank, fry, frill.
Words With FR Blend – ABC Order
Words With GL Blend – ABC Order
Sort word with GL blend in alphabetical order! Words: glass, gleam, glide, glad, glove, glue, globe, glee, gloss, gloom, glow.
Words With GL Blend – ABC Order
Words With GR Blend – ABC Order
Sort word with GR blend in alphabetical order! Words: grab, great, green, gram, grub, grim, grew, grin, grid, grass, grip.
Words With GR Blend – ABC Order
Words With PL Blend – ABC Order
Sort word with PL blend in alphabetical order! Words: plot, plane, plain, plan, plant, plank, place, plum, plod, play, plug.
Words With PL Blend – ABC Order
Words With PR Blend – ABC Order
Sort word with PR blend in alphabetical order! Words: prod, praise, pretty, prop, price, prize, prune, proof, press, pride, pry.
Words With PR Blend – ABC Order
Words With SC Blend – ABC Order
Sort word with SC blend in alphabetical order! Words: scan, scope, scout, scoop, scope, scat, scalp, scamp.
Words With SC Blend – ABC Order
Words With SK Blend – ABC Order
Sort word with SK blend in alphabetical order! Words: skin, skull, skinny, skip, sky, skill, skate, skunk, skit, ski, skid.
Words With SK Blend – ABC Order
Words With SL Blend – ABC Order
Sort word with SL blend in alphabetical order! Words: slip, slope, sleeve, slim, slug, sled, sleep, slam, slab, slack, slap.
Words With SL Blend – ABC Order
Words With SM Blend – ABC Order
Sort word with SM blend in alphabetical order! Words: smog, smile, smack, smoke, small, smock.
Words With SM Blend – ABC Order
Words With SN Blend – ABC Order
Sort word with SN blend in alphabetical order! Words: snip, snout, snore, snap, snack, snob, snail, sniff, snug, snow, snow.
Words With SN Blend – ABC Order
Words With SP Blend – ABC Order
Sort word with SP blend in alphabetical order! Words: span, spike, spoon, spat, spell, spill, spy, spend, spin, spoke, spot.
Words With SP Blend – ABC Order
Words With ST Blend – ABC Order
Sort word with ST blend in alphabetical order! Words: step, stake, stain, stamp, staff, stand, steak, stack, stem, stiff, stop.
Words With ST Blend – ABC Order
Words With SW Blend – ABC Order
Sort word with SW blend in alphabetical order! Words: swat, swoop, swell, swap, swing, swift, sweet, swept, swan, swamp, swim.
Words With SW Blend – ABC Order
Words With TR Blend – ABC Order
Sort word with TR blend in alphabetical order! Words: trap, tribe, train, trim, trick, track, try, tromp, trot, truck, trip.
Words With TR Blend – ABC Order
List of words ideas to practice alphabetical order:
Seasonal words (for example, fall words, winter words, or Christmas words);
Sight words;
Word family words.
Fall Alphabet Words
This printable list includes 193 fall vocabulary words. These fall alphabet words are great for literacy activities.
Fall Alphabet Words
Winter Alphabet Words
This printable list includes 256 winter vocabulary words. These winter alphabet words are great for literacy activities.
Winter Alphabet Words
Christmas Alphabet Words
This printable list includes 414 Christmas vocabulary words. These Christmas alphabet words are great for literacy activities.
Christmas Alphabet Words
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