Here's a Treat for you, Dear Teacher!

Can't deliver candy to you on this Halloween, but I give you the next best thing...a Halloween activity page. AND, one that will help make your readers smarter.

Now, that's Sweet! 

Enjoy this 1-page Sort It worksheet (below). 

Sort It is our #1 streamlined tool for helping all beginning and struggling readers get phonics info to stick faster than any other approach we've ever seen before.

[To learn more about Sort It, snag more freebies, watch a video example and get variations of this activity.]

For this version of Sort It, I suggest the following routine:

  1. Introduce or review the Key Sentence for the /ee/ sound, "He sees many of these each year." Teach (or remind) students that the most frequent /ee/ sound spellings are in that sentence, represented by the worksheet's columns.

  2. Have students read the poem aloud, either in small groups or whole class.

  3. Next, ask them to circle or underline all the /ee/ sound spellings. ("Don't be tricked by words that have the "e" spelling but a different sound!")

  4. Finally, invite students to record each /ee/ sound word in its relevant column (i.e., "candy" in the "y" column). Students must Say Each Sound, as they Write Each Sound. For instance, for the word "sweet," they should Say, As they Write, /s/  /w/ /ee/ /t/. See more about Write & Say.

Halloween poem and Sort It activity page

Use the Key Sentence, "He sees many of these each year," all week (and beyond...) to hook other /ee/ sound words to. May your Halloween not be TOO crazy this year.

And may this little sheet inspire you to find more ways to streamline your decoding instruction.

It may seem simple but this little Sort It page packs an instructional punch...

  • Grouping all main spellings by sound is an organized presentation that makes sense to students (as opposed to randomly dripping out 1 letter-sound per day).
  • Sorting by spellings forces students to notice the inside parts of words, spurring greater phonics knowledge.
  • Learning the mnemonic Key Sentence, "He sees many of these each year," hooks several letter-sounds AND high frequency /ee/ sound words in the child's brain more easily.
  • Write & Say gives students a proven multi-modal technique that also boosts memory. Let's get these spellings to stick!
  • Searching for the sounds after reading the poem is another round of 1) listening to the sounds in words (a phonemic awareness booster) and 2) noticing the specifics of each spelling ("ea" vs. "ee," which does not come instantly to all beginning or struggling readers).
  • Sorting words boosts spelling too!

Again, for more Sort It complementary resources and video examples, head here!

Want to know even more about how we use Sort It to Help Struggling Readers Unlock the Code Faster at any age!

Click the image below to snag your Halloween Freebie, My Pretty!