Reading Support – Dictionary 2 – Practicing Alphabetical Order
E2, E3
PRACTISING ALPHABETICAL ORDER
Before you start, read the ‘How To Use A Dictionary’ sheets.
Here are the letters of the alphabet. Use them if you need them to do this
exercise.
Aa Bb Cc Dd Ee Ff Gg Hh Ii Jj Kk Ll Mm
Nn Oo Pp Qq Rr Ss Tt Uu Vv Ww Xx Yy Zz
Have a look at this list of words:
banana
dance
egg
holiday
kangaroo
march
quick
silly
very
abc
d
efg
hij
kl
mnop
qr
stu
vwxyz
These words are in alphabetical order. That means that the word that starts
with a letter nearest the beginning of the alphabet comes first, then the word
next nearest and so on.
Using the first letter
Look at these words and put them into alphabetical order, using the first letter:

pack
habit
cabin
Sunday
echo
wall
1 ................... 2 ..................... 3.................. 4 ....................... 5 .................... 6 ...............
barn
yellow
apricot
van
television
jam
1 ................... 2 ..................... 3.................. 4 ....................... 5 .................... 6 ...............
Now put both lists together.
1 ................... 2 ..................... 3.................. 4 ....................... 5 .................... 6 ...............
7 .................. 8 ..................... 9.................. 10 ..................... 11 ................... 12 .............
continued
1
Reading Support – Dictionary 2 – Practicing Alphabetical Order
E2, E3
Using the second letter
Now look at these words. They all start with the same letter. So we go on to
the second letter to put them in order.

crime
curry
cat
cheese
club
century
1 ................... 2 ..................... 3.................. 4 ....................... 5 .................... 6 ...............
target
trolley
tent
thing
tomorrow
tutor
1 ................... 2 ..................... 3.................. 4 ....................... 5 .................... 6 ...............
glad
gate
green
gnaw
gun
gin
1 ................... 2 ..................... 3.................. 4 ....................... 5 .................... 6 ...............
Using the third letter
These words all start with the same two letters. Go to the third letter to put
them in order.

record
real
report
rescue
red
referee
1 ................... 2 ..................... 3.................. 4 ....................... 5 .................... 6 ...............
win
with
wicked
will
wig
wide
1 ................... 2 ..................... 3.................. 4 ....................... 5 .................... 6 ...............
continued
2
Reading Support – Dictionary 2 – Practicing Alphabetical Order
E2, E3
Using the fourth letter
These words all start with the same three letters. Go to the fourth letter to
put them in the right order.

convict
conceal
consider
conduct
conflict
connect
1 ................... 2 ..................... 3.................. 4 ....................... 5 .................... 6 ...............
Using the fifth letter
These words all start with the same four letters. Go to the fifth letter to put
them in the right order.

constant
consume
consonant
conscript
consist
consent
1 ................... 2 ..................... 3..................... 4 .................... 5 .................... 6 ...............
Now look at the two lists of words that start with con. Write them out in
alphabetical order.

1 ................... 2 ..................... 3.................. 4 ....................... 5 .................... 6 ...............
7 .................. 8 ..................... 9.................. 10 ..................... 11 ................... 12 .............

Check your answers with those on page 8.
Discuss your work with a tutor and decide what you need to work on
next.
3
Reading Support – Dictionary 2 – Practicing Alphabetical Order
E2, E3
Answers
Using the first letter
pack
habit
cabin
Sunday
echo
wall
1 cabin
2 echo
3 habit
4 pack
5 Sunday
6 wall
barn
yellow
apricot
van
television
jam
1 apricot
2 barn
3 jam
4 television 5 van
6 yellow
4 echo
5 habit
6 jam
9 television 10 van
11 wall
12 yellow
cat
cheese
club
century
4 club
5 crime
6 curry
Now put both lists together:
1 apricot
2 barn
3 cabin
7 pack
8 Sunday
Using the second letter
crime
curry
1 cat
2 century 3 cheese
target
trolley
tent
thing
tomorrow
tutor
1 target
2 tent
3 thing
4 tomorrow
5 trolley
6 tutor
glad
gate
green
gnaw
gun
gin
1 gate
2 gin
3 glad
4 gnaw
5 green
6 gun
Using the third letter
record
real
report
rescue
red
referee
1 real
2 record
3 red
4 referee
5 report
6 rescue
win
with
wicked
will
wig
wide
1 wicked
2 wide
3 wig
4 will
5 win
6 with
conduct
conflict
connect
Using the fourth letter
convict
conceal
consider
1 conceal
2 conduct
3 conflict 4 connect
5 consider
6 convict
consonant conscript
consist
consent
Using the fifth letter
constant
consume
1 conscript 2 consent
3 consist
4 consonant 5 constant
6 consume
Put the two lists of words that start with con together.
1 conceal
2 conduct 3 conflict
7 consider
8 consist
4 connect
5 conscript 6 consent
9 consonant 10 constant 11 consume 12 convict
4