Little Pocket Sorts™: Beginning and Ending sh
Model the Activity
Congratulations on your purchase of Really Good Stuff®
Little Pocket Sorts™: Beginning and Ending sh, a hands-on
activity that strengthens your students’ phonemicawareness and phonics skills.
Begin by modeling the activity, discussing every step with
students. Place the Header Cards into the slots of each
pocket in a 2-Pocket Folder in the positions shown below. Decide
on which side of the Cards to sort—if your group needs
practice discriminating sounds, use the picture side, and if
your group needs practice with spelling patterns, use the word
side. Once you determine the needs of your group, place the
Cards face up in a stack in front of you. Explain to students
that they will need to identify and isolate the position of the
sh sound in each of the Cards. If the sh sound is at the
beginning of the word, as in sheep, they will place that Card in
the left pocket, and if it is at the end of the word, as in brush,
they will place it in the right pocket.
Objective
Students distinguish between the beginning and ending sh
sound in words.
Meeting State Standards
This type of practice in distinguishing between beginning
and ending digraph sounds helps students meet gradelevel expectations and prepare for standardized testing.
Little Pocket Sorts™: Beginning and Ending sh can also help
improve spelling and phonics skills.
This Really Good Stuff® product includes:
• 52 Sort Cards
• 2 2-Pocket Folders
• 4 Header Cards
• 2 Sorting Envelopes
• This Really Good Stuff® Activity Guide
Distinguishing between beginning and ending sounds is an
important part of phonemic awareness. Using the colorful 2Pocket Folders and Sort Cards, emergent readers have fun
identifying and sorting pictures and words with the beginning and
ending sh sound. Through repeated play, identifying and
extracting the /sh/ in words becomes automatic!
Take the top Card and pronounce its sounds slowly or read it,
emphasizing the sh, as in ssship. Ask students if the sh
sound is at the beginning or the end of the word. Once
students identify the position of the /sh/, place the Card in
the corresponding pocket. Continue sorting until you have
used all the Cards.
Managing Little Pocket Sorts™: Beginning and
Ending sh
• Photocopy the Little Pocket Sort instructions on the
back and laminate for repeated use.
• Sort the Sort and Header Cards into their beginning and
ending sh categories and store in the Sorting Envelopes.
Use the tabs on the Envelopes to label the categories.
• When finished, store all materials in the Plastic Bag.
• When using the activity at a literacy center, be sure to
demonstrate how to store the game parts and tidy the
center when the activity is complete.
Once all the Cards are sorted, take them out and review each
category separately. If using the picture side of the Cards, show
students how to check their answers by turning over and
reading the words on the back.
Introducing Little Pocket Sorts™: Beginning and
Ending sh
Little Pocket Sorts™: Beginning and Ending sh provides a fun
setting for students to practice isolating the beginning and
ending sh sound in pictures and words. The two-sided Sort
Cards have 16 exemplars each of words that begin or end with
the sh sound. Most of the Cards have pictures on one side and
words on the other. Use the side with picture cues to build
phonemic-awareness skills and the side with words to build
phonics skills. The two sets of Header Cards, which display both
target letters and picture cues, fit neatly into the slots of each
pocket in the 2-Pocket Folders, making for a 2-category closed
sort that is easy to manage and check.
Helping Teachers Make A Difference®
After your group understands the sort instructions, have them
sort independently, either in pairs or individually, using one to
two Pocket Folders.
All activity guides can be found online:
© 2010 Really Good Stuff
®
1-800-366-1920 www.reallygoodstuff.com Made in Guangzhou, China #304759A
Little Pocket Sorts™: Beginning and Ending sh
Little Pocket Sorts™: Beginning and Ending sh
One to four students
Object: Distinguish between the beginning and ending sh
sound in words.
Materials: Sort Cards, Header Cards, one 2 Pocket Folder
If playing with more than one student and using 2 Pocket
Folders, place the stack of Cards in middle of the table and
take turns.
1. Open the Pocket Folder in front of you.
2. Place the Header Cards in the slots of each pocket.
Put the Beginning sh Header Card in the slot of the left
pocket and the Ending sh Header Card in the slot of the
right pocket.
3. Place the Sort Cards picture (or word) side up in front
of you.
4. Draw a Card. Name the picture or read the word and
decide if the /sh/ is at the beginning or end of the word.
5. Place the Card in the correct pocket.
6. Continue until all the Cards are sorted.
7. Take out the Cards from the beginning and ending sh
pockets and read them aloud, one category at a time.
8. If using the picture side of the Cards, turn them over to
check your work.
9. Put aside any Cards that you did not sort correctly and
sort them again.
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Little Pocket Sorts™: s-blends (#304764)
Little Pocket Sorts™: r-blends (#304768)
Little Pocket Sorts™: l-blends (#304766)
Helping Teachers Make A Difference®
© 2010 Really Good Stuff® 1-800-366-1920 www.reallygoodstuff.com Made in Guangzhou, China #304759A