Word sort activities — Year 2
Year group: 2
Source: DfE, English Appendix 1: Spelling (2013)
Purpose: Printable word sort activities for Y2 spelling patterns.
How to run a word sort
- Print and cut the word card grid below, or write words on small slips of paper
- Give pupils the column headers only — not the completed sort
- Pupils sort in pairs — they must say why each word goes where it does
- Discuss as a class — focus on reasoning, not just the answer
Sort 1: The /dʒ/ sound — -dge or -ge?
Column headers: -dge (after a short vowel) · -ge (after a long vowel or consonant)
Word cards — print and cut:
| bridge | age | hedge | cage | fudge |
| page | badge | huge | edge | stage |
| lodge | change | nudge | range | judge |
| strange | wedge | large | ridge | charge |
| smudge | wage | ledge | rage | dodge |
Column header cards:
| -dge (short vowel before it) | -ge (long vowel or consonant before it) |
|---|
(Rule: use -dge immediately after a short vowel in a one-syllable word. Use -ge everywhere else.)
Sort 2: Word endings that sound the same — -le, -el, -al, -il
Column headers: -le · -el · -al · -il
Word cards — print and cut:
| little | camel | central | pencil | table |
| tunnel | natural | fossil | circle | barrel |
| hospital | nostril | apple | squirrel | metal |
| puzzle | pedal | April | bottle | vowel |
| simple | signal | evil | bubble | travel |
Column header cards:
| -le | -el | -al | -il |
|---|
(No single rule predicts which ending — but -le is by far the most common. -el usually follows m, n, r, s, v, w. -al and -il are rarer.)
Sort 3: Adding suffixes — which rule?
Column headers: Double the final consonant · Drop the -e · Change y to i · No change
Word cards — print and cut:
| running | smiling | happier | jumping | swimming |
| making | carried | looked | sitting | hoping |
| tried | helped | bigger | writing | copied |
| walking | flatter | baking | played | beginning |
| exciting | easiest | shouted | stopped | saving |
Column header cards:
| Double consonant | Drop the -e | Change y to i | No change |
|---|
(When does each rule apply? Double: short vowel + single consonant before a vowel suffix. Drop-e: silent -e before a vowel suffix. Y→i: -y after a consonant, but NOT before -ing.)
Sort 4: Homophones — match the meaning
Column headers: Use the word that fits the meaning
Word card pairs — print and cut:
| there | their | they're | here | hear |
| to | too | two | see | sea |
| be | bee | bare | bear | blue |
| blew | night | knight | no | know |
| right | write | sun | son | one |
(Activity: after sorting into matching pairs, pupils write one sentence using each word correctly.)
Sort 5: Y2 exception words — which pattern makes it tricky?
Column headers: oul (could/would/should) · eau or -iful sound · -eople/-oney ending · Tricky vowel
Word cards — print and cut:
| could | beautiful | people | because | would |
| pretty | money | great | should | busy |
| water | again | any | many | climb |
| clothes | sugar | half | move | whole |
| break | steak | eye | door | floor |
(Discuss: what is the unexpected letter in each word? Naming the exact problem is more useful than just looking at the word.)
Blank sort template
Pattern I am sorting: _______________________________________________
Column header cards:
| Column 1 | Column 2 | Column 3 | Column 4 |
|---|
My word cards:
Extension: Can pupils add one more word to each column from memory?
Source: DfE English Appendix 1: Spelling (2013). Word sort pedagogy: Dymock & Nicholson (2017).