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This Reading Mama

Article Word Sorts for A and AN

By thisreadingmama Leave a Comment

Be sure download our FREE Article Word Sorts for a and an at the END of this post!

Articles a and an can be a bit confusing. I see questions often about them, so I thought I’d talk about them today as well as share a freebie for your learners.

You might also like our Parts of Speech Posters and Parts of Speech Word Sorts.

Article Word Sorts for A and AN - This Reading Mama

 

What are Articles?

Articles are a type of adjective telling if a noun is definite or indefinite. The three articles in the English language are a, an, and the.

  • Definite article: the boy, the lamp
  • Indefinite articles: a dog, an orange*

What Makes Articles A and AN so Confusing?

Okay, here’s the deal: Many people think that the article a comes before words that starts with a consonant {i.e. a door, a window}, and the article an comes before words that starts with a vowel {i.e. an orange, an ice cream cone}.

Right? Well, that works most of the time, but that isn’t the whole story about articles a and an.

Article a or an - which one do I use

Here’s the truth: The article a comes before words beginning with a consonant SOUND. The article an comes before words beginning with a vowel SOUND.

See the difference? The difference is we are listening for beginning SOUNDS, not just looking at the beginning letters.

 

Let’s look at a couple of examples so you can try it out for yourself:
1. a unicorn or an unicorn?
2. a book or an book?
3. a hour or an hour?
4. an x-ray or a x-ray?

Answers:
1. a unicorn – Even though unicorn starts with the vowel u, it makes the consonant sound of beginning y {YOO-Nih-KORN}
2. a book – The b makes its consonant sound, so a is our article
3. an hour – Again, we’re listening for the first letter’s SOUND. And even though hour starts with a consonant, the h is silent. So hour starts with a vowel sound: ou {OUR}. Therefore, we use an before it.
4. an x-ray – While it might be tempting to think that x-ray starts with an x sound, it actually starts with the short e sound. When you stretch it out, it sounds like this: /eh-k-s/. This means x-ray needs an before it since it starts with a vowel sound.

Clear as mud now?

 

Articles Word Sorts for A and AN

To help your learners with this concept, I’m sharing these free articles a and an word sorts with you today!

The first sort has easier phonics-based words with two tricky words . The second sort has multisyllable words as well as more tricky words where learners really have to think about the SOUND of the first letter.

Article Word Sorts for A and AN - Two Sorts Included in the Free Download

 

Also included in the freebie are:

  • Recording page where learners can write sentences with six of the words from their sort {great as an accountability piece you can check}
  • Answer Keys to the sorts {just in case you wonder about any of the words}

 

Download this freebie below:

 

 

Enjoy teaching!
~Becky

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Filed Under: Phonics and Word Study, Teaching Spelling Tagged With: SWS

« Teaching Phonemic Awareness
Blank Spelling Grids {Phonemes or Syllables} »

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Hi! I’m Becky, a homeschooling mama with 4 blessings who keep me on my toes {and knees}. Before homeschooling, I was a classroom teacher (M.Ed.) and reading tutor. Read more about me here.

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