Educational /ed/ sound sorting activity for teaching phonics.

Let’s solve this step by step.

We are sorting words that end with the /ed/ sound into three groups based on how the “-ed” is pronounced:

1. Column 1: “d” sound — This happens when the word ends in a voiced consonant (like b, g, l, m, n, r, v, z) or a vowel. The “-ed” sounds like “d”.
- Example given: *smelled* → ends in “l”, which is voiced → so it goes here.

2. Column 2: “T” sound — This happens when the word ends in an unvoiced consonant (like f, k, p, s, x, ch, sh). The “-ed” sounds like “t”.
- Example given: *mixed* → ends in “x”, which is unvoiced → so it goes here.

3. Column 3: “id” sound — This happens only when the word already ends in “t” or “d”. Then we add an extra syllable: “id”.
- Example given: *waited* → ends in “t” → so it goes here.

Now let’s look at the other words shown on the right side of the image:
→ *buzz*
→ *bust*

Wait — these are base verbs. We need to think about what they become when we add “-ed”.

But note: The worksheet says “Sort /ed/ sounds”, meaning we’re sorting past tense verbs that END in “-ed”. So we must imagine adding “-ed” to these base verbs and then decide where they go.

Let’s do that:

✔ buzz + ed = buzzed

- “buzz” ends in “z” → which is a voiced consonant → so “-ed” sounds like “d”
→ Goes in Column 1 (“d”)

✔ bust + ed = busted

- “bust” ends in “t” → so “-ed” becomes “id” (because it ends in t or d)
→ Goes in Column 3 (“id”)

So now we can fill in the blanks:

Column 1 (“d”):
- smelled
- buzzed

Column 2 (“T”):
- mixed

Column 3 (“id”):
- waited
- busted

That’s all the words shown.

Final Answer:
Column 1 (d): smelled, buzzed
Column 2 (T): mixed
Column 3 (id): waited, busted