Phonics worksheet for learning English sounds with corresponding words.

This worksheet is designed to help learners practice phonics, specifically identifying and categorizing words based on the initial consonant sounds they begin with. The task involves sorting a list of words into columns according to the sound represented by the symbol at the top of each column.

---

🔤 Step-by-Step Breakdown:

#### 1. Understand the Symbols
The top row of the table has phonetic symbols:
- θ – represents the "th" sound as in *thin* (voiceless "th")
- ð – represents the "th" sound as in *mother* (voiced "th")
- t – the "t" sound
- k – the "k" sound
- g – the "g" sound

These are phonemes — the smallest units of sound in language.

---

#### 2. List of Words to Sort
From the box:
```
thin, mother, toy, kid, girl, this, tell, other, thumb, the, cat, gum, mats, come, pick, maths, pig, curly, Kate, gate, think, those, there, sit
```

We need to sort these words under the correct phoneme column based on their beginning sound.

---

#### 3. Sort Each Word

Let’s go through each word and assign it to the correct column.

##### ✔ Column 1: θ (voiceless "th" as in *thin*)
Words that start with the "th" sound like in *thin*, not *mother*.
- thin ✔
- this ✔
- think ✔
- thumb ✔
- tell ✔
- those ✔
- there ✔

> Note: "this", "think", "thumb", "tell", "those", "there" all have the voiceless "th" sound.

Wait! Let's double-check:
- this → /ðɪs/ → starts with voiced "th" (ð), so belongs in the ð column!
- think → /θɪŋk/ → voiceless "th" → ✔ θ
- thumb → /θʌm/ → voiceless "th" → ✔ θ
- tell → /tel/ → starts with t, not "th" → ✘
- those → /ðəʊz/ → voiced "th" → ✔ ð
- there → /ðeər/ → voiced "th" → ✔ ð

So we must be careful!

Let’s re-evaluate carefully:

---

🔍 Correct Sorting Based on Initial Sound

#### 🟦 Column 1: θ (voiceless "th")
Sounds like “th” in thin, think, thumb

- thin ✔
- think ✔
- thumb ✔
- this ✘ → ð
- those ✘ → ð
- there ✘ → ð

✔ So only:
→ thin, think, thumb

But wait: "this" starts with /ð/, not /θ/.

Let’s go one by one.

---

Final Correct Sorting:

---

#### ✔ Column 1: θ (voiceless "th" — like in *thin*)
- thin ✔
- think ✔
- thumb ✔
- (No others)

Note: "this" starts with /ð/, not /θ/

---

#### ✔ Column 2: ð (voiced "th" — like in *mother*)
- mother ✔
- this ✔
- those ✔
- there ✔
- other ✔
- the ✔

✔ So: mother, this, those, there, other, the

---

#### ✔ Column 3: t (the "t" sound)
Words starting with t, but not "th"
- toy ✔
- tell ✔
- talk? No, not in list
- think → already in θ
- thumb → θ
- this → ð
- sit → starts with s, not t
- come → c
- mats → m
- maths → m

Wait: toy, tell, this → no, this is ð

- toy → /toɪ/ → t ✔
- tell → /tel/ → t ✔
- sit → s
- pick → p
- cat → c
- Kate → k
- gate → g
- curly → c
- pig → p
- gum → g
- kid → k
- girl → g
- mats → m
- come → c
- maths → m

So only toy and tell start with t?

Wait: "t" column includes words beginning with t, like:
- toy ✔
- tell ✔
- this ✘ → th (ð)
- think ✘ → th (θ)

Also: "the" → starts with th, so ð

So yes:
→ toy, tell

Is "sit"? Starts with s, not t.

So only two: toy, tell

But what about "thumb"? It starts with th, not t

So column t:
→ toy, tell

Wait — what about "mat"? Not in list.

Wait: "mats" → starts with m, not t

So only toy and tell for t

---

#### ✔ Column 4: k (the "k" sound)
- kid ✔
- Kate ✔
- pick ✔
- cat → starts with c, but c = /k/ in "cat" → so yes, cat → /kæt/
- curly → /ˈkɜːlɪ/ → starts with k
- come → /kʌm/ → k
- mats → /mæts/ → m
- maths → /mæθs/ → m

So:
- kid ✔
- Kate ✔
- pick ✔
- cat ✔
- curly ✔
- come ✔

But "come" starts with k sound? Yes — /kʌm/

Similarly, "cat", "curly", "pick", "kid", "Kate"

So:
→ kid, Kate, pick, cat, curly, come

Wait — "come" is pronounced /kʌm/, so yes, k

But "mats" → /mæts/ → m

So:
✔ k column: kid, Kate, pick, cat, curly, come

Wait — "curly" is /ˈkɜːlɪ/ → yes, k

"come" → /kʌm/ → yes

"pick" → /pɪk/ → starts with p, not k

Ah! Mistake here.

"pick" starts with p, not k

So "pick" → p, not k

So let’s fix:

- kid → /kɪd/ → k
- Kate → /keɪt/ → k
- cat → /kæt/ → k
- curly → /ˈkɜːlɪ/ → k
- come → /kʌm/ → k
- pick → /pɪk/ → p → not k
- mats → /mæts/ → m
- maths → /mæθs/ → m

So k column: kid, Kate, cat, curly, come

Wait — "come" starts with k sound? Yes, but "pick" does not.

So:
→ kid, Kate, cat, curly, come

But "curly" starts with k? Yes — /kɜːlɪ/

Yes.

Now "pick" → starts with p, so should go to p? But no p column.

Wait — the columns are: θ, ð, t, k, g

No p or m or s

So we need to see which words fit only the given columns.

Let’s check again.

---

#### ✔ Column 5: g (the "g" sound)
Words starting with g
- girl ✔
- gum ✔
- gate ✔
- pig ✘ → starts with p
- sit → s
- mats → m
- maths → m
- cat → k
- curly → k
- come → k
- pick → p

So:
- girl ✔
- gum ✔
- gate ✔

Also: "pig" → /pɪɡ/ → starts with p, not g

So only: girl, gum, gate

---

Now Recheck All Words

Let’s list all 24 words and assign them:

| Word | Sound | Column |
|----------|-------|--------|
| thin | /θɪn/ | θ |
| mother | /ˈmʌðə/ | ð |
| toy | /toɪ/ | t |
| kid | /kɪd/ | k |
| girl | /ɡɜːl/ | g |
| this | /ðɪs/ | ð |
| tell | /tel/ | t |
| other | /ˈʌðə/ | ð |
| thumb | /θʌm/ | θ |
| the | /ðə/ | ð |
| cat | /kæt/ | k |
| gum | /ɡʌm/ | g |
| mats | /mæts/ | ? |
| come | /kʌm/ | k |
| pick | /pɪk/ | ? |
| maths | /mæθs/ | ? |
| pig | /pɪɡ/ | ? |
| curly | /ˈkɜːlɪ/ | k |
| Kate | /keɪt/ | k |
| think | /θɪŋk/ | θ |
| those | /ðəʊz/ | ð |
| there | /ðeər/ | ð |
| sit | /sɪt/ | ? |

Now, only the following columns exist: θ, ð, t, k, g

So any word not starting with one of these sounds doesn't fit?

But look: mats, come, maths, pick, pig, sit — none of these start with θ, ð, t, k, g

But "come" starts with /k/ → so it should go to k

"mats" → /mæts/ → starts with m → not in columns

"maths" → /mæθs/ → m

"pick" → /pɪk/ → p

"pig" → /pɪɡ/ → p

"sit" → /sɪt/ → s

So only words that start with θ, ð, t, k, g can be placed.

Let’s now extract only the ones that match.

---

✔ Final Assignment:

#### θ (voiceless "th" — like *thin*)
- thin
- think
- thumb

#### ð (voiced "th" — like *mother*)
- mother
- this
- other
- the
- those
- there

#### t (like *toy*)
- toy
- tell

#### k (like *kid*)
- kid
- cat
- come
- curly
- Kate

Wait — "come" → /kʌm/ → k ✔
"curly" → /ˈkɜːlɪ/ → k ✔
"Kate" → /keɪt/ → k ✔
"cat" → /kæt/ → k ✔
"kid" → /kɪd/ → k ✔

All good.

#### g (like *girl*)
- girl
- gum
- gate

Now, what about the remaining words?
- mats → /mæts/ → m → not in columns
- maths → /mæθs/ → m
- pick → /pɪk/ → p
- pig → /pɪɡ/ → p
- sit → /sɪt/ → s

These don’t belong to any of the five columns.

But the original list has 24 words, and we’ve used:
- θ: 3
- ð: 6
- t: 2
- k: 5
- g: 3

Total: 3+6+2+5+3 = 19

Remaining: 24 - 19 = 5 words:
- mats
- maths
- pick
- pig
- sit

But the table only has 5 columns, so likely the task expects only words that start with one of the five target sounds.

Alternatively, perhaps some words are misclassified.

Wait — "mats" → /mæts/ → m → not in columns
But "maths" → /mæθs/ → m → same

But "maths" ends with s, but starts with m

None of the columns are m, p, s

So probably, the worksheet only wants words that start with θ, ð, t, k, or g

So the remaining words do not belong to any of these columns.

But let’s check if "sit" could be in t? No — starts with s

"pick" — starts with p, not k

So only 19 words fit.

But the example shows:
- θ: thin
- ð: mother
- t: toy
- k: kid
- g: girl

So maybe the task is to sort all words that start with these sounds.

Thus, the final answer is:

---

✔ Completed Table:

| θ (th) | ð (th) | t | k | g |
|--------------|----------------|------------|-------------|-------------|
| thin | mother | toy | kid | girl |
| think | this | tell | cat | gum |
| thumb | other | | come | gate |
| | the | | curly | |
| | those | | Kate | |
| | there | | | |

Wait — "come" → /kʌm/ → k, so yes
"curly" → /ˈkɜːlɪ/ → k
"Kate" → /keɪt/ → k
"cat" → /kæt/ → k
"kid" → /kɪd/ → k

So k column has:
- kid
- cat
- come
- curly
- Kate

That’s 5

g column:
- girl
- gum
- gate

3

t column:
- toy
- tell

2

θ column:
- thin
- think
- thumb

3

ð column:
- mother
- this
- other
- the
- those
- there

6

Total: 3+6+2+5+3 = 19

The remaining 5 words (mats, maths, pick, pig, sit) do not start with any of the target sounds and thus cannot be placed.

But perhaps the worksheet expects only the ones that can be placed.

So the solution is:

---

✔ Final Answer:

| θ (th) | ð (th) | t | k | g |
|--------------|----------------|------------|-------------|-------------|
| thin | mother | toy | kid | girl |
| think | this | tell | cat | gum |
| thumb | other | | come | gate |
| | the | | curly | |
| | those | | Kate | |
| | there | | | |

> Note: The words mats, maths, pick, pig, sit do not start with any of the listed initial sounds (θ, ð, t, k, g), so they are not included in the table.

---

📝 Explanation:

This activity teaches phonemic awareness — recognizing the initial sound of words. Students learn to distinguish between:
- Voiceless "th" (/θ/) as in *thin*
- Voiced "th" (/ð/) as in *mother*
- And other consonants like t, k, g

It helps in reading and spelling by linking letters to sounds.

---

✔ Answer: Fill the table as above. Only include words that start with the specified sounds.