Order alphabetically based on the first three letters

Hi everyone! Today, we’re going to learn how to put words in ABC order using the first three letters of each word. It’s like being a word detective! 🕵️‍♀️🕵️‍♂️

Remember the Alphabet!

First, let’s sing our ABCs! This will help us remember which letter comes first. A, B, C, D, E, F, G… all the way to Z! 🎵

Using the First Letter

If all the words start with different letters, it’s easy! Just put them in order like the alphabet.

For example:

  • Apple
  • Banana
  • Cat
When the First Letter is the Same

Sometimes, words start with the same letter! What do we do then? We look at the second letter!

For example, let’s order these words:

  • Bat
  • Bed
  • Big

‘A’ comes before ‘E’ and ‘I’, and ‘E’ comes before ‘I’, so the order is:

  1. Bat
  2. Bed
  3. Big
Using the First Three Letters

Now, what if the first two letters are the same? That’s when we use the third letter!

Let’s order these words:

  • Brown
  • Brave
  • Bread

We look at the third letter: ‘a’, ‘e’, and ‘o’. ‘A’ comes first, then ‘E’, then ‘O’. So:

  1. Brave
  2. Bread
  3. Brown
Example 1:

Order these words:

Street

Straw

Strong

Answer: Straw, Street, Strong

Example 2:

Order these words:

Come

Compute

Comic

Answer: Come, Comic, Compute

let’s practice!