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Letter U Beginning Sound Sort

Beginning sound sort for the letter U, where each picture card goes on one of two mats depending on whether its name starts with /u/: Begins With U or Does Not Begin With U.
Grades
Preschool–K
File type
PDF
Preparation
Print ready

Updated Oct 26, 2026

Subject
ELA, Language Development, Phonics
Topic
Alphabet activities, Alphabet centers
Resource types
Activities
Preparation
Print ready

About this resource

What's inside this resource

This beginning sound sort for the letter U is a great hands on activity for recognizing the beginning sound of the letter U. This is an easy and fun activity to give students who need practice with recognizing the letter U sound from amongst other letter sounds or for those students who need extra practice distinguishing between the initial sounds in words.

To complete this sorting activity, students will look at a fish to determine if the picture begins with the letter U or does not begin with the letter U, and then the students will place the fish on the correct underwater mat.

This sorting activity includes 4 pages that contains

  • One underwater mat for pictures that begin with the letter U

  • One underwater mat for pictures that do not begin with the letter U

  • Fish pictures that begin with U

  • Fish pictures that do not begin with U


This beginning sound sort can be used in the following ways

  • Literacy centers or stations

  • Fine motor centers or stations

  • File folder activity using hook and loop fasteners

  • Add magnets to the cards for a baking tray activity

  • Small group activities

  • Individual practice or review

  • Morning basket or tubs

  • Emergency sub plans

The bold and colorful pictures are easy for students to recognize making this a great independent activity for students to work on.


Skills assessed with these letter U initial sound sort

  • Initial Sound of the letter U

  • Distinguishing between words that begin with U and do not begin with U

  • Ability to sort the apples on to the correct mat


This beginning sounds sorting activity is a low prep activity. All a teacher needs to do is to print the three pages, cut out the cards, and laminate the pages and cards if desired. The activity is easy to set up and to put away and store.

In the classroom

Teaching tips & learning objectives

Learning objectives

  • Identify pictures whose names begin with the /u/ sound
  • Distinguish the /u/ sound from other beginning sounds

Skills covered

  • Beginning sound discrimination — students say each picture name and decide whether it starts with U

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Curriculum

Standards, concepts & topics

Standards

  • CCSS.RF.K.1d — Recognize and name all upper- and lowercase letters of the alphabet
  • CCSS.RF.K.3.b — Associate the long and short sounds with common spellings (graphemes) for the five major vowels.

Core concepts

  • Beginning sounds
  • Letter U
  • Sorting

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