The Sounds of -ED: Why it’s important to teach this skill

After students have learned about the inflectional -ed ending, now it’s time to ask, ‘how can students know what sound the inflectional ending -ed will make?’ We can teach them about the sounds of -ed!

Why do we teach the sounds of -ed?

When the inflectional ending -ed is added to the end of a verb to indicate a past action, it can make different sounds when it is read aloud. For example, the sound -ed makes in wanted is different from the sound it makes in jumped or planned. There are rules that can help students know which sound -ed is going to make. This will help them when they encounter inflectional ending -ed words in their reading.

To understand these different ending sounds, your students need to know the difference between voiced and unvoiced sounds. Voiced sounds engaged the vocal cords while unvoiced sounds do not. You can help students hear and feel the difference by feeling their throat when they say a voiced sound (like /m/) and an unvoiced sound (like /p/).

There are three sounds of -ed.

First, -ed can say /d/ as in played, called, or loved. It makes the /d/ sound when the verb ends in a voiced sound. Second, -ed can say /t/ as in stopped, fixed, or walked. It makes the /t/ sound when the verb ends in an unvoiced sound. Third, -ed can say /id/ as in wanted, landed, or added. It makes this sound when the verb ends in t or d.

How do I teach the sounds of -ed?

First I like to introduce the three different sounds and ask students to practice generating verbs and listening to the three sounds they hear when they add the -ed ending. Together, we can make 3 lists on an anchor chart of the words we generate with the different sounds of -ed.

After my students are initially exposed to the three sounds of -ed, then I do a deep dive and add literacy center activities to reinforce the sounds of -ed. Keep reading to check out what I do with my students!

Sounds of -ED Sorting Page

Students will read the words on the page and listen to the sound that the –ed ending makes. They’ll sort each word based the sound they hear by writing it under one of the three sounds.

Sounds of -ED Sorting Cards

Students will sort the past tense verbs based on the sound they hear from the inflectional –ed ending. Includes both options ‘id’ and ‘ed’ as the third sound so that you can use whichever card matches your area dialect. Students can color the backpacks on the included page to indicate the sound that –ed makes.

Find the Sound Sentences Page

Students will read the sentence and listen to the sound that –ed makes in the underlined word. They can highlight or circle the sound that they hear from the -ed ending.

What’s the Sound Color Code Page

Students will read the words and listen for the sound that –ed makes. They will color the spaces based on the sound they hear. Any of these pages can also be used as an end-of-unit review.

Bus Sounds Sorting Activity

Students will match the bus windows to the sound they hear from the –ed ending. Each bus has 10 windows. Includes an optional recording page where they cut and glue their matches.

These five activities help reinforce the skill of differentiating between the sounds of -ed. If you want to try these activities in your classroom click the button below!

Want more tips and tricks for teaching ELA concepts. Check out these blog posts!