The activity focuses students' attention on critical features of words, namely sound, pattern, and meaning.
[1] Students receive a stack of cards containing either pictures or words that have several types of contrasting sounds, patterns, or meanings.
The more students understand about the structure of words - their spelling or orthography - the more efficient and fluent their reading will be.
By “setting the scene with sounds,"[4] sorts may include concrete materials and pictures linked to learner interest.
Also, books and poems may specifically focus on word families and similar sound patterns for children to identify and understand in context.
This can be a beginning phonemic awareness activity because students need only to identify the sound in order to complete the sort.
[1][8] Picture sorts most often begin with focusing on initial sound (single consonant, digraphs, or blends).
By using picture sorts teachers are able to help students who do not have extensive reading vocabularies focus on isolated sounds (Initial, final, or medial) within a spoken word.
[3] Bear et al. emphasized the importance of comparing those words that do fit into a particular category with those that don't.
This type of engagement with words will for most students lead to the abstraction of spelling patterns and the sounds to which they correspond.
Once the appropriate spelling instructional level is established - be it alphabetic, within-word pattern, or syllable juncture - instruction can be adapted by focusing on fewer words at a time, teaching spelling patterns in an explicit manner, and providing for copious amounts of practice and review.