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📚 Detailed Explanation of Ordering Alphabetically: Challenge

Ordering words alphabetically is a useful skill that helps us organise words from A to Z. It means putting words in the same order as the letters in the alphabet. For Year 6 students, learning how to order words alphabetically is important because it helps us find information quickly in dictionaries, encyclopedias, books, and even in everyday life like sorting lists or files.

🔍 Why Is Alphabetical Order Important?

Alphabetical order is used everywhere—in libraries, on computer files, phone books, and school registers. It helps us find words or names easily without searching all over. In school, it also helps us keep our work neat and organised, especially when working on projects or using reference books.

📝 How to Order Words Alphabetically

  1. Look at the first letters: Compare the first letter of each word. For example, if you are ordering “apple,” “banana,” and “apricot,” you look at the first letter of each word: A, B, and A.
    • Since A comes before B, “apple” and “apricot” go before “banana.”
  2. Compare the second letters if the first letters are the same: For “apple” and “apricot,” both start with the letter A, so you look at the second letter: “p” in apple and “p” in apricot. They are the same, so move to the next letter.
    • The third letter in “apple” is “p” and in “apricot” it’s “r.” Because “p” comes before “r,” “apple” comes before “apricot” in alphabetical order.
  3. Continue letter by letter: Keep going letter by letter until you find letters that are different. That helps you decide the order.

⚖️ Handling Words That Start the Same

Sometimes words start with the same letters, like “bat,” “bath,” and “batman.” When this happens, compare letter by letter until one word runs out of letters.

  • Example: between “bat” and “bath,” the word “bat” comes first because after looking at “b” “a” and “t” in both words, “bat” has no more letters but “bath” has an extra letter “h.”

đź’ˇ Tips for Ordering Words with Prefixes and Multiple Words

  • For words with prefixes, like “undo” and “unhappy,” order them by checking each letter normally.
  • When ordering multiple words, like “New York” and “Newcastle,” start with the first word, then the second if needed.
    • “New York” comes after “Newcastle” because when comparing letter by letter, “Newcastle” comes before “New York”.

✏️ Examples to Practice

Put these words in alphabetical order: flower, flood, flip, fly

Step 1: Look at first letters: all start with “fl,” so move to the third letter.

  • flower (o), flood (o), flip (i), fly (y)

Step 2: Compare third letters:

  • “flip” has “i,” which comes before “o” in flower and flood, so “flip” comes first.
  • “flower” and “flood” both have “o,” so compare fourth letters:
    • flower (w), flood (o)
    • “flood” comes before “flower” because “o” comes before “w.”

Step 3: “fly” has “y” after “fl,” so it comes last.

The order is: flip, flood, flower, fly


By practising these steps, Year 6 students can become confident in ordering words alphabetically, whether in school tasks or everyday situations. Remember, take your time comparing letters one by one, and use alphabetical order to organise your work clearly! ✨

📝 20 Examination-Style Questions with Answers on Ordering Alphabetically: Challenge

Here are 20 examination-style questions for Year 6 students about ordering words alphabetically. These include different types of questions like ordering lists, multiple-choice answers, and fill-in-the-blank. You can practise to improve your understanding of how to order words from A to Z!

Question 1: Order the words below alphabetically.

Words: apple, library, orange, banana, school

Answer: apple, banana, library, orange, school

Question 2: Which word comes first alphabetically?

a) zebra
b) yellow
c) x-ray
d) apple

Answer: d) apple

Question 3: Put these words in alphabetical order: chair, cheese, chocolate, chalk

Answer: chair, chalk, cheese, chocolate

Question 4: Fill in the blank with the word that should come first alphabetically:

cat, dog, elephant, ___, horse
Options: ant, fox, goat

Answer: ant

Question 5: Which word is last in alphabetical order?

a) zebra
b) yak
c) yellow
d) xylophone

Answer: a) zebra

Question 6: Order these words alphabetically: mouse, monkey, moose, moon

Answer: monkey, moose, moon, mouse

Question 7: True or False: The word “kitten” comes before “kitchen” alphabetically.

Answer: True

Question 8: Look at this list of words: apple, apricot, application, ape
What is the correct alphabetical order?

Answer: ape, apple, application, apricot

Question 9: Choose the word that comes first alphabetically among:

a) book
b) balloon
c) boot
d) ball

Answer: d) ball

Question 10: Write the words in alphabetical order: river, rose, rain, robot

Answer: rain, river, robot, rose

Question 11: Fill in the blank:

Between “dog” and “dove”, which word comes first? _________

Answer: dog

Question 12: Multiple Choice: Which word comes last alphabetically?

a) eagle
b) ear
c) easy
d) earth

Answer: d) earth

Question 13: Order these transport words alphabetically: bike, plane, boat, bus

Answer: bike, boat, bus, plane

Question 14: True or False: “grape” comes after “green” alphabetically.

Answer: True

Question 15: Write the words in alphabetical order: tiger, tigeress, tight, tigers

Answer: tight, tiger, tigeress, tigers

Question 16: Fill in the blank with the word that comes next alphabetically after “lamp”:

lamp, lantern, laptop, _______
Options: large, last, late

Answer: large

Question 17: Which word comes first?

a) phone
b) photo
c) phrase

Answer: a) phone

Question 18: Put these words in alphabetical order: zebra, zip, zipper, zone

Answer: zebra, zip, zipper, zone

Question 19: Multiple Choice: Which word comes first alphabetically?

a) castle
b) cash
c) cat
d) catch

Answer: b) cash

Question 20: Fill in the blank: Which word comes between “sun” and “sunny”?

Options: Sunday, sunflower, sunbathe

Answer: sunbathe


Try answering these questions by carefully checking the first letters of each word, then the second letters if the first are the same, and so on. This will help you become confident in ordering words alphabetically for your Year 6 English work! 🌟