Here are some engaging activities to teach alternative spellings for the “er,” “ir,” and “ur” sounds:

1. Word Sort:

   • “er” words: her, fern, bird, water
   • “ir” words: girl, shirt, third, circle
   • “ur” words: surf, turn, hurt, turtle

   Activity: Provide a list of additional words with mixed spellings and ask students to categorize them under the appropriate headings (“er,” “ir,” or “ur”).

2. Read and Highlight: Text: “The bird chirped and flew away. My shirt has a big circle on it. I hurt my ankle when I fell off the curb.”

   Activity: Have students read the text and use highlighters to mark the words “bird,” “shirt,” “circle,” “hurt,” and “curb” to identify the different spellings for the target sounds.

3. Word Hunt: Activity: Instruct students to find words with “er,” “ir,” and “ur” spellings in books or articles they read independently. They might find words like “term,” “shirt,” “turn,” “girl,” “curtain,” “burden,” “birthday,” etc.

4. Word Building: Letter Cards: e, i, u, r Ending Cards: er, ir, ur

   Activity: In small groups, students take turns selecting one letter card and one ending card to create words. For example, they might choose “e” and “er” to form “ever,” “i” and “r” to form “ir,” or “u” and “ur” to form “fur.” They can continue building and reading words in this manner.

5. Bingo: Bingo Cards: Create bingo cards with words like “her,” “bird,” “shirt,” “surf,” “turn,” “circle,” “hurt,” etc.

   Activity: Read aloud words randomly, and students mark the corresponding word on their bingo cards until someone gets a bingo.

6. Sentence Completion: Sentence Prompt: “The ____ was faster than the other cars.”

   Activity: Students complete the sentence using appropriate words like “her,” “bird,” or “curve.” They can share their completed sentences with the class.

7. Picture Sort: Pictures: Provide pictures of objects or scenes that represent words like “fern,” “girl,” “surf,” “turtle,” “bird,” “shirt,” etc.

   Activity: Students sort the pictures into groups based on the target sounds (“er,” “ir,” or “ur”).

These examples should help you get started with engaging activities to teach alternative spellings for the “er,” “ir,” and “ur” sounds.z