The 3 Sounds of -ED (How to Teach Them + Video + Activities)

Most students learn that -ed is a past tense ending… but then quickly get confused.

Why does jumped sound different from loved?
And why does painted suddenly have two syllables?

The answer is simple—but it has to be taught clearly.

The suffix -ed actually has three different sounds: /t/, /d/, and /ed/ (or /?d/). Once students hear and recognize those sounds, we prepare our students better for reading and spelling words with this suffix.

Teaching the Sounds of the Suffix -ed

Most people know the sound -ed is a suffix, but unless a person has been taught or thought about it, many may not realize that -ed says three sounds: /ed/ (as in the name Ed), /d/ and in loved, and /t/ as in kissed.

Drill Cards in Two Places

The -ed drill card is in two places.

First, it’s in the Consonant Reading Deck, used as a phonogram drill.  

It’s not so much about -ed being a suffix at this point, as a letter combination with three sounds.  

The /ed/ sound is also used after a word ending in a d or t (the letter, not the sound). For example, melted or sanded. Those words will have the sound /ed/ for the -ed.

Second, -ed drill card is in the Suffix Deck.

The Sounds of -ed and 1^st Suffixes are one right after another on the scope and sequence – the point is to make sure the student grasps that -ed has three sounds before diving into suffixes.

So how do we do that?

If you’re looking for a simple breakdown of the three sounds of -ed before jumping into activities, you can read that here

Ways to Practice the Sounds of -ED (As a Phonogram Sound)

Activity #1

First, use your reading consonant deck teach the three sounds of -ed.

Do this before you go in depth about suffixes. Get the student automatic with the three sounds and the keywords.

Use a remember sentence: He rented a boat, jumped in and sailed away. -OR- He rented a boat, sailed away and fished all day.

Activity #2

A great first activity to get a student used to hearing the sounds is sorting. At first, you go through it with them. This isn’t so much about reading these words as it is about hearing what the -ed is saying.

Another fun thing to do with cards play a game of match or pairs – turn over two cards and try to match the words, then read the words out loud. You can also have them say which -ed sound is made.

Activity #3

Next, is to have words and columns, and words go to the sound-appropriate column. If you are working with an older student, they might be able to read the words easily, which is great, but we want them to hear the sound too.

In all of these activities, be as auditory as possible – even if students can do the work alone, be sure to talk to them about it. Especially if you see “problem words” – if they list a /d/ as a /t/ word, ask what they heard. Talk about other words that sound similar.

Activity #4

Syllabication is another factor. When we talk about one-syllable words with the -ed suffix, the /d/ and /t/ sounds will stay one-syllable words, but the /ed/ sound will always result in a two-syllable word.

For example, kiss is kissed (/t/), flag is flagged (/d/), paint is painted (/ed/), it’s now two syllables.

Activity #5

Speaking of dictation… you will want to dictate words. There are a couple of types of dictation you can do.

One, dictate words and ask the student to write the word. Be sure they read the words out loud. Second, dictate a word and have them just write the sound -ed is making (not the whole word).

If there is a mistake, it’s a great time to talk about what the student is hearing. Ask questions and talk about the different sounds.

Activity #6

Give students phrases and sentences to read and write. Start with short, easy phrases and graduate to sentences. Include reading decodable stories that focus on the sounds of -ed.

Final Word

The main point of introducing -ed as a phonogram prior to introducing it as a formal suffix is to make sure students know there are three sounds -ed makes. This whole concept is very auditory in nature. You want the student to hear the sounds.

You want a student to hear the sounds, then move to using -ed as the past tense of a word, then move to knowing that other words end in the /d/ and /t/ sound, but some are the past tense of a word and others just end in those sounds.

As the cumulative nature of Orton Gillingham keeps going, you introduce -ed as part of other suffixes like -er, -ing and -ness. It’s a one-layer building upon the next.

It’s a thorough way of teaching the suffixes as a whole.