IXL | Order alphabetically: challenge | 3rd grade language arts

Put the words in alphabetical order.

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question

Put the words in alphabetical order.

bee

belt

key idea

To put words in alphabetical order, use the alphabet.

A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z

First, put the words in order by their first letters.

bed	pie	ran

If words share the first letter, then use the second letter to put them in order.

bed	born	brown

If words share the first and second letters, then use the third letter, and so on.

bed	bell	best

If one word is shorter, and there are no more letters to compare, then the shorter word comes first in alphabetical order.

be	bed

solution

Look at the first letters of the words.

bee	be	belt

Notice that the first two letters of all of the words are be-. Look at the third letters of the be- words.

bee	be_	belt

The word be doesn't have a third letter. It is shorter than bee and belt, so it comes earliest in alphabetical order. So, word #1 will be be, and words #2 and #3 will be the be- words.

be
#1	#2	#3

Look at the third letters of the be- words.

bee	belt

In alphabetical order, the third letters are e and l. So, word #2 will be bee, and word #3 will be the bel- word.

#1	#2	#3
be	bee	belt

$Confetti$

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NN.3Order alphabetically based on the first three letters

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