MAKING CONNECTIONS with WORD SORTS

       

       

What Are WORD SORTS?

A word sort is a individual or small group activity in which students sort words by linking to their prior knowledge. The sorts advance student knowledge, are active and fun, are an analytical and implicit approach to learning, are beneficial to ELL students, as well as being supported by research.

Words Sorts benefit all students and can be used across the curriculum for a variety of topics. 


BENEFITS OF WORD SORTS

Promote oral language development
Students need to say and/or spell words and justify their categorization.

Interactive.
Students do the work; they manipulate the words and explain their rational.

Build on prior knowledge.
Students use what they know as a basis their choices. 

Easily tailored for differentiation.
If you, the teacher, notes that a student/s have difficulty distinguishing between long and short vowel sounds, they can be given word cards of words they know representing both long and short sounds and asked to sort into categories.

Students can write the words in addition to simply grouping.

Use pictures along with words.

Allow students to create their own examples.

Add a Non-Example section.
   

TYPES OF WORD SORTS

There are two basic types of word sorts, Open Sorts and Closed Sorts. 

Open Sorts:

The teacher provides only the (list of) words.

Students work together to determine commonalities and describe the categories.

Closed Sort:

The teacher provides categories (specific features) to students.

Students match the words to the feature to create word collections.


Other Types:
Speed Sort: 
Students are timed as they quickly sort words into the correct categories.

Blind Sort:
Students are given guide words and are to write/spell each under the correct category as another student calls out the words without showing the word.

Writing Sort:
Students write the words under the correct category.

Word Hunt:
Students search their own reading and writing for words that are examples of the skill currently being studied.

Using WORD SORTS in the classrooM

• Determine if you will use an Open or Closed Sort.

• Choose 15-20 words (based on a particular skill).

• Create groups of 2-4 students per group.

• Allow 10-15 minutes for groups to assign words to groups.

After student work time:

Have a discussion with each group as to their rational for sorting. Discuss the common 

features of the categories and how each word met the criteria.

SAMPLE Cross Curricular WORD SORT Topics 

READING/LANGUAGE ARTS                                  Social Studies
Number of Syllables                                            Types of Communities
Parts of Speech                                                   Landforms
Common/Proper Nouns                                       Natural or Man Made
Alphabetical Order                                             Past or Present                                          

Math                                                                  Science
Even or Odd Numbers                                         States of Matter 
Operations                                                         Forms of Precipitation
Types of Angles                                                  Living or Non Living
Add or Subtract                                                  Vertebrate or Invertebrate

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* Additional Resources:
http://edublog.scholastic.com/post/lets-talk-word-sorts#
http://strategiesforspecialinterventions.weebly.com/word-sort1.html
http://www.readwritethink.org/classroom-resources/lesson-plans/word-sorts-beginning-struggling-795.html