Group sort: sort items into categories from your list
Items on the board, categories along the bottom. Tap an item and then the group it belongs in. Make a list by giving items that belong together the same word after the colon.
15 items (up to 40). Put a colon, a tab, a dash with spaces, an equals sign or an arrow between the term and its meaning. Groups of two or more: mammal (4), fish (4), bird (4), amphibian (3).
How to use it
- Paste a list where items in the same group end with the same word, like “dog: mammal” and “trout: fish”. Each group needs at least two items.
- Choose how many groups (two to four) and how many items from each, then press Play.
- Tap an item to pick it up, then tap its group. A right one drops in. A wrong one pops back, with no penalty.
- Press N for a new round, which deals different groups and items from your list. Print the sorting cards for a table version.
Ideas for class
- Sort living and nonliving things, even and odd numbers, or nouns and verbs in the first week of a unit.
- Ask students to say why before they place an item. The talking matters more than the tapping.
- Print the sorting cards, with the groups as headers, for a center where students sort on the desk.
- Add a tricky item that nearly fits and discuss why it belongs in the group it does.
- Ask students to write their own list of items for a group and add it to the list tomorrow.
Related
- All five classroom activities
- Match up: terms and meanings from your list
- Flip tiles: a memory game from your list
- Quiz show: a multiple-choice game for the board
- Odd one out: which one does not belong?
- Live classroom quiz game: students join with a code
- Brain breaks: 60 movement cards with a random draw and a timer
Questions
How do I make the groups?
Give items in a group the same words after the colon. “Dog: mammal”, “cat: mammal” and “bat: mammal” make a group named mammal. Capital letters and a full stop at the end don't matter.
What if my list has no groups?
Then group sort says so, and what to change. A list of terms with different meanings makes match up, flip tiles and the quiz show instead.
Can two groups hold an item with the same name?
A round never uses the same item name twice, so there is only one right place for each item on the board.
Does it use drag and drop?
No. You tap an item and then tap a group, which works on a touchscreen board, with a mouse and with the keyboard alike.
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