Open Sorting Task

Open Sorting Tasks

Definition: An activity in which target vocabulary terms are given to students, and then the students are asked to organize the vocabulary into categories that they come up with on their own.
Purposes:
  • To increase comprehension
  • To develop organizational skills
  • To provide collaborative learning
  • To understand categorical distinctions

Step 1.
Select the critical terms that you want the students to learn.

Step 2.
Provide the words for the students and ask them to figure out the best way to categorize them.

Step 3.
Ask the students to work in pairs, and ask them to discuss why they choose the different categories.

Step 4.
Review the responses as a whole class.

Step 5.
For a twist, add in a new item that might confound the student categories.

Example:
Let’s say you want to teach a unit on different forms of government.

Step 1. Choose laws or features that might be clearly divided between a democracy and a dictatorship.

Step 2. Jumble the different laws or features together on strips of paper to pass around to the students.

Step 3. Ask them to pair up to organize the laws and features as they see fit.

Step 4. As a whole class, ask students, one group at a time, where the items go and why.

Step 5. Give the students a second set of laws and features that represent other forms of government, like a monarchy, technocracy, or oligarchy.

This task is a general learning task that you may or may not have tried to use with any of your students. By highlighting the vocabulary, this is an excellent way to review readings and check for comprehension. Also, the pair work requires negotiation, which is a valuable experience for students who are learning.

In the open version of this activity, more is asked of the students, and they may surprise you with their answers. This experience could create valuable teaching moments, and it also allows for creativity as well as knowledge.

If you want to take it to a completely new level, check out this article https://medium.com/design-ibm/card-sorting-a-powerful-simple-research-method-9d1566be9b62


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