Make Sorting VisualĬertain math concepts fit neatly into categories-like measurements or types of functions. With both types of sorts, carve out time for a group discussion so students can explain their groupings and practice verbal reasoning skills. For a closed sort, consider providing ready-made categories like Distances, Intervals of Time, Liquid Volumes, Masses of Objects, and Not Sure.įor an open sort, you wouldn’t provide prompts and students would work at figuring out categories and word placements by themselves. Closed sorts allow for greater teacher scaffolding, while open sorts encourage students to grapple independently with the content.įor example, a lesson on increments of measurement might involve a list of keywords such as: Kilometer, Meter, Centimeter, Hour, Second, Minute, Kilogram, Gram, Ounce, and Pound. For open sorts, students come up with their own classifications-and construct a justification for which terms belong to which group. With closed sorts, the teacher defines the categories beforehand and students do the sorting. Differentiate Between Open and Closed Sorts Here are three ways to use word sorts in the math classroom. Math learners across grade levels can use word sorts to gain a deeper understanding of how different math concepts connect, allowing them to decode increasingly complex problems, and building critical disciplinary literacy. That’s where a “simple yet powerful strategy” like word sorts- a common practice in the ELA classroom where students identify shared features of words’ meanings and place them into groups based on spelling, linguistic features, or meanings-can help. Sigmon, Kavin Ming, and Daniel Herring, in Mathematics Teacher: Learning and Teaching PK-12, a journal by the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics.īut vocabulary instruction isn’t always a priority in the math classroom, because “literacy and mathematics are often seen as unrelated subjects, which makes mathematics teachers less likely to consider the many ways in which literacy is interwoven throughout mathematics content,” the authors write. “As students move through the grades, vocabulary knowledge plays an increasingly important role in the learning experience,” write educators Miranda L.

When facing a complex math task, discussing strategies with peers and posing questions before attempting to solve it allows students to verbalize their thinking and test out theories-and develops the content-specific vocabulary to do so. Here, students focus on the words first, reading the problem out loud with the teacher, identifying common words and phrases, and discussing the broader narrative hidden within the problem.

At Concourse Village Elementary School in the Bronx, solving math problems doesn’t always start with diving into the numbers.

Vocabulary word sorts kindergarten