Word Sorts: Recognizing Relationships Among Key Concepts

Word sorts, done with sticky notes or index cards on the wall, can be a nice break from reading text. Because the activity requires sorting words by their characteristics, content areas that require analytical thinking work well. Word sorts need to be planned in advance. To create a word sort for your youth, start with index cards or sticky notes in two different colors:

• Select a subject area and identify 15–20 words common to the subject, but with different characteristics
• Write one word each on sticky notes or index cards of the same color
• Stick or tape them to the wall in random order
• For a closed sort (tutor determines the categories) write the categories for the sort on a second color of sticky notes/cards and tape them to the wall in a row
• For an open sort (youth determines the categories) ask the student to study the words and create the category cards
• Sort the words by grouping the word cards under the categories

Here are examples for science and math:
Meteorology: stratus, temperate, sunshine, cumulonimbus, wind, tropical, lenticular, polar, fog, cirrus, snow, Mediterranean, hail, stratocumulus, savannah, desert, and thunder. Closed sort categories: clouds, climates, weather. Open sort categories: weather forecast, places with weather, words I don’t know

Geometry: Circle, diameter, angle, radius, rectangle, area, pi, trapezoid, square root, oval, ellipse, axis, equation, semi-circle, parallelogram, triangle. Closed sort categories: round figures, angular figures, computations. Open sort categories: things I can draw, terms I know, what to learn.

Word sorts are particularly effective for content area learning because they encourage students to analyze and create categories for groups of related words. The tutor also gains insight into how the youth thinks about words. Word sorts can be accomplished in many different ways; often, there is no totally “right” answer to a sort, but the activity encourages focused dialogue about what words mean. Appropriate resources for the subject area (dictionaries, textbooks, manuals) are critical tools to have on hand, so that areas of uncertainty can be investigated and resolved.

Group adaptation: In an out-of-school time setting, students can work on word sorts in teams, observe other student versions, and share observations about their choices. Once the group understands how word sorts work, they often develop enthusiasm for creating their own versions.

Concept Definition Map: Help With Common Academic Words, Mentoring Youth in the Benefits, Skills, and Joy of Literacy