How Can We Sort?

As we near the end of our sorting unit, I decided I wanted to make an anchor chart. This is the first time I have created an anchor chart with my class. I really like the idea of having something on display to remind my students about what they have learned, and reflect back on.

I begin by asking the children the different ways we know how to sort. As they are giving me ideas, I am quickly sketching on our anchor chart. My class told me they could sort by: color, size, shape, and boy/girl. This conversation was great! Just listening to my students talk about the ways to sort, and explaining it was awesome. Sometimes teachers, myself included, think of lessons always having to be so complex. This was such a brief, easy lesson to plan, but it was fun and put my students knowledge of sorting to the test. Attached is what our anchor chart looked like after the discussion.

After our discussion and the creation of an anchor chart, I ask children to sort in the various ways we brainstormed. Around the room I will have piles of manipulatives for sorting. I let the children move around the classroom however they choose and instruct them to sort objects or themselves just as our anchor chart states. Attached are some pictures of sorting by color, size, shape, boy/girl.