Tuesday, June 23, 2015

Sorting: The concept of noticing

I began our maths learning this year with sorting. The idea is that students will begin to see differences and attributes that objects have in common. Without the skill of 'noticing', I believe maths can be extremely difficult for students. We have started sorting by using a variety of things, many which would easily be found in a classroom.


The group of students working with these counters were so engaged, they chose to continue working until they had sorted the whole container of counters.


 This student sorted these cartoon monsters by how many eyes they had. Other students sorted them by the expression on their face, number of legs etc. You can download these monsters here.

We collected objects from outside and this student sorted them by texture e.g. dry leaves, soft leaves, sticks.

Other ideas for sorting are (objects that may have more than one attribute)

  • bottle lids
  • jars
  • bread tags
  • popsticks
  • straws
  • pipe cleaners
  • receipts
  • small boxes
  • photographs
  • pieces of material
  • student names
  • letterheads
  • company logos e.g. from brochures/catalogues 

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