Authentic Lessons for 21st Century Learning

Instructional Strategies for Classifying

Sherry Franklin | Published: April 10th, 2023 by K20 Center

Summary

This is a collection of instructional strategies that can be used in the classroom to help students improve their classifying skills. Classifying is a valuable skill for students to develop as it allows them to organize information and see relationships between different items. This process helps them understand and remember information better. Classifying enables students to develop their critical thinking skills by forcing them to analyze and compare information. It also prepares them for real-world problem solving, as many job tasks involve categorizing information and making decisions based on that information. The ability to classify is essential for students in their academic and future professional lives.

Resources

Affinity Process

Grade Level Grade Level

  • 6th - 12th

This strategy engages students in organizing ideas into themes to summarize content or find points of agreement. Students respond to a prompt and work in groups to organize the responses into themes. Read more »

Strategy Instructional Strategy

User Group Group Size

  • Individual, Whole Class

Copied To Clipboard Placement In Lesson

  • Engage/Opening, Explain/Closing, Evaluate/Assessment

Time Frame Time To Complete

  • Less Than 10 Minutes, 10 - 20 Minutes

Tag Intention Or Purpose

  • Activate Prior Knowledge, Brainstorming, Collaborate, Organize, Review, Student Choice

Grade Level Grade Level

  • 6th - 12th
Card Matching

Grade Level Grade Level

  • 6th - Undergraduate

This formative assessment strategy involves finding pairs (or sets) of cards that uniquely share the same relationship or attribute. Card decks do not need to have equal size groups. Consider creating uneven matches, where there are more of one type of card than another, or creating some cards that... Read more »

Strategy Instructional Strategy

User Group Group Size

  • Small Group

Copied To Clipboard Placement In Lesson

  • Engage/Opening, Evaluate/Assessment

Time Frame Time To Complete

  • 10 - 20 Minutes, 20 - 30 Minutes

Tag Intention Or Purpose

  • Analyze, Critical Thinking, Interpret, Organize, Reason, Recognize, Reflection

Grade Level Grade Level

  • 6th - Undergraduate
Card Sort

Grade Level Grade Level

  • Preschool - 12th

This strategy is used in a variety of ways to organize prior knowledge about a concept or topic and has students practice argumentative communication by debating their answers with a group or partner. Read more »

Strategy Instructional Strategy

User Group Group Size

  • Individual, Whole Class

Copied To Clipboard Placement In Lesson

  • Engage/Opening, Explore/Learning Activity, Explain/Closing, Extend/Additional Learning Activity

Time Frame Time To Complete

  • 10 - 20 Minutes

Tag Intention Or Purpose

  • Activate Prior Knowledge, Analyze, Conversation Starter, Critical Thinking, Identify, Interpret, Organize, Reason, Recognize, Reflection, Student Choice

Grade Level Grade Level

  • Preschool - 12th
Honeycomb Harvest

Grade Level Grade Level

  • Preschool - 12th

This activity "harvests" student understanding of the logical relationships between words and concepts. Read more »

Strategy Instructional Strategy

User Group Group Size

  • Individual

Copied To Clipboard Placement In Lesson

  • Engage/Opening, Explore/Learning Activity, Explain/Closing, Extend/Additional Learning Activity, Evaluate/Assessment

Time Frame Time To Complete

  • 20 - 30 Minutes

Tag Intention Or Purpose

  • Activate Prior Knowledge, Analyze, Collaborate, Compare & Contrast, Critical Thinking, Evaluate, Identify, Organize, Reason, Self-assessment

Grade Level Grade Level

  • Preschool - 12th
WICK

Grade Level Grade Level

  • 3rd - 12th

This engaging strategy provides a way for students to categorize information and think critically about content. Read more »

Strategy Instructional Strategy

User Group Group Size

  • Whole Class

Copied To Clipboard Placement In Lesson

  • Explain/Closing, Evaluate/Assessment

Time Frame Time To Complete

  • 10 - 20 Minutes

Tag Intention Or Purpose

  • Active Engagement, Critical Thinking, Evaluate, Reflection

Grade Level Grade Level

  • 3rd - 12th

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