Scramble & Sort

A lot of times we as teachers wish students would learn vocabulary or recognize words better.  Perhaps we want them to be able to make connections between the words so that they are able to use them in context when writing.  I created an interactive word sort application called Scramble & Sort, where teachers can create a list of words and have students sort them.  How they sort them is up to you the teacher or the students themselves.  The sorts can be a fun way to play with words, rather than using worksheets all the time.

No one says there has to be a specific way to sort the words.  One person may see one way to sort the words, while another person may sort them a different way.  That's great!  As teachers we can play games with the sorts. and use these different methods as a teaching tool.  Students can explain why they sorted as they did, or have other students try and guess why they sorted the words as they did.  You the teacher could do the same thing and sort the words according to criteria that only you know.  Then ask students to figure out how you sorted the words. 

Perhaps you have a computer lab in your school.  Sign up for the lab, have each student use the same words, but create their own sort.  Have students go from computer to computer to determine the rule for that sort.  By allowing students to create their own rules for their sort, and then trying to reconstruct someone else's rule we are allowing our students to think at a higher level, rather than just memorizing their meanings.  Give it a try, make it fun, and see what interesting ways your students connect words.

Here is my word sort.  Can you figure out what I am sorting my words as?