Engaging Students in Science: A lesson on Sorting

mariabecht
Nov 3, 2017
2 min read

This past week I taught a lesson about sorting. The standards is as follows:

SC.K.P.8.In.1: Sort objects by observable properties, such as size, shape, or color.

I planned 2 lessons centered on the standard. In Learning Goals: The First Step, Stephen Covery writes to begin with the end in mind. I used the backward design process while planning, as I started with what I want my students to do at the end of the lesson. I want my student to be able to sort by color and size, and understand that we sort things in differing groups based on properties, while planning and based my lesson plan on these things. After I decided what I want my students to be able to do, I started planning my instruction and the sorting expereinces for my students.

This lesson was a consecutive 2 day lesson that introduced the concept of sorting and then had students engage in sorting. My objectives were as follows:

Students will be able to sort multiple objects (buttons, legos, shapes, crayons, and critters) by color.

Students will be able to sort multiple objects (buttons, legos, shapes, and critters) by size.

For my lesson, I made sure to specifically state the objective for my students and make to the learning task clear for my students. During the lesson while the student were sorting I reminded my learners of the objective as well. In the closure I had a student restate the objective and how it was met by them. In Differentiated Instructional Strategies that authors writes that clear instruction goals help students focus.

To engage in sorting they when to different sorting stations to sort the items by color or shape, depending on the day. While they were sorting I asked questions to see if they could explain the sorting. For example: I asked students to tell me how they sorted the object and why. I used prompting and support for student who did not seem to understand the task. I modeled how to sort for select students and then let them try again. Modeling helped my students understand better.

I used an observation formative checklist to check for mastery of the objective. My checklist was an example of a formative assessment. In Differentiated Instructional Strategies that authors write that a formative assessment is the ongoing process of gathering and interpreting data to plan instruction and see growth. I used the data to see which student needs further support and instruction with sorting. I can then address this further by providing with further support and instruction specific students during science and social centers when sorting occurs.

To provide closure, I created an anchor chart with students to showcase their learning and the different ways the students sorted their objects. This ended the lesson and summarize the learning. It also helped me during my second lesson to review the skill of sorting and how to sort. This anchor chart is still hanging in the classroom for students to look at and remember the skill of sorting, as it something we will continue to do in K!