Sunday, September 22, 2013

20+ Resources for Classification and Categorization

One of my favorite sorting activities was to classify and categorize buttons.
We sorted by size, shape, the number of holes, and texture.
However, the favorite category was buttons that spin

The terms classify and categorize are often used interchangeably. The Merriam Webster Dictionary identifies classify and categorize as synonyms and the definitions were very similar. I found several other definitions of these terms showing definite differences, but the best explanation, below, comes from a Roanoke County Schools web page
  • When you classify, you group together several things that have something in common.
  • When you tell how the parts of the group are alike, you categorize them
When we teach children to group or sort objects, both classification and categorization are usually intertwined into our activities. 

Here are some FREE or very inexpensive activities to use when teaching classifying and categorizing. 


  • Play Sort It Out with Clifford's friends Zo and Flo at Scholastic.com. 


  • I found this free Button Classification Unit at Teachers pay Teachers where you will find over 200 FREE activities to teach classification and/or categorization. 



  • Pictures to use for sorting activities can be found at Carl's Corner Sort City page. You will find pictures for all speech sounds as well as pictures for word families, seasonal activities, colors, shapes, food groups, and more. 



  • Categories Ladder is one of many classification / categorization activities found at Quia.com.





  • At Kizclub.com, click on Topics to find more than 10 printable sorting activities. 

  • The FREE app, Kidspiration Maps Lite, has sorting activities for reading and writing, science, and social studies. If you have access to Kidspiration on your computer, you have an unlimited amount of sorting activities. 


  • Recommend the sorting activities at Education.com to parents of preschool students. 



  • A great source for parents can be found at Reading Rockets. This page also includes a short list of classification/categorization themed books for children age 4 to 12. 

  • More than twenty of these science themed sorting activities are free at TeAchnology


  • Play What's Different? at Do2Learn to use when teaching negation or category exclusion. 



                                  If you have, or know of, other free or inexpensive categorization /classification activities please comment and share the link!



                                  Diana

                                  © 2013


                                  CLASSIFY AND CATEGORIZE. (n.d.).Roanoke County Public Schools . Retrieved September 22, 2013, from http://www.rcs.k12.va.us/pfes/third%20grade/reading%20sem%201%20theme%202/turtle%20bay/classify%20and%20categorize%201.htm

                                  Dictionary and Thesaurus - Merriam-Webster Online. (n.d.). Dictionary and Thesaurus - Merriam-Webster Online. Retrieved September 22, 2013, from http://www.merriam-webster.com/

                                  1 comment:

                                  1. Thanks for featuring my category flash cards! I made those for my favorite client but ended up using them with so many other kids!!! ~Ms. Lane

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