Open-Ended Card Sort Practice

Card Sorts, and particularly open-ended card sorts, are a versatile teaching method that gets kids thinking.  By working hands-on, preferably in small groups, students work on collaboration and reasoning skills.  They also master many different topics by thinking logically and finding patterns in their world.

Try an Open-Ended Card Sort with your 4th, 5th, or 6th-grade students.  Have them sort these cards into up to eight (8) groups that they create based on the cards they have on hand.  You can use just 20 cards.  Or use all 40 cards for more of a challenge.  In addition, give the students up to eight (8) pockets for easier sorting, and give them fewer pockets if you need to build in more difficulty.  This resource allows you to differentiate in two ways for the students you teach.  Each group in the classroom can be unique in its setup.

The students will work hands-on, collaborate with others, reason, and more to find similarities and differences between the cards.  This technique builds reasoning and logic skills, as well as patterning skills, and more.

To learn more about the Card Sort and how to use them, check out this blog post!

To see the difference with a closed sort, give this resource a try. – Ordering Rational Numbers Card Sort

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