Sort and Classify
Lessons in this chapter
About Sort and Classify
Sort and Classify is where kindergarten math begins, and it begins before numbers: deciding what makes two things the same, and what makes them different.
Match Objects that are Same asks kids to pull identical objects out of a mixed group. That sounds trivial until a child has to say why two things match. The reason they give, same color, same size, same shape, is the first mathematical argument most kids ever make.
Match Objects of Same Pattern and Category moves from identical to alike. A striped sock and a striped shirt are not the same object but they share a pattern, and a spoon and a fork look nothing alike but belong to the same category. Kids learn that “same” depends on the rule you are using.
Sort Objects puts that rule to work. Given a pile, split it into groups and be able to name the attribute you sorted by. This is the thinking behind every later topic that asks kids to group things, from odd and even numbers to classifying shapes, so it earns its place at the front of the kindergarten math curriculum.
The practice here is one worksheet for each of the three lessons, opened and worked in the page. Match Objects that are Same, Match Objects of Same Pattern and Category and Sort Objects each hand a child a pile and a rule to apply, with every answer marked as they go. They are free, and nothing has to be set up first.
Frequently asked questions
Three lessons, in order. Match Objects that are Same asks a child to pull identical things out of a mixed group, Match Objects of Same Pattern and Category moves from identical to alike, and Sort Objects asks them to split a whole pile by one attribute and then name the attribute they used. In the U.S. Common Core this sits in Measurement and Data (K.MD), the domain that covers classifying objects into categories.
Sorting is the first thing kids do that behaves like math: pick a rule, apply it consistently, and be able to explain it. Every later idea that depends on grouping, odd and even numbers, place value, classifying shapes, is the same move with different objects.
Color, size, shape, pattern and category are the usual attributes. The point is less which attribute a child picks and more that they stick to one rule across the whole pile instead of switching halfway through.
No, and it is often a good sign. A pile of buttons can be sorted by color or by size, and both are correct. Ask which rule they used. A child who can name the rule is doing the thinking the chapter is after.
Matching pairs up two things that go together. Sorting takes a whole group and splits it into sets. Match Objects that are Same and Match Objects of Same Pattern and Category come first for that reason, and Sort Objects builds on them.
Pattern matching is about how things look, so two striped items match. Category matching is about what things are for, so a spoon and a fork match even though they look different. Kids need both, because later math uses both kinds of rule.