Concept Sorts and Vocabulary Learning (Bear)

This post is courtesy of Dr. Donald R. Bear. Donald is a professor and the director of the E. L. Cord Foundation Center for Learning and Literacy in the Department of Educational Specialties at the University of Nevada, Reno. He is author of numerous articles and books, including Words Their Way, Words Their Way with English Learners, and Vocabulary Their Way. Donald began his career as a teacher and still enjoys working with schoolchildren of all ages. He is interested in literacy and language across a culturally diverse population.

Thanks, Susan, for your gracious invitation to share ideas. My post is about concept sorts, an activity in which students sort words or pictures into conceptual categories. Concept sorts are valued as a way to organize ideas, support interaction and discussion, document activity, and assess thinking and basic word and vocabulary knowledge (Neuman, & Dwyer, 2009; Templeton, et al., 2008).

In the following examples, I share three word study activities, and then I suggest fundamental steps in developing concept sorts. Vocabulogic already provides a tremendous collection of activities and resources that are concept sorts in their own ways! I am glad to contribute to the discussion.

The Osani Game, Figurative Expressions of Roundness

My students and I found this game in a greeting card with a photograph of 20 children sitting feet-to-feet in a circle (see www.connectingdotz.com). Enchanting! According to the literature, Ehé children from central Africa play the Osani game by calling out a figurative expression of roundness. Two expressions of roundess given were the cycle of the moon, and the circle of family. One person is left in the circle when everyone else can no longer think of a figurative expression of roundness. In this game, the last child left was said to “live a long and prosperous life.” Ahh, the wonders of a winning vocabulary!

Click to enlarge / download.

In a class I taught, we brainstormed a few more examples and then split into small groups and reported back. I’m interested in what would happen with your students. Our brainstorming is documented in the chart to the right (click to enlarge or download).

The Osani Circle Game reminds me of the ways vocabulary and thinking intertwine. Concept sorts are all around us, as in the ways we put our groceries away, and they are integral to learning and thinking. We sort in our personal collections and we sort at our jobs. For good and bad, we are always sorting; for examples see Things Organized Neatly.

In our teaching, how can we ensure that there is sufficient intensity and frequency of exposure for concept and vocabulary learning? Concept sorts promote verbal expression and thinking. Teachers need myriad ways to promote frequent and engaging activities.

Picture and Object Concept Sorts

Emergent and beginning readers will need pictures or objects for their concept sorts. By design, picture concept sorts do not require reading or a common oral language; we find that the pictures support students as they talk about their sorts with their classmates (Helman, et al., 2012). Karen Carpenter (2010), a former student now at Coker College, studies how kindergarten students sort pictures conceptually for vocabulary learning. In a delayed recall task, students who sorted learned twice as many new words as students in the comparison group who only listened to stories on the topic (Carpenter, 2010). Tops and Bottoms was one of the read-aloud books that was followed with concept sorting (Stevens, 1995). The rich storybook language of this book provided the foundation for the students to contrast concepts such as harvest/plant and yank/toss as well as launch a scientific observation into how to classify the parts of a plant.


Carpenter, like Jamie Oliver who brought cooking to the classroom, found that students were unfamiliar with many of the vegetables or parts of plants. In Tops and Bottoms, a rabbit tricks a bear into thinking that he wants the tops of a vegetable when he should choose the bottoms (carrots), and the bottoms when he should choose tops (lettuce). Students were shown how to sort pictures by their parts (roots, flowers, stems, trees, branches). The sort included some of the same vocabulary as Tops and Bottoms; see the photo. Teachers demonstrated the sorts, and then students sorted and discussed their sorts with classmates on their own. Together, sorting and story sharing make for a richer experience than a read aloud alone.

Concept Sorts in the Content Areas

Concept sorts are an active way to examine key vocabulary in particular areas of study, and to introduce and organize concepts and examples. The initial sort is a base for adding other words to the sort. The sorts are created on a sorting template and students sort the words or pictures and discuss the categories. Concept sorts encourage hierarchical thinking with the most basic categories representing Power I level words (Flanigan, et al., 2011).

Here are the basic directions in creating a content, concept sort: a.) Choose the key concepts and vocabulary from the chapter. These words are often the bolded words. In textbooks, key concepts are often displayed hierarchically in webs, overviews, and maps. b) Think of two or three ways words can be sorted. The fundamental contrast is one of “those that fit and those that do not” (Bear, et al., 2012). c) Create a sorting grid; 8” x 3” sorts with 24 words are common, though the sort in Figure 3 has 12 rows. d) Prepare the sorting schedule.

Recently, I developed a concept sort for a diverse group of fifth graders, diverse in languages and special services. Students who at first could not read the words, were more comfortable saying and reading the words after sorting and talking about the key vocabulary. The fifth graders were beginning to study the Pre-Revolutionary War in American History. Some words were conceptually related to British/American distinction, so this presented three columns: words related to British, American, or Other. This Other column is for words that don’t fit or that are part of another concept.

When we sorted together students were able to hear the words, and they practiced the sort with a partner and discussed the sort in a small group. The table below shows how the words looked on a sorting template with the underlined words British and American, serving as Power Level I words, the words used as categories for sorting.

In this sort, the idea of representation comes up often. We talked about what represent means, and brainstormed related words. We also took representation apart. By taking off suffixes and prefixes, we made the meaning connections among word parts (re-, present). A beginning transitional reader with severe reading difficulties could not read this word, but was able to talk about the concept, and by the end of this lesson had made a strong start in recognizing represent and related words even though these words were quite difficult for him to read.

Students need numerous opportunities to sort and discuss the categories of the sorts. Sorting repeatedly and with support increases the intensity of exposure to new words and concepts. Predictably, student engagement can increase when there are disagreements in sorting. In this sort, there was some disagreement whether or not loyalists is a British or American term.

Pre-Revolutionary War Concept Sort
Three ways to sort the concepts below: 1) places, people, concepts; 2) British contrasted to Americans; 3) open sort
British American Britain no taxes without representation against revolution America Governed by king for revolution Colonist Parliament	Prime minister King George III Virginia elected officials loyalists New York no representation liberty representation “Join or die”	13 colonies pro taxation ruled by king self-government against taxation against being ruled by king monarchy freedom colonists Patrick Henry

(Editorial note: For more on developing an understanding of abstract concepts, including concepts pertaining to Pre-Revolutionary War, see post by Kathleen Lord.)

Sorting and Assessment

Sorts provide formative assessments of reading, vocabulary, and concept knowledge. In order to assess students’ ability to read the words, you may begin by having students read the words aloud when they sort. Students also identify difficult words to read or understand. If students have difficulty reading more than half of the words then consider other ways to support the concept sort- with pictures, and partner sorting.

The ways students sort and describe their sorting is a way to learn what students know about a topic. Do they get the sort? In open sorts, do they develop sorts that are on target? Can they contribute other examples? In what ways do they reflect on the rationale for their sorts? How do these reflections change over the course of the unit of study?

Procedures for Concept Sorts

These principles of sorting are central to establishing sorting routines in the classroom.

1. Demonstrate sorts; establish sorting categories, model the sort, and have students practice. On another day, repeat the demonstration and have students sort and check with you to observe.
2. Model the process of sorting repeatedly until you are confident that students know how to sort, talk about their sorts, and have a repertoire of a few basic word study routines and activities, like how to record sorts in a vocabulary or word study notebook, and then to look for examples in word hunts.
3. Develop a 4- or 5-day routine for sorting and schedule independent and small group activities for the week.
4. Move to e-sorts whenever possible. Students do enjoy interactive white board speed sorts.
5. Extend sorts with vocabulary activities that include charting, and looking deeply at a few words. Etymological references online can be an important resource. We list several (Bear, et al., 2012).
6. Vocabulary notebooks have areas tabbed for content areas in science, social studies, readings in English, and mathematics with symbols, terms, and equations. These areas can become electronic areas and include games like Concentration or board games.
7. Have students write reflections in which they answer the question: Why did you sort the way you did?

This is where I log off and wish you a month of sorting and thinking with your students. Maybe you will play the Osani game and brainstorm examples of roundness with your students.

With best regards,

Donald 

Selected References

• Bear, D. R., Helman, L., & Woessner, L. (2009). Word study assessment and instruction with English learners in a second grade classroom: Bending with students’ growth. In J. Coppola and E. V. Primas (Eds.) One classroom, many learners: Best literacy practices for today’s multilingual classrooms (pp. 11-40). Newark, DE: International Reading Association.
• Bear, D. R., Invernizzi, M., & Templeton, S., & Johnston, F. (2012). Words their way: Word study for phonics, vocabulary, and spelling instruction, 5th edition. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall.
• Bear, D. R., Smith, R. (2009). The literacy development of English learners: What do we know about each student’s literacy development? In Helman, L. A. (Ed.) Literacy development and instruction of English learners (pp. 87 - 116). New York: Guilford Press.
• Capenter, K. (November, 2010). The Relationships among Concept Sorts, Storybook Reading, Language-Based Print Awareness, and Language Proficiency in the Vocabulary Learning of Diverse Kindergarten Children. Doctoral dissertation, University of Nevada, Reno.
• Caravolas, M. (2006). Learning to spell in different languages: How orthographic variables might affect early literacy. In R. M. Joshi & P. G. Aaron (Eds.), Handbook of orthography and literacy (pp. 497-511). Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.
• Flanigan, K., Hayes, T., Templeton, S., Bear, D. R., Invernizzi, M., Johnston, F. (2011). Words their way with struggling readers, 4 – 12. Boston, MA: Allyn & Bacon.
• Helman, L. A. (2005). Using literacy assessment results to improve teaching for English-language learners. The Reading Teacher, 58, 668-677.
• Helman, L. A., Bear, D. R., Templeton, S., Invernizzi, M. & Johnston, F. (2012). Words their way with English learners: Word study for phonics, vocabulary and spelling instruction, 2nd edition. Boston; Allyn & Bacon.
• Henderson, E. H. (1981). Learning to read and spell: The child’s knowledge of words. DeKalb, IL: Northern Illinois Press.
• Invernizzi, M. & Hayes, L. (2004). Developmental-spelling research: A systematic imperative. Reading Research Quarterly, 39, 216-228.
• Neuman, S. B., & Dwyer, J. (2009). Missing in action: Vocabulary instruction in pre-k. The Reading Teacher, 62(5), 384-392.
• Stevens, J. (1995). Tops and bottoms. San Diego, CA: Harcourt.
• Templeton, S., Bear, D.R., Invernizzi, M., Johnston, F. (2009). Vocabulary their way. Boston: Allyn & Bacon.

Building Prior Knowledge of Concepts (Lord)

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Kathleen Lord is an assistant professor of Literacy Education at the State University of New York - New Paltz. Her research interests include comprehension, particularly pertaining to conceptual development and knowledge acquisition. Dr. Lord can be reached at lordk@newpaltz.edu. 

Individually, I interviewed 102 fourth graders, asking them about social studies concepts. Responses varied widely, depending on the concept itself. Three examples are shown below (interviewer’s prompts are in parentheses):

1: "What does paying taxes mean?”

Results: Only 22% provided an example of paying taxes or defined the word. Some students explained that money is collected at the store and that you pay more money than the price of the item; however, students had no idea what the money is used for.
Responses included: When you buy something and it is one dollar and you pay seven cents. (What do they do with it?) They put it in the drawer. (Then what do they do with it?) They collect it and give it back as change.”

Question 2: "What does inventing something mean?”

Results: This time, 52% provided a definition or an example of “inventing something,” referring to Thomas Edison and different inventions. Among those not receiving credit for their answers, students explained inventing something as “making something” like arts and crafts or bacon and eggs, whereas four students said, “when you lie” or “making a story up.”

Question 3: "What does making a trade mean?”
Results: A whopping 80% of the students provided correct explanations for “making a trade.” Responses included trading Yu-Gi-Oh or Pokemon cards, and trading school items such as pencils and stickers (Lord, 2007).

Students answered questions pertaining to trade, but had difficulty answering questions about taxation and invention. Why? The difference appears to be experience. Some concepts are known to young students, whereas other concepts are either emerging or are not yet known. If students have never invented something, discovered the unknown, or been involved in a rebellion, it is unlikely that they would recognize these situations when encountered in text. Often, young readers are being introduced to concepts that they have had little or no previous exposure to, and these unknown or emerging concepts may interfere with their comprehension.

Conceptual knowledge is not only important for reading in the content areas but is crucial for reading and learning, period. It is nearly impossible to reason, interpret, analyze, infer, or answer questions that require higher-order thinking if the reader does not understand the big ideas presented in the text. Inevitably, these gaps in understanding impede learning and comprehension.

Prior knowledge: It is often thought that students gain knowledge from text. Students actually modify knowledge that they already have (Catts, 2009; Kintsch, 1998). When new information connects to an existing knowledge structure, this prior knowledge (or schema) serves as a foundation for new ideas encountered in text and leads to the construction of a situation model (van Dijk & Kintsch, 1983). This is critical to comprehension and results in a deeper understanding of the information in the text. Research has repeatedly shown that children and adults with prior knowledge about a topic have better comprehension of the text than those with no prior knowledge (Chiesi, Spilich, & Voss, 1979; Pearson, Hansen, & Gordon, 1979; Spilich, Vesonder, Chiesi, & Voss, 1979; Taylor, 1979). In fact, less skilled readers can actually outperform skilled readers when they have more prior knowledge (Kintsch, 1998; Recht & Leslie, 1988; Schneider, Korkel, & Weinert, 1989; Taylor, 1979).

But where does this prior knowledge come from? One avenue is via life experiences. When a student visits various zoos on many occasions, he/she constructs a “zoo” schema. When reading about the zoo, the zoo schema (existing knowledge structure) is activated and this schema serves as an anchor for new information about the zoo. The concept of “zoo” is fairly concrete, tangible. The Bronx Zoo and the San Diego Zoo are specific examples of the concept of zoo. We generalize the concept of zoo from specific examples.

Not all concepts are concrete. Concepts can also include ways of thinking, feeling, or behaving, e.g., democracy, conflict, exploration, justice, migration, or adaptation (Walker, 2009). Specific examples of the concept of exploration include Sally Ride and space exploration, Columbus and his discoveries, Robert Ballard and his exploration of the Titanic, and famous archeologists and their specific investigations. Again, students need specific examples in order to generalize the abstract concept of exploration.

Consider the historical period prior to the American Revolution, information introduced in fourth and fifth grades. In Table 1 below, some specific topics and events are given in the left column and the recurring concepts are listed in the right column. The abstract concepts in the right column are generic ideas generalized from the specific examples in the left column.

Table 1: Topics and events with associated concepts

Specific Topics and/or Events	Concepts
French and Indian War	Conflict; treaties; compromise
Stamp Act, Sugar Act, tea tax	Taxation
Yelling "No Taxation without representation!"	Protest
Sons of Liberty; burning down tax collectors' homes; tossing tea into harbor	Rebellion
Refusing to purchase things from Britain	Boycott
Throughout the period	Independence; democracy; freedom; liberty; colonization; representative government

These concepts recur, but not only during history instruction, throughout life. If learned deeply, students will be able to access these concepts to use as prior knowledge when learning new content. Notably, if students remain either unaware of the concept/s or have had no experience with the concept/s, their comprehension of the text will be hindered.

An instructional model: We have a dilemma. How do we teach content that will eventually become the prior knowledge needed for new learning? Below, I provide a model to guide the planning process.

1. Identify concept/s: Identify concepts within the topics or events. Determine students’ understanding, as well as their misconceptions, of the key concepts that will be encountered during instruction.

2. Plan for depth and breadth: Depth is needed for schema development. Breadth is needed for transfer. Depth involves teaching so that students understand the concept well and can utilize it in new contexts. Breadth involves providing varied experiences within the concept in order to promote transfer to new contexts.

For instance, when teaching exploration, provide in-depth instruction and experiences with exploring, and then orchestrate instruction that exposes students to varied instances of explorers and exploration. Begin instruction with a known or familiar event (Columbus). Then extend to other types of exploration, providing specific instruction concerning similarities and differences among different explorers. By linking historical explorers to present-day explorers, students’ knowledge of exploration will extend beyond their limited understanding that explorers were people from centuries ago.

3. Locate material to teach the concept: Once the concept is identified, locate material to teach the concept. Select books and other resources that expose students to various situations of the same concept in order to teach for transfer. Learning can be enriched and deepened when taught with children’s literature and biographies. Additionally, literature serves as a common classroom experience to refer to throughout the unit. For instance, reading aloud a trade book about a child immigrating or sharing a book about a child escaping slavery through the Underground Railroad provide foundations to build upon.

4. Determine essential question/s: Let the students help you form these questions. Essential questions keep the unit focused. These questions are pertinent to the “big ideas” that will be encountered throughout a unit of study. Encourage students’ questions about the concept and use these to generate essential questions concerning the big ideas. During instruction, return to the questions so that students recognize how each lesson pertains to the big ideas.

For an immigration unit, consider questions such as, “Why do people move?” “How do they get there?” “How do they assimilate?” “Where do they come from and where do they go?” provide an anchor for each lesson.

5. Vocabulary: Teach vocabulary associated with the concept and revisit this vocabulary often and throughout the unit. Beyond the obvious words taught throughout an exploration unit (e.g., explore, discover, journey, investigate), include other words pertaining to character feelings and traits (e.g., tenacious, risk-taking, adventurous, courageous, intrepid, resolute) and modes of transportation (e.g., submarine, rocket, ship, Conestoga wagon).

6. Plan authentic activities and establish a purpose: Build background knowledge by allowing students opportunities to experience the concepts, while making direct connections to the to-be-learned content. One thing we can count on is that students’ authentic experiences can serve as conceptual prior knowledge. These experiences involve exploration, invention, compromise, conflict, community building, representative government, democratic leadership, and economic decisions. They include observing cycles and adaptation, creating habitats, and experiencing motion and velocity.

In the classroom, utilize familiar experiences or create common experiences to anchor subsequent learning (e.g., designing an exploration scenario; posing a dilemma in need of an inventive solution; introducing classroom elections and government; taxing students). Additionally, establish a genuine purpose for the unit such as preparing students to interview a present-day inventor, explorer, elected official, or tax collector.

These activities, in addition to reading children’s literature, provide common classroom experiences for instruction, as well as the prior knowledge needed for new learning to take hold.

Basal reading programs: If utilizing a basal reading program, the thematic unit can be enriched in similar manner. Each unit is based on a conceptual theme. Identify or modify questions provided by the publisher, and/or develop essential questions based on students’ questions. Introduce key concept vocabulary beyond the story vocabulary. Locate relevant children’s books including chapter books beyond the weekly story selections, and begin, intentionally, to teach concepts for transfer.

(Click "Read more" for the references)