Sorting Activities for Teachers
Download printable sorting activities to help your elementary students practice grouping different items into categories.
With activities aligned with the Common Core curriculum and editable options, this teacher resource collection is stocked with hundreds of resources perfect for elementary and middle school teachers,
Each sorting and grouping resource in this teaching resource collection has been created by a teacher, and each resource has undergone a rigorous review by the teachers on the Teach Starter team to ensure it's ready to download and use in your classroom.
Choose from sorting activities for math, ELA, science or social studies with printable and digital options available! This collection also includes sorting activities that can be used for whole class, group or independent tasks.
Curious about how our teacher team uses sorting activities to keep kids engaged and make learning more fun? Read on for a primer!
What Are Sorting Activities?
Let's start with a definition. When we talk about sorting activities at Teach Starter, we're referring to hands-on activities for students that require them to identify, sort, and group different items into alike categories.
This tests recognition and helps students develop their problem-solving skills.
Are you mostly familiar with sorting activities for preschool or kindergarten? We have those, but you'll also find activities designed for older students from 1st and 2nd grade all the way up through 5th and 6th grade.
The goal is to strengthen students' comparison skills and deepening their understanding of a particular topic by sorting cards, playing games and often matching items.
- Free Plan
Simple Sentence Building Activity - Caterpillar
Use this simple sentence building activity in the form of a caterpillar to have students identify the parts of a simple sentence.
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Poetry Match Game - Elements of Poetry Activity
Practice identifying poetic elements in examples of poems with a poetry sorting activity for fourth grade and fifth grade.
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First, Then, Finally Sort and Writing Template
Help your students sequence ideas for a narrative story with these narrative element prompts and a First Then Finally Writing Template.
- Free Plan
Forms of Energy Sorting Activity
Help students identify the different forms of energy with this set of 24 sorting cards.
- Free Plan
Percent Decimal Fraction Worksheet
Download this percent decimal fraction worksheet to give your students hands-on practice matching fraction, decimal, and percent equivalents.
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Five Senses Sorting Activity
Explore the five senses with your little learners using a printable 5 Senses Science Sorting Activity.
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Vowel Teams Sort OA, OW, and OE
Decode words with "oa", "oe", or "ow" long "o" vowel teams using 18 picture cards with sorting mats.
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Vowel Teams Sort EE, EA, and EY
Decode words with EE, EA, or EY long "e" vowel teams using 18 picture cards with sorting mats.
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Forgiving Friends – Character Education Activities
Use these character education activities to encourage students to maintain and repair friendships by forgiving others.
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Affixes Word Building Puzzle Activity
Build words with affixes with a pack of printable word-building puzzles.
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Hunting for Heat Sources Activity
Identify heat sources in the world around you with a printable Hunting for Heat Sources activity sheet.
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Complete Sentence vs Fragment Sentence Sort
Make sentence structure lessons engaging and hands-on with this playful Complete Sentence vs Fragment sorting activity.
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Sentence Building Cards and Mat
Use these Sentence Building Cards with Mat to explore the main features of a simple sentence with your Kinder students.
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Big Problem or Little Problem? – Sorting Activity
Use our Big Problem vs. Little Problem activity cards and worksheets to help your students learn to manage peer relationships in the classroom.
- Free Plan
Rounding Whole Numbers Worksheets
Share these rounding whole numbers worksheets with your students so they can cut-and-paste their way to understanding rounding.
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Uses of Materials Sorting Activity
Explore the materials objects are made of with a fun sorting activity for students.
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Verb Tense Regular and Irregular Sorting Activity
Help students understand the difference between a regular and irregular verb tense group with this hands-on verb sorting activity.
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Parts of Speech Word Cards Sorting Activity
Engage your students with this parts of speech group activity where they sort 112 word cards into categories (nouns, verbs, adjectives, adverbs, coordinating conjunctions or prepositions).
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Jack and the Beanstalk Retelling Activity Cards
Teach your students about retelling with this set of sequencing cards for Jack and the Beanstalk.
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Create a Silly Story – Sorting Activity
Explore story characters, settings, problems and solutions by creating a silly story!
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Word Building Bricks - Prefixes, Suffixes, and Roots Activity
Build, read and write multi-syllable words using prefixes, suffixes, and base words with a fun word-building literacy activity.
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Is It Magnetic? Sorting Activity
Use this sorting activity when classifying objects as magnetic or not magnetic.
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Presidents' Day Matching Activity
A matching activity to use around Presidents' Day or Independence Day.
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Rotation vs. Revolution – Sorting Activity
Determine if examples are due to Earth’s rotation or revolution with this sorting activity.
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Mixtures and Solutions Sort
Distinguish between mixtures and solutions with this 24-card sorting activity.
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Equivalent Fractions - Cookie Jar Sorting Activity
Review equivalent fractions with this whole-class sorting activity that gets students moving and simplifying!
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Communication in the Past and Present- Sorting Activity
A fun sorting activity for students to identify old and new communication devices.
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Effects of Physical Location Sort
Help children learn how the environment affects those that live in a specific area with a sorting activity.
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Odd and Even Number Sort
Sort even and odd numbers with this engaging task‑card activity that helps teachers confidently reinforce number concepts while keeping students motivated and on task.
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How to Wash Your Hands - Sequencing Cards
A set of 8 cards showing the steps for how to wash your hands properly
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Transportation Time Machine - Past and Present Transportation Sorting Activity
A fun sorting game for students to identify past and present modes of transportation.
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Compound Sentence Strip Activity
Use these simple sentences and coordinating conjunctions to help students practice forming compound sentences.