Sorting Activities Teaching Resources
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.
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Fall Parts of Speech Sort - Nouns Verbs Adjectives
Review three parts of speech by sorting nouns, verbs, and adjectives with a parts of speech sorting activity.
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Natural Landforms Sorting Activity
Identify the major landforms of the world with a sorting activity.
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U.S. Land Features Sorting Center
Apply knowledge of the rivers, mountains, and physical features in the United States with a sorting activity.
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Procedures Do's and Don'ts
Identify proper school and classroom procedures with this sorting activity.
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Insulators & Conductors Sorting Activity
Distinguish between insulators and conductors with a picture-based sorting activity.
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Fictional Genre Activities
A set of 28 fictional genre characteristic cards to use in a sorting or scoot activity.
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Picture, Word, Letter, or Sentence – Sorting Activity
Help your students distinguish between pictures, letters, words, and sentences with this sorting activity.
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Figurative Language Sorting Activity
Explore figurative language in context with this set of 28 sorting cards.
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Word Family Sorting Activity - Set 3
A sorting activity to practice word families.
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Word Family Sorting Activity - Set 2
A sorting activity to practice word families.
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Word Family Sorting Activity - Set 1
A sorting activity to practice word families.
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Often and Sometimes Food Sorting Activity
A sorting activity to help students recognize healthy and unhealthy foods.
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Syllable Count Sorting Activity
Practice segmenting and counting syllables in words with this set of 24 picture sorting cards.
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Sort It Out! - Types of Sentences
Practice identifying the 4 kinds of sentences by sorting all 30 cards by their sentence type and missing punctuation marks.
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Big Problem or Little Problem? – Sorting Activity
A sorting activity for students to place situations in order from the littlest problem to the biggest problem.
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Above and Below the Line Behaviors - Sorting Activity
Remind students of behaviors that are "above the line", "below the line", and "bottom-line" with this sorting activity.
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1 to 20 Clothesline Number Cards
A set of number cards to use in the classroom when learning to put the numbers 1–20 in numerical order.
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Volume and Capacity Sorting Activity
A sorting activity to practice comparing the capacity of different objects.
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Understanding Mass True or False Sorting Activity
Practice the understanding of mass as a measurement with this printable mass sorting activity.
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Yes Or No? Phonics Sorting Activity
Use this phonics activity to help your students identify the different phonemes that make up a word.
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Selecting Units of Length – Sorting Activity
Use a sorting activity to help students identify lengths and distances that should be measured in centimeters, inches, feet, and miles.
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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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Unit Fraction Sorting Activity
Explore different images of unit fractions with your students in this unit fraction sorting activity with fraction word and fraction heading cards.
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Winter Survival Adaptations - Sorting Activity
Match the animals with the behavioral adaptation that helps them survive the winter in this printable animal adaptation sorting activity.
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Time Sort - Morning, Afternoon & Evening Activity
Help your students learn about different times of day (morning, afternoon, and evening) with a Times of Day Sorting activity.
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Movement of Animals Sorting Activity
Spark discussion among your students about how animals move with a fun set of animal locomotion picture cards.
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Hours, Seconds & Minutes - Estimating Time Sort
Estimate activities that take about a second, minute, hour, and week with a printable unit of time sorting activity.
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Acquired or Inherited? Trait Sort
Identify the differences between acquired and inherited traits with an engaging picture sort for 5th Grade.
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Exaggeration and Hyperbole Sorting Activity
Explore examples of hyperbole with your students using this set of 24 sorting cards perfect for your reading centers.
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Modal Language Sorting Activity
Explore examples of modal language with your students using this set of 24 sorting cards perfect for your persuasive writing unit.
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How Long Does It Take? – Sorting Activity
A set of 18 daily events for students to sort based on how long they take (second, minute, hour).
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When Does It Happen? – Sorting Activity
Identify activities that happen in the morning, afternoon, and at night with a Time of Day Sorting activity for Kindergarten students.