Sam's Toy Box
Sam tips out his toy box. Out come a block, spoon, jar, sock and duck.
Is there only one right way to sort them?
Page 1
Science · Grade 2 Science
Chapter 1: Properties of Materials
Pick one property and split them on it.
Sam tips out his toy box. Out come a block, spoon, jar, sock and duck.
Is there only one right way to sort them?
Make your guess to turn the page.
Still to come: 4 pages · Words to Know · What We Learned · 4 questions · Ask and Wonder
The idea this lesson is working on — Children expect every sorting to have one right answer they are trying to find. In the book the same glass jar lands in a different pile the moment the question changes. Ask: why did the jar move? Nothing about it changed; the question did. If your child asks which sorting is correct, the honest answer is both.
One question at a time — Sort on one property at a time and ask the same question of every object. Mixing questions halfway produces a muddle, and the muddle is what makes children think sorting has a right answer they are failing to find.
Try it with a real box — Buttons, a spoon, a sock, a glass, a wooden block: sort them twice on the table, by two different questions, and the idea lands in a way no picture manages.