word sorts

Bud, Not Buddy by Christopher Paul Curtis is a class favorite. Its a story about an orphan trying to find his father. After we read the first few chapters I did an activity called a word sort. I put a list of words having to do with the story on the board. The kids have to sort them by putting them in the appropriate column: character, setting, problem, solution. This is interesting because sometimes the children don't agree where the word should go. Often a word can go in more than one place. For example, some children put the depression as the setting (because it is the time the story takes place in.) Other children put the depression as part of the problem. This leads to awesome class discussion...higher order thinking takes place. You can do this activity with trade books, picture books, and Trophy stories. It applies to virtually anything fiction. It is also a good vocabulary building exercise. Another option would be to have the kids make a word sort to be used by classmates. Christine