Grouping
Students sort cards into groups you name, by dragging them. Use it for classification: physical or chemical changes, mammals or birds, nouns or verbs.
When to use it
Sorting asks students to see what a set of things has in common and where the line between two categories runs. Cards can be text or pictures, and you can have as many groups as the topic needs.
Setting it up
In a worksheet, use the + between two items, search for Grouping task and choose it.
Click the pencil on the new task and write the instruction at the top.
Under Groups, type a name for each group in Descriptive group name. Add group adds another; the arrows change the order of the groups.
Click Add item for each card, type its text or add a picture, and choose its Target group.
Click the tick.
Other settings while you edit:
Mode: Graded checks the cards against their target groups; Not graded lets students sort with no right or wrong, for opinions or a discussion starter.
Shuffle item order (on by default) mixes the cards for each student.
Mark as distractor, on a card, makes it belong to no group: the right answer is to leave it where it is.
Group picture shows an image for the group. Untick Show group name to show the picture alone; screen readers still read out the name.
What students do
Students see the cards in the Item pool and the groups next to it. They drag each card into a group, or open Move item on a card and pick the group from the list, and they can move a card back to the pool. Submitting is possible as soon as one card is placed.
In Graded mode, with Show correct answers turned on in the presentation settings, the correctly placed cards turn green after submitting and the wrong ones are marked.
Checking the answers
In Graded mode the placements are checked automatically: every card in its target group, and every distractor left in the pool, is correct; some cards right is partially correct. Not graded tasks are not checked. Open Results on the question to see where each student put each card.
Tips
Students can submit with cards still in the pool, so say in the instruction that every card has to be placed.
A distractor or two stops students placing the last cards by elimination.
Choose cards that clearly belong to one group, or include one borderline case on purpose and talk it through afterwards.