Matching and Sorting Board

Matching is to find if objects are alike or different.

Sorting is to discover rules for organising objects. The most common categories are sorting by:

• colour
• shape
• size
• number

 

What is MATCHING and SORTING?

The process of looking at an object, comparing its various qualities and then matching and grouping it with other objects with the same qualities, is the first step in applying logical thinking to objects. This skill can later be applied to sorting data and study methods.

Different senses can be used to sort items, touch (soft, smooth, rough, etc.), smell (pleasant, unpleasant), olfactory (sweet, sour, etc.), hearing (animals/vehicles, metal/wood, etc.) and sight (colour, shape, number, etc.).

What is the purpose of Neuro Dynamix Matching and Sorting Board?

The purpose is to develop the necessary skills to sort through sensations, impressions, objects and data to organise and regulate the learning environment and provide a sense of control.

In the Neuro Dynamix programme, sorting is a pre-writing and pre-reading skill as it develops the learner’s ability to reason on an abstract level in readiness for mastering the abstract letter symbols of language.

Suggested Mind Moves activities before the Neuro Dynamix Matching and Sorting Board:

Mouse Pad The learner needs to focus on his thumb held at elbow distance from the eyes. He then moves the thumb upwards, first around the left eye and then around the right eye outlining the shape of an infinity sign. Repeat five times. He now must swop hands and repeat the same process, always first drawing a circle around the left eye and then around the right eye. This move stimulates the visual, auditory and kinaesthetic receptive ability while crossing the midline to integrate the left and right parts of the brain and body. It develops eye-hand coordination and visual integration. >> Watch Video

Palm Stretch Ask the learner to extend the fingers as wide as possible for a count of eight, then relax. Make a tight fist, hold for a count of eight and relax. This move improves muscle tone in the hands, penmanship, fine motor control and bilateral integration. It also promotes fluent speech. >> Watch Video

 

 

Suggested activities for the Neuro Dynamix Matching and Sorting Board:

The Neuro Dynamix Sorting Board comes with a pair of tweezers and objects to sort (textures, cubes, shapes and letters). Use what is available in your environment to add variety: colourful shapes, bottle tops, different kinds of leaves, twigs and small stones.

• Use the textured squares. Ask the learner to mix the textures and place them to the left of the Neuro Dynamix Sorting Board. Blindfold the learner and ask him to sort the textures and place each texture in its box.
• Use the textured squares. Use the alarm on your phone and ask the learner to mix the textures and place them to the left of the Neuro Dynamix Sorting Board. Now blindfold the learner and ask him to sort the textures and place each texture in its box. Time the learner. Repeat this activity a few times over a few days to see if the learner becomes more proficient at matching and sorting.
• Use the textured squares and the tweezers. Ask the learner to mix the textures and place them to the left of the Sorting Board. Use the tweezers between their thumb and index finger to sort the textures, match and group them in the boxes. Sort the textures together and put them away.
• Use the textured squares, the tweezers and the two clocks. Place the static clock to the right of the working clock at eye level. Set the static clock five minutes ahead of the current time. This allows the learner to take five minutes to complete the activity. They constantly need to look up and compare the clocks. Ask the learner to mix the textures and place them to the left of the Neuro Dynamix Sorting Board. Use the tweezers between their thumb and index finger to sort the textures and match and group them in the boxes.
• Use the cubes and ask the learner to mix the cubes and place them to the left of the Neuro Dynamix Sorting Board. Sort the cubes, match and group them in the boxes.
• Use the cubes, the tweezer and the two clocks. Place the static clock to the right of the working clock at eye level. Set the static clock for five minutes ahead of the current time. This allows the learner to take five minutes to complete the activity. They constantly need to look up and compare the clocks. Ask the learner to mix the cubes and place them to the left of the Neuro Dynamix Sorting Board. Use the tweezers between their thumb and index finger to sort the cubes, match and group them in the boxes, put them away.
• Use the textures, cubes, tweezers and the two clocks. Place the static clock to the right of the working clock at eye level. Set the static clock for 10 minutes ahead of the current time. This allows the learner to take ten minutes to complete the activity. They need to look up and compare the clocks. Stop when they look the same. Ask the learner to mix the textures and cubes and place them to the left of the Neuro Dynamix Sorting Board. Use the tweezers between their thumb and index finger to sort the textures and cubes according to colour in the boxes. Sort the cubes and textures and put them away.
• Repeat the activity but adjust the time to what would be a realistic time for the learner to experience success.
• Tip the Neuro Dynamix Shape and Number Board and remove the shapes from the Neuro Dynamix Visual Motor Board. Put the boards away and mix the shapes. Encourage the learner to move the pile of shapes to the left. Place the Neuro Dynamix Shape Sorter in front of the learner. Blindfold the learner and ask the learner to start sorting and decide which shape goes where in the Neuro Dynamix Sorting Board. Place the same shapes, irrespective of size into the same box. Remove the blindfold and let the learner evaluate their performance.
• Ask the learner to stay blindfolded. Set the alarm on your phone for 1 minute. Count how many shapes the learner could organise correctly in 1 minute. Keep record of the learner’s performance and compare progress as the learner repeats the activity over a few weeks. Slow progress means the level of the activity is too high for the learner, move to an easier activity and build their skills systematically.
• While blindfolded sort the shapes into two piles: a pile for the Neuro Dynamix Shape and Number Sorting Board and a pile for the Neuro Dynamix Visual Motor Board. Return each shape to the correct board. Setting an alarm adds pressure, sometimes it turns a challenging activity into a frustrating activity. Avoid frustration, it tends to be de-motivating. Both time and the number of objects handled within a specific time offer a measurable benchmark to record progress.
• The same activity can be done using the static and working clocks. This is appropriate for a ‘beginner sorter’. Place the working clock in front of the learner and the static clock to the right next to the working clock. Set the static clock for 5 minutes ahead of the current time and tell the learner to stop when the hands on both clocks look the same.
• A learner needs to discover that the same objects can belong to different groups. This skill will be helpful when they start writing and reading and discover that one letter can make more than one sound, or can combine with other sounds to make a new group of sounds. Colourful shapes work well for this activity when the learner sorts according to colour and thereafter according to shape.
• Encourage the learner to choose objects to sort, decide how to sort them and explain why they decided to sort them like that. Sweets are not a healthy choice but it is a fun way to teach a complex concept. If you have Smarties, Jelly Tots and Sour Worms, the learner can sort according to kind, according to colour, according to shape, according to like and dislike, according to smooth or sugar-coated, etc.

Use the tweezers as often as possible to sort. It develops thumb-finger opposition in readiness for a perfect pencil grip.

A direction is the general line that someone or something is lying or moving or pointing or facing.

Looking up stimulates the visual part of the brain, but only if the eyes move and not the head.

Continue to repeat the posture rhyme to encourage the learner to use the most energy and concentration sufficient posture.

To be ready to write and read a learner’s vocabulary should include words such as left, right, top, bottom, above, below, beside, under, around, over, between, through and behind.

A learner with a directionality problem has difficulty dealing with directions of objects in relation to self, such as “to my right,” “to my left,” “above me,” “below me,” etc. Such a learner has difficulty following directions on paper-pencil tasks such as “write your name in the top right-hand corner,” “draw a line under the word ______”. He may also confuse letters like b and d, numbers like 17 and 71, or write backwards, from right to left, the letters appearing like ordinary writing seen in a mirror.

EDUBLOX

What skills relate to the Neuro Dynamix Matching and Sorting Board?

• Fine motor control
• Visual perception
• Logical thinking
• Abstract thinking
• Analysis and synthesis
• Pre-writing skill
• Pre-reading skill
• Recognising patterns.

A learner who has developed good comparing, matching, sorting and grouping skills can:

• Compare sets for similarities and differences
• Sort and classify by various and multiple features
• Match
• Understand patterns, relations, and functions
• Understand how rules apply
• Understand how to connect new pieces of knowledge with what they already know
• Make inferences and informed decisions.

Learners who can compare, match and sort, transition easier from 3D concrete learning to 2D representational / symbolic learning (writing, reading, mathematics).