Animal or Plant? Living Things Sort
Sort twelve living thing names into Animal or Plant, from dog and butterfly to oak tree and apple.
Drop here
Drop here
0/12 sorted
How to run it
Before dragging, ask the student to say the word and tell you one clue: a dog moves and eats; a daisy grows in the ground. Let them place the card, then ask why it fits that bin. If they sort quickly without talking, slow down and require a reason for every third card. Six minutes is enough for all twelve with brief explanations.
Cueing ladder
Start at the top. Add support one step at a time.
- IndependentPresent the item and wait 5 seconds of quiet before helping.Log as correct
- HintGive a clue about the word's category, what it does, or where you find it.Log as cued
- Two choicesOffer two answers, the right one not always second.Log as cued
- ModelGive the answer in a sentence; the student says it back and uses it once more.Log as cued
Adjust it
Use fewer items and start with the ones the student already knows, such as 'dog' and 'butterfly'.
Ask for the word in a sentence of the student's own, or a second example from the same group.
Matching IEP goal
Given vocabulary cards, Student will name, sort or define target words in 8 of 10 opportunities across 3 consecutive sessions, given no more than an indirect cue.
Send it home through the parent portal →About this activity
Twelve living thing names sorted into Animal or Plant: dog, butterfly, goldfish, spider, robin and frog in one bin, and oak tree, daisy, carrot, cactus, fern and apple in the other. The set includes items children argue about (spider, mushroom is not here on purpose) so you can talk about how scientists group things while still using the everyday animal-or-plant language primary teachers expect. It supports category naming and explaining why a word belongs.
What to listen for
Listen for whether the student uses a stable rule (animals move, plants grow) or guesses from familiarity. Goldfish and spider are common hesitations; frog sometimes goes to Plant because of pond talk. Carrot and apple are plants that children eat, which is a different idea from animal and needs its own sentence: it grows on a plant.
Carrying it home
On a walk, name things as animal or plant and ask for a reason. Sort photos from a magazine into two piles. If the child says mushroom or bacteria, acknowledge that scientists use more bins than two, then bring it back to the school rule for this game.
What's in this activity
- Animal
- Plant
Questions
- Who is this for?
- Kindergarten through third grade students working on basic categories, science vocabulary and explaining why a word belongs in a group.
- Is a spider an animal?
- Yes. For this board, animal means living things that are not plants, matching how the category is taught in early elementary classrooms.
- Is it free?
- Yes. It plays free in the browser with no login. An account adds session data, goal scoring and assignment to a student.
Use this board with your caseload
With a free account, every correct, cued and incorrect mark is saved to the student and scored against their IEP goal, with the data written up for you. Assign it as home practice through the parent portal.
Track progress freeFree for SLPs. No card, no trial clock.