About this activity
Sixteen Spanish words sorted into four categories: perro, gato, caballo and pájaro into animales; manzana, pan, leche and arroz into comida; camisa, zapatos, gorra and pantalón into ropa; carro, autobús, avión and bicicleta into transporte. Semantic categorisation is one of the few language targets that transfers cleanly across languages, which makes a Spanish-language board genuinely useful rather than a translated one.
How to use it in a session
Sort first, then ask for a fifth member of each category — that generative step is where the semantic network shows itself, and it is much harder than sorting. If the student is bilingual, ask for the category name in both languages: a student who has animals and not animales has the concept and a vocabulary gap, which is a different finding from a student who has neither. Ten minutes covers all sixteen with the generative extension.
What to listen for
Watch for sorting by association instead of category. A student who puts leche with animales because milk comes from a cow has reasoned rather than categorised, and that is worth acknowledging before redirecting. Notice which category is weakest — transporte usually has the thinnest vocabulary for young children, since the words are less frequent in home talk than food and clothing.
Carrying it home
Categories are easy to practise while shopping or putting laundry away, in whichever language the family uses at home. Naming the group as well as the item — esto es ropa — is the part that does the work.
Questions
- Is this activity in Spanish?
- Yes, the words and categories are Spanish. This page is in English so an English-speaking clinician can find and evaluate it, but the board itself is Spanish throughout.
- Do I need an account?
- No. It plays free in the browser, with no login and no card.
- Can I use this with a bilingual student?
- Yes, and asking for the category name in both languages is informative — it separates a conceptual gap from a vocabulary gap in one language.