Graphic organizer Kindergarten Math
Braxenhall Art Room Sink: A Kindergarten Sort and Count Mat
A kindergarten sorting organizer for the art room sink: students place eight picture cards in the sink or bin column, count each column, and name the larger group.
Objectives
- Students will place each picture card in one of two given columns.
- Students will count the cards in each column and write or say the number.
- Students will tell which column holds more cards.
Vocabulary
Key words: sort, sink, bin, count
Teacher overview
This organizer is a two-column sort mat with a counting box underneath, and it follows a decision students at the fictional Braxenhall School make at the art room sink every week, which is whether to rinse something down the drain or carry it to the bin. Whatever goes down that sink leaves the building through a pipe, so paint, glue, and cooking oil are collected in a bin instead of washed away, while plain water and hand soap are fine to rinse. The mathematics is the kindergarten classification standard in its full form, since students sort into given categories, count each category, and then decide which category holds more. Teachers should read each card name aloud as students sort, and the counting box should be filled in only after every card has a home.
Organizer
Cut apart the eight cards. Put each card in one column.
| Card | Goes down the sink | Goes in the bin |
|---|---|---|
| plain water | ||
| hand soap | ||
| wet hands | ||
| paint | ||
| white glue | ||
| cooking oil | ||
| glitter | ||
| pot of dirt |
Now count the cards in each column.
| Counting box | How many cards |
|---|---|
| Cards in the sink column | |
| Cards in the bin column | |
| Which column has more |
From Water for Schools (waterforschools.org). This material is in the public domain (CC0) and may be copied, edited, and shared freely.
Completed Exemplar
| Card | Goes down the sink | Goes in the bin |
|---|---|---|
| plain water | yes | |
| hand soap | yes | |
| wet hands | yes | |
| paint | yes | |
| white glue | yes | |
| cooking oil | yes | |
| glitter | yes | |
| pot of dirt | yes |
| Counting box | How many cards |
|---|---|
| Cards in the sink column | 3 |
| Cards in the bin column | 5 |
| Which column has more | the bin column |
Three cards belong in the sink column and five belong in the bin column, so the bin column holds more. Students who match the two columns card for card will find two bin cards left with no partner, which is the difference between the groups. Glitter and dirt are the two cards most often placed in the sink column, since both look harmless in water yet settle in the pipe or travel on to the treatment plant, and a quick reminder that anything the water carries away is still going somewhere is usually enough to settle the question.
Differentiation
Support
Give these students four cards rather than eight, using plain water, hand soap, paint, and cooking oil, so the sort has one clear pair on each side. Provide a mat with a picture of a sink at the top of one column and a picture of a lidded bin at the top of the other, and let students place counters rather than glue cards down while they decide.
Extension
Ask confident students to add two cards of their own by drawing something from the art room and deciding which column it belongs in, then explaining the choice to a partner. Have them redo the counting box with ten cards and say how the answer to the last row changed.
ELL supports
Pre-teach sort, sink, and bin by walking the class to the classroom sink and naming each object and action in place, then practice count by counting the brushes in the rinse cup together. Offer the sentence frames "This goes in the ___" and "The ___ column has more," and allow students to place the card in the correct column as a complete answer without speaking.
Extensions
Post the completed class mat beside the art room sink and ask students to check it before they rinse a brush for the rest of the month. Invite the school custodian to tell the class where the sink pipe goes and what a clogged art room trap looks like, and add any new item the custodian names as a ninth card on the mat.