• before 7

Small classroom for children with special needs.   

Box in the classroom with small toys(figures and all kinds of small objects). The children love to examine the box an play with it.

I asked two children (age of 7) if it would be possible to sort all the objects in three groups. I provieded three small boxes to sort the toy in.

Both children have problems with concentration. One of the child has difficulty with communication and they both have problems with cooperation work. Both have a poor vocabulary and they have difficulties with using adjectives to define things.

The children began working separately. One child decided to pick up from the big box all objects which where round and the other child decided to find all the figures to put in another  box.

Then the second child decided to create a new group called iron and without asking. The first child agreed and started to work with the second one.

Troubles began when out of the big box came a thing that both could be iron and a figure.

They didn´t agree and both could justify their choice very well, using the right words to substantiate their choice. 

Now there was still something left in the box and the kids were in trouble over how it would be possible to classify the rest, until one child came up with that idea to change the name of the figure box and call it the toy box. Then they put what was left over in that group.

When the project was finished, the children had been working together . They had exchanged views , and argued for their cases using the appropriate words. They had also maintained concentration throughout the work.

The aim of the sorting task was to support the children to work together and to interact while they where working.