"Categories": A Word Grouping Warm-Up Activity

By Lynn King

"Categories" is a word grouping activity that is used to elicit vocabulary for review and practice. I used it occasionally as a "starter" or warm-up activity in my adult education intermediate-level ESL classes, especially when some students came late and others were always on time. Initially, the idea was to begin class on time and provide a language activity that everyone could participate in whenever they arrived and avoid interruptions or wasted wait time. The "ontimers" always knew we would begin as scheduled, and "late-comers" could join in without causing a disruption or missing too much of a lesson. In addition, because our open entry-open exit program allowed new students to enroll any time during the semester, new and returning students were always mixed and were at different points in their language learning. For some students, the activity would be practice for review, but for others both the activity and the vocabulary would be new. This activity enabled me to determine what they knew and where the gaps were.

We know that grouping words into categories is a way to help students practice and retain new vocabulary. Categorizing makes vocabulary learning more manageable by creating a kind of retrieval system—from category to specific word. It can be very useful as an aid to better reading comprehension and fluency by helping students avoid stops and starts because they think they need to look up any new word they don't know. When students can generalize by fitting a new word into a known category, they can continue reading with more comprehension without needing a precise definition and are more apt to use context to get meaning.

We know, too, that activities that reduce stress and provide social interaction are important for language learning progress, and for a healthy classroom atmosphere. This categorizing activity at the beginning of the class time provides time for students to put their personal concerns aside and begin to concentrate on speaking English and connecting with their classmates. It is quite easy to prepare and a pleasant way to begin a class.

Before students arrived, I chose the day's categories, prepared the white board, and assembled the appropriate number of colored markers—a different color for each category. Next I drew four or five columns on the white board with colored markers and labeled each column with a category. Category words usually included words for review and words more recently studied. Then, as students came in, they could stand at the board, pick up a marker, and write a word in one or more categories if they wished. As more students arrived and began to participate, lists got longer. The entire group stood around in front of the board, moving from one category to another. They didn't have to write anything if they didn't want to. They could ask others to write; they could suggest words to add to a list; they could assist others with spelling or additions. My role was to observe and encourage. Finally, after ten or fifteen minutes, I called the group to their seats and we began to look at the words in the different categories, checking spelling, pronunciation, usage, or answering any questions they may have. Students did the work of correcting, changing, or making additions while I only checked or provided a correction if necessary. Depending on how much vocabulary was elicited and discussed, the activity could take 30 minutes or so. Many students also copied the categories in their notebooks.

Categories included old and more recent vocabulary. They ranged from easy to more challenging, and from more general to more specific so that everyone felt able to participate. Examples of categories included: cardinal and ordinal numbers, fractions in words, days, months, seasons, parts of the body, colors, abbreviations, occupations, things in the classroom, rooms in the house, household tasks, clothing, fruit, vegetables, kinds of containers, employment form info, American holidays, requirements for voting or getting a driver 's license, what to say when you don 't understand, and ways to indicate "yes” or “no.”

Later, after students understood how the activity worked, a variation developed where students would create their own categories and lists that came from their own experiences and present them to the class—which often led to interesting discussions. Their categories were kept on note cards for future use. The format I suggested for their own category lists was the following:

—List 4 words; classmates guess the category: apple, grapes, orange, banana = fruit
—Name the category; classmates name 4 words: coins = penny, nickel, dime, quarter, half dollar
—Name the word that doesn't belong: eye, chin, elbow, nose, mouth. (Elbow doesn't belong because the category is…)

Word grouping by category works for both students and teachers. For students, there is an opportunity for interaction in English while providing review, repetition, and focus on vocabulary. Although the warm-up activity is rather informal in nature, it allows time for social talk as well as academic focus. Listening, speaking, reading, and writing skills are invoked, and, importantly, students learn one more way to retrieve, retain, use, and think about the English they are learning. The teacher benefits by standing back, observing student interaction, and noting what strategies students use and what gaps or deficiencies need to be addressed.



Lynn King is retired from a 30-year career in ESL including refugee, secondary, and adult education. She lives in Springfield, Illinois.