List Group Label

Who?

• List-Group-Label is a strategy that can be utilized in any grade level.

• Because the “list” portion of the activity is directed and implemented by the students, they ultimately choose the complexity of the lesson by the words they list out.

What?

• List-Group-Label was originally developed to help students deal with technical vocabulary in content areas, but also improves categorization skills.

•  It extends stimulating thoughts about a topic by analyzing and searching for topic-related patterns and relationships, and finally categorizing the words or concepts by identifying a label.

Why?

• List-Group-Label is a brainstorming activity that helps students see how words can belong in a variety of groups.

•  The strategy also activates and builds background knowledge prior to the beginning of a unit of study.

•  This strategy stimulates thoughts about a topic and strengthens students’ ability to see patterns and relationships among the topic-related items.

When?

• This strategy can be used prior to reading and after a reading.

• Prior to reading the text, the students can develop lists of words and then after more background knowledge is attained from reading the text, the students can change and improve their lists.

How?

• List:

  • Provide students with a stimulus topic.

  • Have students brainstorm a list of words they associate with it (it is usually better if the students generate their own words).

  • Record the words on an overhead, dry erase board, or chart.

    • Lists for younger students may have 10-15 words, while older students may have 25-30 words.

    • Depending on the group of students, it may be important to have the student verbally explain in a sentence how the word connects to the topic.

• Group:

  • Ask students to look for patterns and/or relationships among the words. It may be helpful to have the words separated (notecards or sticky notes) so that students can physically sort.

  • Have the students group the words based on the patterns and relationships. Write the words again on the chart, but in their groups. Words can be used in more than one group as long as an explanation can be provided.

• Label:

  • Have students examine the newly created lists and name or label the categories, based on the relationships of the words.

  • If this activity is used to precede a unit of study, have students read the selection(s) of text and then revisit the labeled groups, making additions/revisions as needed to reflect any new understandings.