List, Group, Label
Description
In this activity, students organize vocabulary in a variety of ways to gain a deeper understanding of
academic terms (Taba. H. 1967). List, Group, Label helps students understand the relationships
between academic concepts and the meaning of academic terms. It is important for teachers to
remember to provide students with sufficient background knowledge in order to participate in List,
Group, Label.
Directions
1. Give students a list of words, or have students brainstorm a list of words related to a given
academic topic.
2. Ask students to copy the words or terms onto index cards with one card per word/ term.
Students can complete this step in groups.
3. Have students discuss the words and organize them into piles based on similarities. Each pile
must have at least two cards.
4. Have students create a label for each pile that explains how the words within that pile are
similar. Students might label by topic, by part of speech, by characteristic, etc.
5. Have students compare their labels to see how other groups organize the same information.