Size of the Problem Visual Sorting Board Editable

About this resource

EVERYTHING INSIDE — 23 pages, 221 type-in fields

• 3 size cards (Small, Medium, Big), each with its own concrete anchor picture on a size scale
• A Reference Chart: all three sizes taught together on one poster, each with how long it usually takes and who it usually takes to fix, plus a "look at the clues first" prompt and an at-a-glance summary table
• A Sort Board: a look-at-the-clues card (three concrete questions before sorting) plus three sort columns, and a quick-sorts table to log situations before the full data page
• Two desk-size copies of the sort board on one sheet, for a folder, a small group, or a second desk
• Every reference chart and size card printed twice — a full-color set and a black-and-white ink-saver set
• A detail table naming, in separate columns, what each card's picture shows and what it is for
• 12 blank situation cards with a type-in line, to sort any real situation in your own words — the actual situations a team sorts are never a pre-made picture bank
• A how-to page: before the first sort, the three moves every time, choosing a size, when a situation doesn't fit cleanly, writing down what changes
• A Sorting Practice Log (16 rows: one row per situation — sorted independently, with a prompt, or not sorted)
• A weekly roll-up (8 weeks) with a percent-independent graph
• A filled example — an invented student, one day on the log and three weeks on the roll-up, every number re-counted from its own row
• A family page with a small take-home size-card set and a week of home practice tracking
• A hand-off page so a paraprofessional or a general education teacher runs the same chart and board the same way
• A phrase bank: 22 lines in 6 groups (spoken words for each sort, written starters for the log, the roll-up and the note home)
• A storage and binder label sheet: 11 labels
• Start Here, a contents page with page thumbnails, and a "what's next" back page

Most size-sorting decks on this shelf are static task cards with no board and no data behind them. This one matches three size cards to a sort board — a look-at-the-clues step (what happened, how long it lasted, who was part of fixing it) plus three sort columns — with a practice log and a weekly roll-up behind it, so sorting a situation turns into a line on a page a case manager can bring to a meeting.

The Three Sizes And Their Anchor Pictures

• Small — an ant, one of the smallest animals on the chart, standing for the smallest size on the scale
• Medium — a dog, a mid-sized animal, standing for the middle size on the scale
• Big — an elephant, one of the largest animals on the chart, standing for the largest size on the scale

The three sizes are an abstract scale with no picture that IS the size; each card instead carries a plain, concrete anchor animal graded from smallest to largest, and the printed word underneath is what carries the meaning. Every picture was rendered and read at print size in color AND in the black-and-white set before it went on a card, confirmed distinct from the other two. Cards are 2 inches square. What makes a situation small, medium or big on this file's chart is written entirely in this file's own words, around three observable signals — what happened, how long it took to pass, and who was part of fixing it — never a claim about how big a reaction should be.

What This Is, And What It Is Not

It is a fillable PDF: type into the sort board, the practice log, the roll-up, the family page, the hand-off page and the blank situation cards, or print and use a pen. The chart and card pages print on cardstock or plain paper; the cards cut along dashed lines. It works offline with no account or subscription. It is NOT an editable online slideshow or word-processor document.

It is a way to sort a situation into one of three sizes using concrete clues, and keep a record of what was sorted, how. It is not a behavior plan, an eligibility tool, or a therapy protocol, and it names no clinical finding. It carries no prompt hierarchy, fading schedule or mastery rule, and it promises no outcome. Which specific situations count as which size, and what should happen next, is your own team's judgment — this file supplies the chart, the sort board, the cards, and a place to record what was sorted and how independently, nothing about which situations belong where in general. The goal line and the criterion field on the roll-up are blanks for your district's own wording and your team's own number.

Who This Is For

Special education teachers, school counselors and psychologists, paraprofessionals and case managers working on sorting problems by size with concrete language, and the families who get the home page sent home.

More In The Collection

Part of the Visual Supports Collection, alongside Self-Regulation Zones Check-In Chart and Strategy Cards; more picture-card sets are being added to the collection regularly, all on the same cards-plus-data shape. Also in the Visual Supports Collection Bundle, packaged together at 35% off buying the singles separately (each set keeps its own file).

Pictures (color pages): Noto Emoji by Google, Apache License 2.0. Pictures (ink-saver pages): Fluent Emoji, Copyright (c) Microsoft Corporation, MIT License.