I have a great group of students again this year, great in so many ways. But, they are not so great at picking partner groups!
I have a number of students who always want to work with the same people, some people that are actually fought over, and some people who are never chosen.
I have tried a number of strategies, such as clock partners, but there is always someone missing…or a clock is filled out wrong…and it often takes too long.
So, I started using partner picking cards. I got an adorable set of milk and cookie ones free online.
Students pull a card out of the basket and find their number partner with the opposite item.
But there are times we need to work in groups of three. So I made these animal cards.
I call it “Lions, Tigers and Bears!” even though those are not the animal groups I have!
I like this system because I can easily change things up.
Sometimes I have them find their animal partners (group of 3 lions) and other times I call out what they need in a group (lion, monkey and an eagle).
This way we can easily jigsaw and I can hand out roles. For example all the lions collect the supplies, or all the eagles record answers, or I need all the monkeys to get together and share what they learned in their groups.
The last strategy I am using is puzzle pieces. I use this to form groups of four.
Students select a card from the basket and then form a group. Again it is really easy to assign roles using these cards or to move students around.
These strategies have really helped in my classroom this year, students are working with a variety of people and they think they are having fun!!
Need some partner grouping cards?
Here’s a quick set of keys and locks that also includes several ideas for grouping students in different ways using the same set of cards!
Enjoy!
This post originally appeared at Organized Classroom.
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