Pairing and Grouping

Pairing and Grouping
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Kick them out of their cliques with innovative grouping strategies.

Cooperative Learning Tips

For information on choosing students for cooperative groups, see the Education World article Let's Cooperate!-- Teachers Share Tips for Cooperative Learning.

Humming Along
Groups sing a song together.

To form cooperative groups, create sets of index cards with the titles of familiar songs printed on each. (The number of groups you want to form determines the number of different song titles.) Have each student draw a card and walk around the classroom humming the tune written on the card until he or she finds all the other students humming the same tune. (Let them know how many there will be.) When students have located their entire group, they stop humming and sing the song with words.

A Little Logic
It's funny how that happens.

Cut apart several comic strips and pass them out to students -- one pane to a student. Have students walk around the room to find the rest of their comic strips. Each completed comic strip creates a team.

Boxed Pairs
Make sure everyone works together.

If students frequently work in pairs, create a chart listing students' names across the top and along one side. When two students work together, have them initial the box at which their names intersect. Explain to students that all boxes must be initialed by the end of the year.

- See more at: http://www.educationworld.com/a_curr/management_tips/management_tips028.shtml#sthash.pfyauM8a.dpuf

Here are some useful phrases for managing pair and group work:
We’re going to divide the whole class into pairs.
You are a pair.
You are A, and you are B.
All the As, please raise your hands.
You are a group of five.
Okay, now we’re going to play the game in groups.
Make three groups please.
Three people in each group!
Can you make a group of four?
Is everybody in a group?
Rina, can you work with Ayesah please.
Now the person next to you is your partner.
Anwar, Karim and Arif, you can make a group of three.
Work with your partner and ask and answer these questions.
Turn your chairs around and work with …
Turn to the person next to you.
Turn to the person behind you.
Now check your answers with your partner.
Now discuss in your groups.

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And more

 Make groups of four.
 Move your desks into groups of four people.
 Turn your desks around.
 Make a horseshoe shape with your desks.
 Make a circle with your desks.
 Make a line of desks facing each other.
 Make groups of four desks facing each other.
 Sit back to back.
 Work together with your friend.
 Find a partner.
 Work in pairs/threes/fours/fives.
 Work in groups of two/three/four.
 I want you to form groups.
 Form groups of three.
 Here are some tasks for you to work
on in groups of four.
 There are too many in this group.
 Can you join the other group?
 Only three people in each group.
 I asked for four people to a group.
 Everybody work individually.
 Work by yourselves.
 Work independently.
 Ask your neighbour for help.
 Work on the task together.
 Ask other people in the group.
 Ask others in the class.
 Interview someone else.
 Ask everyone in the class.
 Stand up and find another partner.
 Have you finished?
 Do the next activity.
 Move on to the next activity

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