Working with people is an important part of learning how to communicate in another language. Allowing our students to have a variety of partners benefits them in their quest for proficiency in the language they are learning. I try to use partners and small groups in my daily activities. And I strive to make sure students don’t work with the same partners for the entire class period. This approach to grouping students ensures that everyone has the opportunity to work with a variety of people that all have a different skill to offer in the communication process. I believe even the lowest level of learners have something to offer. After all, we must learn to communicate with people we don’t fully understand while learning to use another language.
Here are ways of grouping students so they don’t get the same partner for a month.
- Partner clocks – These are a tried and true way to get partners for communication activities. To set the appointment times up, match students by similarities. Tell students to find someone with the same color shoes, the same number of siblings, are in another class together, etc. I stick with vocabulary they know because I give the commands to partner up in ASL only. Here is an entire blog dedicated to the partner clock with a template.
- Index Cards – I like to write students’ names on an index card to use for quick partnering up and I use them as my seating charts. Every day I randomly set cards on the desks and that is the student’s warm-up partner. Later I can use another grouping activity to allow students to communicate with other partners.
- Student Choice – Of course students love this one! When I have larger projects that require time outside of the classroom, I allow students to pick their partners or small groups. Students know their schedules and who they work best with outside of the school day. This method helps prevent work not being completed. It also puts ownership on students and forces them to be responsible in their decision-making. Plus, they love to make theri own choices. Student choice is key to respect in the classroom.
- Color-Coded – This method can be done in a number of ways. You can place stickers on the desks or name cards. You can use popsicle sticks that have colored tips and have students draw a stick. Also, you can color code index cards to be randomly drawn by students or pass out the colored paper at random and have students find their partner by matching the paper.
- Apps – There are a lot of apps out there. Some are free, some charge. You can do a Google search and find a million pages of free ways to group students. Try an app like Team Shake ($.99) or Group Sort. Maybe there is one you already use and love. Share with us!
- Puzzle Pieces – This is my students’ favorite way to be partnered up or grouped. I have made puzzle pieces
for partners and puzzle pieces from famous deaf people to make groups of four. I pass out the pieces and students move around the room to find their matches then start the task I have assigned them. Students get a new partner and they get to move around the room practicing getting attention and other cultural behaviors. This is a win, win! - Birthday Buddies – Use birth months to create groups. Place students who share the same birth month in a group. If you find you have a really large group, split them up. If you have a singleton birthday month, throw them in with a smaller group. This is fun to do in the target language so students are practicing asking questions and signing the months of the year.
- Line up – I like this one because it gets students moving and I can practice commands with them. Have students create equal lines facing each other (for example you might have a large class so you need 4 lines 2 facing each other and the other 2 facing each other). The person across from the student becomes their partner. Once they figure this out, I have one row shift to the right or left to avoid friends trying to pair up.
- Stickers – This might sound a bit elementary but students like the stickers. Place the stickers under students’ chairs or on a popsicle stick and have students match stickers to find their partner. This works great for groups too.
- Decks of Cards – Glue students’ pictures on a deck of cards. Randomly select 2 cards (or how many you are wanting to be in a group) and that becomes the partners/group.
All these are super fun and easy ways to group students without doing the same thing day after day. They say variety is the spice of life. So spice up your classroom and try some different ways to group students.
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