Fresh Ideas for Getting Students Into Groups

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Fresh Ideas for Getting Students Into Groups

• Alice Goldstein
• aliceg_at_clackamas.edu
• Molly Williams
• mollyw_at_clackamas.edu
• Clackamas Community College

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Rationale

• Builds community
• Lowers affective filter
• Ensures more talk time by more students
• Prevents domination by a few vocal students
• Prevents perceived ownership of specific seats

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• Allows students to interact with a variety of
  other students
• Students must negotiate more meaning
• speaking with students from a variety of language
  backgrounds
• Ensures that all students are included in the
  activities
• Gets students out of their seats and gets the
  blood flowing to their brains

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Types of Groupings

• Quick and easy groupings
• Deck of cards, tables numbered
• Match picture with the word
• Students take a card as they enter and sit at the
  appropriate table.
• Pre-assigned table groups for a week/unit based
  on teacher determined criteria
• Groupings where the content matches the lesson
  outcome

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Line Up

• Line up by how long youve been in the ESL field.
• Ways to form partners
• Fold the line.
• Count off to form heterogeneous groups
• Figure out how many people you want in each
  group.
• Divide the number of participants by that number.
• Count off by the answer.
• Comprehension check

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Chat Card

• Useful for
• Brainstorming
• Discussion
• Practicing grammatical forms
• Review
• Builds in individual accountability
• Students have to be good listeners.

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Chat Card1. _________________2.
_________________3. _________________

• 1. Ask partner number 1 What are some
  objections that students have to getting into
  groups?
• 2. Ask partner number 2 What are some
  obstacles that teachers have to group work?
• 3. Tell partner number 3 about the answers that
  you heard to the above two questions.

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Eternal Mingle

• Alternative to a Conversation Matrix or Find
  Someone Who
• Doesnt require writing
• Gives students an opportunity to practice many
  questions and answers with a wide variety of
  partners

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Eternal Mingle

• Write questions equal to the number of students
  you expect.
• Cut the questions into strips.
• In class, give each student one strip.
• Direct students to find a partner, ask and answer
  each others questions, and then trade slips and
  find a new partner.
• Demonstrate for the class!

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Ideas for Use of Eternal Mingle

• Warm-up Activity
• first day
• Review conversations questions from a unit
• Practice modals of advice
• I lost my wallet. What should I do?
• You should
• Practice particular question types and answers.
• Are you married?
• Can you type?
• Have you ever had the flu?
• Did you drive to school today?

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Picture Jigsaw Puzzles

• Get pictures relevant to the lesson.
• Paste them onto card stock or laminate them.
• Cut them into pieces that are equal to the size
  of the groups that you want.
• Direct students to find their partners to form a
  whole picture.
• What if theres not the right number of students?
• extra pieces on a table

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Stonehenge
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Modals of Certainty

• Students read about the mysteries.
• Write sentences using modals of certainty in the
  past.
• It could have been aliens.
• It might have been a religious place.
• It must have been built by Druids.

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• Other ideas
• pictures of a couch, bed, shower, kitchen sink
• Once in groups, brainstorm other furnishings in
  that category.
• Cut pictures in half, and form pairs.
• Use picture prompts for a group writing activity.

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Variety in Grouping Grid 25 students
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• Allows students to form groups multiple times
  without a lot of preparation.
• Students can repeat the same activity with a
  different audience.
• Use with any activity that requires questions and
  answers.
• e.g. partner introductions, speeches, dialogues,
  role plays, surveys

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Topic Circles

• Decide on categories/topics for the circles.
• food groups
• fruit/vegetable/dairy/meat
• grammatical structures
• definite/indefinite article rules
• verb tenses
• Students use higher order thinking skills to
  decide which wedges are in the same category.
• Put extra wedges on a table.

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Once in groups,

• give them another activity related to the topic.
• brainstorm
• worksheet
• grouping grid

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Mollys Survey Results

• Advanced Grammar
• end of 7th week
• Various grouping strategies had been used
  throughout the term.

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Comments

• I prefer the lectures maybe only because it is
  something more familiar to me, but group
  activities is good way to learn. Everybody will
  get a chance to participate when is not available
  in lecture.
• I learn to use new words in different situations
  when we do group activities. In addition, it is
  very interesting to work with different student
  each time.

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• I dont always like writing notes. I like meeting
  new people and finish word sentences together.

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Yes

• get to know other people
• I can learn more information from different
  students.
• I can learn new idea from them, and we can create
  our friendship more closely.
• It can be fun.

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No

• Sometime we just talk about something else
  instead of what is suppose to be discuss.
• I am so shy that I always feel scare when working
  with different students, but not woman.

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Students choose partners.

• Because sometimes it is difficult to work with
  some students.
• I get to sit next to my friend for several
  months.
• Since we choose our close friend, it easy to work
  with.
• I like my partner and feel comfortable to work
  with her.

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The teacher chooses partners.

• I like it when the teacher puts us in partners
  because I can work with different people, instead
  of only work with my friend.
• Its a way that I respect the teacher decision.
• If I would choose my own partner, I would choose
  those who are very active during the class. When
  the teacher puts me with a partner, he or she
  could be someone whom I would never choose.
• It doesnt matter with who I get to be with. Im
  a very free mind person - anything works.

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How do you feel when the other students in the
group know more or less than you?

• Its OK because we are all learning.
• If they know more than me, I ask them for help.
  If they know less than me, I explain to them. (10
  similar comments)
• That will encourage or motivate me to do more for
  myself to be like him or her, and I will
  understand that everything is possible.
  Therefore, I will get and become more confident.

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Other comments

• Sometimes changing partners is good for health
  (have to do exercise).
• Sometimes group partners are good because we
  learn some new things from them.

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Discussion

• How can you use these grouping strategies in your
  classes?

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References

• Get Into Groups Made More Efficient and Effective
• Kitty Purgason, Biola University
• TESOL 2007
• Making Groupwork Work
• Sarah Lynn, Pearson Longman
• Electronic newsletter, September 2009