Grouping by Chance

For your next session of group discussions of teamwork, try these fun methods for grouping your students by chance:

Deck of Cards
Randomly pass out playing cards or Uno cards and have students group according to number, colour, suit, or poker hand.

Photo Credit: ClipartMountain

Picture Puzzle Pieces
Cut photos or postcards into pieces and distribute. Students with the pieces from the same picture will form a group.

Appointment Book
Give students a page out of a daily planner/appointment book. Have students make and record “appointments” with their classmates. When you call out the times, students will “meet” the people for their appointment time.

Text Reconstruction
Take texts—stories, poems, diagrams, etc. and cut them into pieces before distributing them to students. Students who have pieces of the same text will form a group.

Cast of Characters
Write down the names of characters from well-known stories on individual cards and hand them out to students. Students with the same type of character (e.g. antagonist, protagonist, etc.) will group together.

Synonyms, Antonyms, Homonyms
Write down words on individual cards and hand them out to the class. Students will find a partner whose card is a synonym, antonym, or homonym, etc. of their word.

Grouping by Chance is taken from Surviving and Thinking: Making classroom management and organization work for you and your students by Maria Carty, published by Pembroke Publishers.

Ten Ways to Read a Poem Out Loud

1.    Introduce the Poem
Leader reads aloud without displaying the poem.
Leader reads as participants follow along with their eyes.

2.    Echo Reading
Leader reads one line: the group echoes what the leader says.

3.    Alternate-line Reading
Leader reads one line, the group reads the second line; they continue alternating lines. The activity is repeated by reversing parts.

4.    Cloze Technique
Leader reads each line, omitting the final word; group joins in to say the word and complete the line.
The activity can be repeated with the leader omitting additional words.

5.    Pitch
Read the poem in unison, starting in a whisper and gradually getting louder.
Read the poem in unison, starting in a loud voice and gradually getting softer to a whisper.

Seating in the Classroom

Photo Credit: Clipart Pal

There are a few different ways of setting up seating arrangements in your classroom. The physical spacing of a classroom impacts the way students learn, interact and focus.
Different desk arrangements encourage different types of interactions between teachers and students.

Start off the year wit desk arrangements that encourage individual or partner learning to help them gain focus and the ability to work by themselves.
A few weeks later, start placing the desks in small groups of three or four people, with the desks facing each other. Sitting in groups lets students develop working relationships with a few students. But, switch the groups of students every three to five weeks, so that no one gets frustrated.

For presentations or readings, make sure there is a designated seat, podium or space for the presenter. Having a designated space for presenters indicates that the presenter has the right to the class's attention and focus. Also, having a small library and reading area is a great way to encourage and interest students in independent reading.

This information about seating and set-up in the classroom is from a section of Maria Carty's text Surviving and Thriving: Making Classroom Management and Organization Work for You and Your Students, published by Pembroke Publishers.

Encouraging Early Writing

Getting small children and younger students interested in writing can be a little tricky, but, with the right activities, it can be fun.

During arts and crafts time, encourage students to experiment with pencils, pens, crayons and paper because children like to imitate adult work. They can draw flow charts, instructions or stories. Encourage them to fill in whatever words they do know under their images.

During playtime, encourage the kids to play games that involve pretend-writing, like grocery shopping lists, letters to friends and filling in applications.

You can also try having your students dictate a few sentences of a short story while you slowly write the words for them. This way, they can see the movement that your hand makes as you write the words. They can illustrate the story and, again, fill in the words they do know under their images.

Another good method for getting younger students to learn how to write letters and words is to copy out a word, lightly, in pencil. They can then trace the letters you've written and try mimicking the shapes themselves on another line.

Word searches are quiet, individual games that can be played in the classroom and also develop their word skills. They learn to find certain letters and words and can also start to learn how to pick out smaller words within larger ones.

Based on a portion of Ready to Learn by Anne Burke, published by Pembroke Publishers.

Routine in the Classroom

Establishing a regular routine right from the beginning of the school year is very important.
A routine starts the moment students walk into class, from distributing materials and creating discussions to dealing with late students and late work.

Always start the day the same way. Have regular activities that are done in the same order each day.

Walk students through your routine on the first day of class. Show them where to sit, which materials to take out and how to start the day. Most importantly, lead by example. Stick to your schedule firmly so students know that your routine is the way the classroom is run.

Photo Credit: Clipart ETC

Another important step is planning instruction and lessons. To get ideas, talk to other teachers and meet with school staff at the beginning to each school year to review plans.

Lessons should be planned carefully so that every part of your instruction has a purpose. Establishing a regular order of classes and topics helps the students be more prepared. When introducing a new topic, bring up what the students learned the week or day before so that they have something to build off of.

If students have tasks to complete during or after the lesson, post them on the board so everyone can easily keep track of what needs to be done. At the end of a lesson or activity, remember to always leave room for group or individual discussion of lingering questions.

Another great idea is to plan each lesson so there is an opportunity for students to get up and move around, shift their focus or take a brief break every 20 minutes of half-hour. Mini breaks help students stay focused while they're working or taking notes.

This information about establishing routine is from a section of Maria Carty's text Surviving and Thriving: Making Classroom Management and Organization Work for You and Your Students published by Pembroke Publishers.