Selecting Partners and Groups
February 11, 2009
"I teach foreign languages, so I use interactive groups very frequently. I have several methods for organizing. First, I bought some poker chips at the local dollar store. There are four colors and about thirty chips of each color. I numbered each chip from 1-30 making four different colored sets. Upon entry, I pass out chips with the different numbers. For example, in a class of 18 in which I need to do paired activities, I pull 1-9 green and 1-9 white. The different colors with the same number pair up. I can create groups of up to four children each. I also use the chips as ways of getting students to answer questions. I draw chips and match the number to the student number in my gradebook. So far, this chip method works very well. I can also select specific partners (weak and strong) by selecting my chips secretly."
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