Sit, Stand, Squat: Everyone will walk around the room (to music if you’d like). Once the music stops or you say, “freeze,” students will decide if they want to sit, stand, or squat. Once they make their choice, students will partner with someone who did the same action as them.

Alternatively, for a larger group suggestion, have all sitters in one group, all standers in another, and squatters together.

Inside Circle, Outside Circle: Half the group will stand in a large circle and the other half will form a smaller circle inside and facing the students in that large circle. Either play music or just have students walk around in their respective circles. When the music stops or instructor says, “freeze,” students will stop moving. The person they are facing is their partner.

Freeze Dance: Play music and have kids can dance or just walk around (they can walk or dance in slow motion if they want to!). Stop the music. Kids must high-five the person closest to them; that is their partner.

1.   Puzzle Pictures: Print as many pictures as the total number of groups you want to have of anything your kids might like (puppy, superhero, snack, etc.). Cut the picture into 4 pieces. Students will walk around to find the matching pieces to make the complete picture and form their group.

2.   Popsicle Stick Groups: Gather enough popsicle sticks for all of your students and then divide them into 4 groups—label the popsicle sticks in each group with the number 1, 2, 3, or 4. Put the labelled popsicle sticks in a cup. Students will draw out a stick, and all of the students with the same number on them will be in a group.

3.   Draw a Color: Put four strips or squares of paper of four (or the total number of groups you will have) different colors in a bag. Students will draw out a strip or square and find their group members with matching colors.

4.   Halves of sentences – To get students into pairs, the teacher chooses different sentences from the unit of the course book and writes each one on a strip of paper. Then each sentence is cut in half. Each student gets half of a sentence at random. Students get into pairs with the person with the corresponding half of the sentence.

5.   Team captains – The teacher selects some students to come to the front and be team captains. The number of team captains will depend on the required number of groups/teams. Each team captain then takes turns choosing team members. This can be done by team captains selecting who they want to be in their team or by randomly taking lollipop sticks or name cards.

6.   Clock buddies/compass partners- Use clock buddies or compass partner sheets. Students sign up to be each other’s partner. For example, on the clock face, everyone has a partner for every hour of the day. Everyone has an East or West partner. The teacher only needs to say, “find your 2:00 partner” and everyone knows what to do.

7.   This or that- Ask the class a “this or that” question (Do you like dogs or cats? Do you like winter or summer? etc.). The class splits up to opposite sides of the classroom based on their answer. (e.g., summer by the windows, winter by the coat hooks) Students then choose a partner that chose the opposite answer.

8.   According to MI:

           To create groups based on multiple intelligences, assess each student's     strengths across different intelligence types (like linguistic, logical-mathematical, spatial, bodily-kinesthetic, musical, interpersonal, intrapersonal, and naturalist) using self-assessments or teacher observation, then strategically place students in groups where their dominant intelligences can complement each other, ensuring a diverse range of abilities within each group to facilitate collaborative learning. 

9.   Mixed group

To implement mixed-ability grouping, a teacher must develop a deep level of understanding for each student. The teacher needs to know each student's background, academic abilities, and social strengths to group students effectively.

10.                 Count around the class – The teacher allocates a number to each student (e.g. 1, 2, 3, 4, 1, 2, 3, 4, 1, etc.) around the class. When all students have a number, all the students with the number 1 get into a group; all the students with the number 2 get into a group, etc.

11.                 Jigsaw

            A jigsaw group is a group of students who work together to share information and complete a task in a cooperative learning activity. The activity is called jigsaw because it's similar to fitting pieces of a jigsaw puzzle together to create a complete picture.

12.                 Inside Circle, Outside Circle: Half the group will stand in a large circle and the other half will form a smaller circle inside and facing the students in that large circle. Either play music or just have students walk around in their respective circles. When the music stops or instructor says, “freeze,” students will stop moving. The person they are facing is their partner.

Thank you for leading an insightful professional development session on Effective Group Strategies.

Your expertise and dedication to fostering collaborative learning were truly inspiring and left all teachers with practical approaches to implement in their classrooms.

We deeply appreciate the effort and passion you put into guiding us.

Best Regards,

Tanjina Hossain

IB Primary Years Coordinator

The Aga Khan Academy Dhaka