Student Groupings

There are many schools of thought on how to group students. In the first few years of my teaching career, I grouped students in even pods with 50% girls and 50% boys. At the time I thought this was my best attempt at behavior management. As I grew as a teacher I realized my groupings did not support instruction. I attended a Kagan Cooperative Learning training  in which the idea below was shared with me:

In a group of four:

The theory behind this strategy is the “low” student is surrounded by peers closest to their learning level where they will not be frustrated. This is also true for the “high” student. Thus, the “medium” learners act as a buffer zone.  Students learn a great deal from their peers and this grouping style allows each group member to learn from one another. You might think the “high” student has no one to learn from because they are the strongest learner in this group. However, many times “high” students look right to an answer or come to a conclusion and skip through all the thinking in-between. This is where the lower learners who often times learn in progressive chunks can fill in the gap and expand on the thinking. Now the “high” learner is better able to explain their idea or strategy because their peers helped them fill in the blanks. Often times, the “low” learner looks at things in a completely different way than their peers. Now students are sharing multiple strategies and cognitive processes, thus strengthening their knowledge base on a topic. Win-Win! 🙂

In addition to student groupings, naming groups can be quite fun! I allow my students to come up with a group name that represents themselves, make a sign to hang from their group materials basket, and then present their name to the class. Students love being creative and enjoy receiving instruction based on their group name (ex. Tigers, you may line up!). As I move students around in groups, I thought I might have to have a team meeting to ensure the team name still resonated with the group members. To my surprise, new additions to the group find it exciting to try out a new team name. Every quarter or so, I offer teams the opportunity to change their team name (color, mascot, sports team, etc). I have yet to have a group want to change. That tells you how much they are invested in their team representation!

Lastly, I like to place students in groups for activities in a fun way. Instead of saying “Group A” and “Group B” or “Group 1” and “Group 2,” I like to give groups names. When it is time to get into groups, I either have the groups projected on the Smart Board with the location in the room I wish for them to go:

Or I will have students line up and begin counting off based on the group names:

Lions, Tigers, Bears, Oh My!…. Lions, Tigers,

Below I have put together a list of group names I use often based on the amount of students in each group.

Please add to my list! Share below the name of the group and for how many students! Thank you 🙂

About the author, Gretchen

I am a teacher trainer and coach. Working elbow to elbow with teachers and teacher leaders to ensure instructional proficiency and student achievement soar lights me up. We have a real need in our nation for strong educators to remain in the field. My blog, book, podcast, courses and instructional materials are geared towards empowering teachers (and those that lead them) to receive the support needed to grow and thrive today, tomorrow and always.

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