4 Tips for Working with Groups in Your Classroom

When I was a young teacher, I was committed to using groupwork in my classroom; but I didn’t know how to use groups effectively. Let’s look at four tips for using group work. 

How to Group Students

Flexible groupings are foundational in an effective classroom. There are four main types of sizing for groups. Each has a different purpose, and by blending them together, you can enhance learning in your classroom. 

There are also different types of groups in terms of who is chosen for each group. You’ll want to choose how you group students based on what you want to accomplish instructionally. 

Types of Grouping

• Knowledge-Based Groups
• Interest Groups
• Readiness Groups
• Random Groups
• Pairs
• Other Groups Based on Learning Portrait

Roles for Group Members

A critical step is structuring your group activity, so that each student has a specific way to participate. In tiered groupings, or when the teacher is facilitating a group, you may not need to assign roles, but when students are working in interest-based groups, maker spaces, or other choice-based groups, you will need to either assign roles or allow students to choose or create a role. The roles may change depending on your assignment. For example, if students are working on a lab experiment, you will need a safety monitor and a materials manager. However, if your project is developing a webpage, you might prefer a webmaster and a layout editor.

Sample Roles and Responsibilities

• Facilitator—Leader of the group; facilitates action
• Recorder—Records comments and/or work
• Reporter—Reports work to the entire group
• Materials Manager—Collects and distributes materials
• Timekeeper—Keeps the group working within time limits
• Mathematician—Completes computations
• Researcher—Facilitates research activity
• Summarizer—Summarizes work and may report to the class
• Fact checker—Checks work from the group
• Reflector—reflects on comments from the group, asks probing questions
• Designer—Designs the project
• Creator—Creates or builds the design

I encourage you to rotate the roles within the team for different assignments so that one or two students do not dominate the group activities. You should also take time to teach students about their roles and responsibilities.

Rules

In addition to your standard classroom rules, you may need a couple of simple rules that are specific to group activities. I found that I needed to discuss my expectations for the noise level of the classroom. For example, I wanted my students to talk to each other. But they needed to talk to their group members, not the entire class. You might come up with a catchy way to describe an appropriate noise level, such as “bees buzz.” Bees buzz when they are being productive (making honey), but they don’t shout. I was in another classroom in which the teacher talked about using your “12-inch voice.” Her students knew that meant that people in the group (within a foot} should be able hear you, but not those outside the group (more than a foot away).

I also used a rule called “ask three before me.” This one works when your students are in groups of four. It simply means that a student should ask other group members for help before asking the teacher. This encourages students to look to each other for support instead of always looking to the teacher first. It’s up to you to decide what rules you need in your classroom. Be sure your students understand your expectations, and monitor the groups continuously to ensure that all students have an opportunity to participate.

Finally, you may want to use talking chips, a strategy in which you give each student three chips or tokens. Each time a student speaks, they must turn in their chip (in a bag in the center of the group). When each student is out of chips, they are not allowed to talk until all other students have turned in their chips.

Teachers Angie Krakeel and Kelly Zorn shared a set of procedures they use with their students to facilitate work in classroom zones, which can be easily adapted to groups. 

Policies and Procedures for Zones

• When we are in zones, do not interrupt Mrs. Zorn or Ms. Krakeel.
• If you have questions:
  • First ,try to find the answer on your own. Read!
  • Second, find help from others in your zone.
  • Third, write the question or problem down to be addressed by us during a transition time.

Transitions should happen quickly. When time is up, time is up. You will have at least one other opportunity to complete the task you are working on. Clean up your area, and quietly move to your next zone.

Transitions

Because your students will be moving into a variety of groupings, you will want to have routines for smooth transitions. First, you need to determine a set of routines, teach them to students, and then regularly reinforce them.

Sample Transitional Routines

• Once you hear the signal, move to your assignment space. When you hear the second signal, you should be in your space.
• Toward the end of the work session, you’ll hear a signal that indicates it is time to finish. Two minutes later, you’ll hear the signal to move to your next location.
• Although moving around the classroom can be noisy, there is an acceptable level of noise. If you see the lights flicker, take it down a notch.

A Final Note

Facilitating student groups can be effective, or a nightmare. It is more effective if we plan groups carefully in terms of size and purpose, and create roles, rules and transition guidelines for students.