The choice of how to divide students into groups during the lesson may come from the purpose of forming groups, for example,
- by the level of performance for the distribution of tasks of different levels of complexity;
- groups in which there are students of different levels of achievement, so that the children help each other during the lesson. In this case, all groups of the same level;
- groups in which children are friendly with each other or, conversely, are at enmity.
- groups united according to the temperament of the members;
- Etc.
It is more difficult to unbiasedly divide children into groups, regardless of their qualities and preferences. Separating children randomly can be arranged in many ways. Let's take a look at some of them.
How to divide students into groups in a lesson?
- on a number of desks in the classroom;
- by option number (I and II options);
- party neighbors;
- according to the magazine (in half, through one, even-odd, etc.);
- by gender - boys, girls;
- according to the season in which the child was born (winter, spring, summer, autumn);
- by date of birth (even, odd number);
- by the first letter of the name or surname (vowels - consonants, voiced - deaf, etc. - relevant for Russian language lessons);
- calculation by numbers (first-second-third, etc.). The calculation is based on the required number of groups (and not the number of participants in the groups);
- by counting;
- by lot. The basket may contain:
- leaflets of different colors - teams of red, yellow, blue;
- objects placed by students in advance (students take turns pulling out objects and dividing into groups of the desired composition, for example, one student, pulling out someone's object, finds a mate for himself);
- geometric shapes - commands of squares, triangles, circles, etc. (relevant for mathematics lessons);
- images of animals - teams of birds, fish, mammals or herbivores, predators (for biology lessons and the world around);
- images of plants - teams of trees and shrubs of coniferous and deciduous trees (for biology lessons and the world around);
- names or images of countries, cities, geographical objects - teams of Europeans, Asians, Africans or teams of lakes, mountains, rivers (for geography lessons and the world around);
- as well as a number of other terms and concepts for each subject.
- Circle segmentation: the teacher stands in the center of the class and mentally draws its diameter with the children. Thus, children can be divided into 2 equal groups. You can make more segments to get a different number of groups. The method can be used in mathematics lessons.
- External signs of children: the color of clothes, backpacks, the presence of ties, watches, hairpins, jewelry, etc. For example, a team of those who have a diary on the table, and those who do not.
- Shooting eyes (Scouts). Participants stand in a circle, lower their eyes. At the command of the teacher, the children look up, looking for their mate. If the eyes meet, then a pair has formed, it leaves the circle. After several repetitions, the class is divided into pairs (there must be an even number of students).
- Leaders. The teacher can either ask to insert group leaders or identify them in one of the other ways. Each leader in turn names the student he wants to see in his team, then the selected students name those whom they want to see - and so on, until the whole class is divided into teams.
- Mosaic. Children are given parts of a text or image and must find children who have other parts of that text or image. In the future, this text or image can be played up (for example, a quote in a literature or history lesson; an image in an art lesson or any other).
- Roles, preferences. For example, the teacher offers several options in advance and each child chooses the one that is closer to him (England, France, Russia, Japan; East, West, North, South, banana, pear, apple, kiwi, L.N. Tolstoy, R.R. Tolkien, A. Belyaev, etc.).
- And other ways.
Of course, students can be divided into groups at will, but for educational purposes it is better to divide students into groups of different composition, and taking into account the number of students in classes, the composition can always be different and unexpected.
Children trust chance and resist less unwanted connections with other students, the desire to win, the spirit of rivalry and competition still overpowers, and they learn to build relationships, work in a team, work for results. Working in groups makes it possible to show oneself not only to strong students, but also to weak ones, and allowsshy, withdrawn children, children with low self-esteemhang out with other kids and maybe even make friends.
Problems of division into groups
However, when dividing children into groups, there is a problem: there are children in the classes that no one wants to take into their group. The teacher should not leave the situation to chance, but play the situation in an exclusively positive way. For example, there was one child who was not taken by anyone. It is possible to draw up such rules in advance that the extra participant as a privilege will go to the team that wins the fight for him, that is, each team will express its arguments why this student should be in it. The student joins the winning team (here the children forget about their preferences and succumb to the desire to win). In special cases, the teacher needs to exclude options for dividing into groups when students make decisions.
Other organizational problems are also associated with the division of children into groups. At first, children may resist, argue, waste too much time, etc., but the task of the teacher, firstly, is to clearly define the rules for dividing into groups, and secondly, to gradually teach children this. The more often in the lessons you use group methods of work, the more willingly and quickly the children will group the next time, considering it just a stage of the lesson. To avoid organizational difficulties, the teacher should:
- to voice and agree with the children the rules of work in groups;
- monitor compliance with the rules by all participants, stop unnecessary discontent and expression of emotions, direct conversations in a positive direction;
- set clear and understandable time frames, follow the rules (for example, put an hourglass in the classroom or display a clock on the screen so that all children can see the time);
- pay special attention to outcast children, children with disabilities, newcomers and "difficult" children.
Yes, there are some problems with organizing children into groups, and perhaps teachers will fail, but over time, if the teacher works in the system, he will definitely feel the class, the children, and learn how to create groups on the fly.
Ten options for dividing a group into subgroups
The task of dividing the class into small groups arises from the teacher quite often. The use of the same techniques quickly gets boring for students, so I offer a set (far from exhaustive!) of options for dividing the class into small subgroups.
This is the most elementary way. Make a calculation for the "first-second", "first-second-third", etc. depending on how many groups are required. It is important not to confuse here: the calculation must be done based on the required number of groups, and not on the number of participants in each group. A banal warning, but experience shows that novice teachers, apparently out of excitement, in such situations completely stop getting along with arithmetic.
Circle segmentation
The group can be divided in half by drawing an imaginary diameter of the circle from yourself (the leader) to the participant sitting opposite. If more than two teams are required, then the circle is simply divided into the required number of segments.
color separation
The division into groups is carried out according to the external signs of the participants, for example, by the colors of the clothes. Those who have a predominantly green color are called "greens" (you can also call Greenpeace). "Red" and "White" may appear. Those who do not fall into any category form, say, a "team of motley." I do not advise creating a “commonwealth of dark forces”, even if many participants are dressed in mourning colors, so as not to “hang anchors” on children that you do not need at all. The criteria for selecting groups can be not only the colors of clothes, but also other external signs, such as the presence of jewelry or watches; sweaters or t-shirts; trousers or skirts (if the group is predominantly female); hair color; eye color, etc.
Building by rank
The participants stand in a line. On the teacher’s command, they should silently line up in the shortest possible time: according to eye color, hair color, height (with eyes closed), voice height (after the game is checked, for example, by playing the note “la”, pronouncing the word “mother” and in other ways) and other signs. At the same time, the teacher must each time clearly indicate which side the participants should stand on, for example, “with the lightest hair”, and which side should be “with the darkest”. Usually such games are played with fun and enthusiasm. After the construction is completed on any basis, the teacher divides the line into the required number of groups with varying degrees of severity of the selected attribute.
Shooting eyes
Participants stand in a circle with their eyes downcast. At the teacher's signal, everyone raises their eyes, trying to meet someone's gaze. If this succeeds, then the resulting pairs leave the circle. The game continues until all participants are divided into pairs. And then - according to the teacher's plan: either work is organized in pairs, or pairs are grouped into larger associations. This game can be played in a slightly different way: a mutual hit in the “shooting with the eyes” does not lead to an exit from the circle, and the attempts are repeated until the whole group breaks up into pairs of participants who have mutually chosen each other. The drama of the game is given by situations when the number of participants is odd and one of them must obviously be left without a pair. In this case, the teacher may, for example, suggest that a pair (or team) draw lots for who will get the remaining player, arrange a competition between them for the right to include this player in their squad, or find another solution that is optimal for this particular case.
Atoms and molecules
Students scatter around the hall to soft "cosmic" music.
Teacher.“Each of you is a lone atom wandering in space. You make "Brownian motion" by meeting other atoms and even making light collisions. But sometimes something happens and you get the opportunity to combine into molecules. You will do this at my command. I will name the number of atoms in a molecule.
After a while, the teacher claps his hands, the music stops, and he says, for example: "Four." Participants quickly form groups of four. Those who did not have time to enter any "molecule" (say, there are three players left) are eliminated from the game. "Molecules" again disintegrate into atoms, continuing to wander in space until the next command of the leader. As a result of the game, you can either create two groups - from those who dropped out and from those who remained in the game, or at a certain moment give a command to assemble into molecules with as many atoms as necessary for further procedures (well, if this number is times will be equal to the number of eliminated participants, who then form their own group).
The teacher quickly and unexpectedly commands: “Stand up, those who consider themselves leaders!” The first two (three, four - depending on how many subgroups are needed), who jumped up from their seats, are announced as leaders who have the right to dial their teams. Leaders get the right to take turns calling the name of the person they take on their team. You can do it differently: each of the leaders is invited to choose only one participant whom he wants to see in his team. Then the selected participants in turn choose the next and so on until the group is divided into two parts. If there is an odd number of participants, then a situation will arise when one of them remains unclaimed. An “unclaimed” participant may feel very uncomfortable. Therefore, the teacher should turn the situation into a positive one, say, invite the leaders of the two groups to argue about the right to this last participant: deliver a short monologue in which to prove that, due to such and such merits, this person is needed in his team. After that, the participant himself chooses a team for himself.
Any number
Another game that can be used to divide into groups. The leader calls by name of any of the players. He must instantly name some number from one to a number equal to the number of students. The host commands: "Three-four!" At the same time, as many players as the number named must stand up. In this case, the player who called this random number can stand up himself, or can remain seated. Some of the players may realize that there are win-win options: you need to either name “one” and jump up yourself, or name the number of members of the group, and then everyone will stand up. After one or two successful attempts, participants experience a sense of increased group cohesion. This is where the teacher needs to take the lead. “And now I will command myself!” - he declares and calls the number, which, according to his plan, means the required number of players in one subgroup. If there are as many players as ordered, it's good. The leader simply asks them to leave the circle and continues the game with the rest, calling the same number (in case there should be more than two subgroups; if the group had to be divided in half, then it is enough to name a number equal to half of the participants). If there are more or less players, then the host adds or removes them from the game at his discretion.
Breakdown by criterion
The facilitator offers the group some criteria that do not imply ranking, but a clear classification with a clear division of participants into different categories. This method of division is especially convenient in cases where an equal number of players in subgroups is optional. Then the teacher says to the participants: “Imagine that you are the customers of a restaurant. You have already spent some time in it, tried some of the dishes offered on the menu. Someone liked it, someone didn’t really like it, someone was already full, and someone just froze the worm. Let's try to sit down in our "restaurant" in accordance with our feelings. Those who tried it liked it, but they have not yet satisfied their hunger and would like to try something else from the local cuisine - I ask you to this corner. Those who have already eaten and would like to change the restaurant to some other place take their places in the opposite corner. Maybe for someone the dishes from the restaurant menu were not quite to their taste? Such I ask to be located in the third corner. Well, the fourth corner will be occupied by those who have not yet realized how much the local cuisine satisfies them, and therefore, for the time being, are poking their salad with a fork in doubt. So, settle down!” Depending on the circumstances, the teacher decides on the direction of further work. You can, for example, invite each group to discuss and justify their choice, perhaps express their wishes regarding the quality of cooking, recipes and presentation of dishes. Let's say someone considers food "fresh", someone wants "hot", someone would be satisfied with more refined dishes, less "catering" and more "exclusive" recipes, etc. Instead of a “restaurant metaphor”, a huge number of others can be offered. For example, after hanging faces depicting different emotional states in opposite corners of the hall - from hopeless melancholy to unbridled delight, ask the participants to choose the most suitable place for themselves. Tasks formed groups can be given in accordance with their mood. For example, the "enthusiastic" participants might be asked to come up with ways to cheer up the "sad" subgroup.
Who's new?
This method involves transferring the initiative to create subgroups to the participants themselves. The teacher simply invites everyone to choose the one with whom he interacted the least in the process of work, “talk” with this person with his eyes, non-verbally “agree” and approach each other. Then (if work in fours or sixes is required) to find a pair or two partners with whom both members of the pair have not yet communicated enough.
Each teacher who uses the group method of work in the classroom faced the problem of dividing students into groups: the division is perceived by children emotionally, and sometimes, when the procedure itself is not understood and accepted by the children, it causes controversy, a surge of negative emotions and loss of lesson time.
The choice of how to divide students into groups during the lesson may come from the purpose of forming groups:
* by the level of performance for the distribution of tasks of different levels of complexity;
*groups in which there are students of different levels of achievement, so that children help each other during the lesson. In this case, all groups of the same level;
groups in which children are friendly with each other or, conversely, are at enmity.
*groups united according to the temperament of the members;
It is more difficult to unbiasedly divide children into groups, regardless of their qualities and preferences. Separating children randomly can be arranged in many ways. Let's take a look at some of them.
How to divide students into groups in a lesson?
On a number of desks in the classroom;
- by option number (I and II options);
- party neighbors;
-according to the magazine (in half, through one, even-odd, etc.);
- by gender - boys, girls;
-according to the season in which the child was born (winter, spring, summer, autumn);
- by date of birth (even, odd number);
-by the first letter of the name or surname (vowels - consonants, voiced - deaf, etc. - relevant for Russian language lessons);
-calculation by numbers (first-second-third, etc.). The calculation is based on the required number of groups (and not the number of participants in the groups);
-according to the counting rhyme (see counting rhymes in English);
- by lot. The basket may contain:
leaflets of different colors - teams of red, yellow, blue;
- items placed in advance by students (students take turns pulling out objects and dividing into groups of the desired composition, for example, one student, pulling out someone's object, finds a mate for himself);
-geometric shapes - commands of squares, triangles, circles and so on. (relevant for mathematics lessons);
- images of animals - teams of birds, fish, mammals or herbivores, predators (for biology lessons and the world around);
-images of plants - teams of trees and shrubs of coniferous and deciduous trees (for biology lessons and the world around);
-names or images of countries, cities, geographical objects - teams of Europeans, Asians, Africans or teams of lakes, mountains, rivers (for geography lessons and the world around);
as well as a number of other terms and concepts for each subject.
Circle segmentation: the teacher stands in the center of the class and mentally draws its diameter with the children. Thus, children can be divided into 2 equal groups. You can make more segments to get a different number of groups. The method can be used in mathematics lessons.
External signs of children: the color of clothes, backpacks, the presence of ties, watches, hairpins, jewelry, etc. For example, a team of those who have a diary on the table, and those who do not.
Shooting eyes (Scouts). Participants stand in a circle, lower their eyes. At the command of the teacher, the children look up, looking for their mate. If the eyes meet, then a pair has formed, it leaves the circle. After several repetitions, the class is divided into pairs (there must be an even number of students).
Leaders. The teacher can either ask to insert group leaders or identify them in one of the other ways. Each leader in turn names the student he wants to see in his team, then the selected students name those whom they want to see - and so on, until the whole class is divided into teams.
Mosaic. Children are given parts of a text or image and must find children who have other parts of that text or image. In the future, this text or image can be played up (for example, a quote in a literature or history lesson; an image in an art lesson or any other).
Roles, preferences. For example, the teacher offers several options in advance and each child chooses the one that is closer to him (England, France, Russia, Japan; East, West, North, South, banana, pear, apple, kiwi, L.N. Tolstoy, R.R. Tolkien, A. Belyaev, etc.).
Of course, students can be divided into groups at will, but for educational purposes it is better to divide students into groups of different composition, and taking into account the number of students in classes, the composition can always be different and unexpected.
Children trust chance and resist less unwanted connections with other students, the desire to win, the spirit of rivalry and competition still overpowers, and they learn to build relationships, work in a team, work for results. Working in groups provides an opportunity to show themselves not only to strong students, but also to weak ones, and allows shy, withdrawn children, children with low self-esteem to communicate with other children and, perhaps, even make friends with someone.
Problems of division into groups
However, when dividing children into groups, there is a problem: there are children in the classes that no one wants to take into their group. The teacher should not leave the situation to chance, but play the situation in an exclusively positive way. For example, there was one child who was not taken by anyone. It is possible to draw up such rules in advance that the extra participant as a privilege will go to the team that wins the fight for him, that is, each team will express its arguments why this student should be in it. The student joins the winning team (here the children forget about their preferences and succumb to the desire to win). In special cases, the teacher needs to exclude options for dividing into groups when students make decisions.
Other organizational problems are also associated with the division of children into groups. At first, children may resist, argue, waste too much time, etc., but the task of the teacher, firstly, is to clearly define the rules for dividing into groups, and secondly, to gradually teach children this. The more often in the lessons you use group methods of work, the more willingly and quickly the children will group the next time, considering it just a stage of the lesson. To avoid organizational difficulties, the teacher should:
To voice and agree with the children the rules of work in groups;
-monitor the observance of the rules by all participants, suppress unnecessary discontent and expression of emotions, direct conversations in a positive direction;
- set clear and understandable time frames, follow the rules (for example, put an hourglass in the classroom or display a clock on the screen so that all children can see the time);
- pay special attention to outcast children, children with disabilities, new and "difficult" children.
Yes, there are some problems with organizing children into groups, and perhaps teachers will fail, but over time, if the teacher works in the system, he will definitely feel the class, the children, and learn how to create groups on the fly.
Dear readers! If you know of other ways to divide children into groups, please share them in the comments.
for couples / small groups.
Exercise 19
The facilitator chooses a few well-known phrases and writes half of the expression on one piece of paper and the other half on the other. For example: “Happy birthday ......”, etc. The cards are rolled up, put into a hat, and then everyone pulls out the pieces and looks for a match.
Note: This energizer should be used if you need to separate
group into pairs in random order, introduce and rally the group.
Exercise 20
The facilitator names any characteristic of a person or his behavior, for example: “Those who love fruits!”. Participants recognize themselves and stand in the place indicated by the leader, etc.
Note: This exercise allows you to divide the group into the number you need.
subgroups. With the help of this exercise, you can also revive the activity of the group, increase the concentration of the participants.
Exercise 21“ The sun shines on...”
Participants sit or stand in a tight circle, one person stands in the center. The participant in the center says loudly: “The sun shines on...” and names the color of objects or an element of clothing, or some other characteristic that unites at least several people in the group. For example: “The sun shines on those who wear socks” or “The sun shines on those who have brown eyes.” All participants with this characteristic must change places with each other. The driver is trying to take one of the vacant seats. The new driver in the middle starts all over again. (Option: “The wind blows on...”)
Note: This exercise is best done at the beginning of the lesson. This energizer
includes participants in vigorous activity, concentrating their attention.
Exercise 22
Prepare cards according to the number of participants. Divide them into as many piles as you need to form cooperative learning groups. Write one of the family roles and occupation on each card so that each stack contains different family roles and one occupation, for example: Mother Farmer, Father Farmer, Sister Farmer and Brother Farmer. Shuffle all the cards and invite the participants to take one from the common pile. You can also use the names and names of various animals or fruits. In addition, you can draw figures on the cards, for example: a star, the sun, a month, a flower, etc. Each family (subgroup) should have 4 or 5 members. After each participant has received a card, all participants begin to walk around the room, create “families” according to their own characteristics, trying to create a family (subgroup) as quickly as possible.
Note: With this exercise, you can split the group randomly.
row for the number of subgroups you need. This energizer is used at the beginning of classes, activating the participants.
Exercise 23
Choose a few volunteers (according to the number of subgroups you need). These participants will act as taxi drivers. Their task is to move around the room, stopping at the command of the host. Invite the rest of the participants to imagine that they are getting into a taxi. Only a certain number of participants can fit in the taxi, for example 2, 4 or 8. When the taxi stops, the participants must run to “get in the taxi”.
Note: This is a useful exercise if you want to organize participants into groups with a certain number of members in a random order, activate them.
Exercise 24
The participants sit in a circle. The facilitator asks the first 4-5 people sitting side by side in a circle to name their favorite fruits one by one (for example, apple, pear, banana, orange). The next, sitting in a circle, repeat the sounded names of fruits in turn. Thus, each one is "called a fruit." One person - the leader - should stand in the center of the circle. The facilitator calls out the name of a fruit, such as an orange, and all the “oranges” should change places with each other. The person in the center also tries to take one of the places occupied, and the other participant is left without a place. The new host again calls some fruit and the game continues. The name "fruit salad" means that everyone changes places.
Note: This task is very active for the guys. It can be used to create group cohesion, increase concentration, and to “mix”
participants, for example, for subsequent acquaintance in pairs, dividing acquaintances sitting next to each other.
Exercise 25animals”
Write on separate pieces of paper as many names of animal species as you need subgroups. Shuffle the cards and distribute to the participants, then ask them, making the characteristic sounds of a particular animal, to find the rest of the members of their subgroup.
Note: The energizer in a playful way helps to divide a large group into several subgroups, involves the guys in active activities.
Exercise 26
All participants stand in a circle. The host stands in the center of the circle, then approaches one of the participants, calls him by name and offers to ride. The named participant stands behind the leader, they, depicting a steam locomotive, move to the next participant, and all the rest in this
time repeat the name of the selected participant. The game continues until all the participants are in the train.
Note: The exercise is used to get to know each other, strengthen group cohesion,
increase in tone, motor activity, stress relief.
Exercise 27
The group is divided into pairs, and two people in a pair find as many common features as possible,
then, at the command of the leader, the pairs are combined into fours with the same goal. The host can
stop the process at fours, eights, etc. Educated small groups can
put their common features.
Note: The exercise develops attention to the personality of partners, awareness of the manifestations of their personality, allows participants to get to know each other better. Can be used in
any class time.
Team breakdown options
Tree
From the group, according to the number of teams, several guys are selected. Each of them selects one person for their team. Those who are chosen, in turn, choose the next. So, along the chain, it continues until all participants are selected.
Zoo
Cards with the names of animals are made in advance. How many commands you want to make, so many types of animals you need to specify. For example, if three teams are needed, then let the animals be a dog, a cat and a mouse. When each participant draws the name of the animal that he will represent, the players need to unite in teams consisting of animals of the same species. An indispensable condition - you can not say anything out loud. You can imitate the behavior of "your" animal, make sounds characteristic of it, etc. Once the game is over, you will have the teams you need.
Atoms and molecules
Every child is an atom. The host dictates the speed of the atom (from 1 to 3). All children, respectively, begin to move at a given speed from a slow step (1st speed) to a fast step (3rd speed). All players randomly move around the playground, at this moment they are all "atoms". Atoms can turn into molecules. There can be two in a molecule. and three. and five atoms. Atoms unite into molecules and freeze... When the leader sees fit, he will call the molecules "as many people as needed in the team" and receive his commands.
Ribbons
Ribbons of the required number of colors are cut into the hat, each pulled out a ribbon ... then, judging by the colors, they diverge into teams.
Puzzle postcard
Several postcards (as many teams are needed) are cut into pieces (there are as many parts as there will be a person in the team). Everyone pulls out a piece of a postcard. The first task is to get together as a team and collect your postcard.
Mixer
"Chips" are cut out of cardboard (as many as there are total people). "Chip" has several parameters: color, shape, number on one side, picture on the other side. Accordingly, people who pulled out these "chips" can be divided into teams in different ways (by color, by shape ...). This makes it possible in the course of one game to change the composition of teams. Which is especially handy in rally games.
Cone, Christmas tree, stick (You can pick up any words)
The host walks along the guys and lists "Bump, Christmas tree, stick ...", pointing to the guys. Accordingly, then "Bumps" form the first team, "Yolochki" - the second, and "Sticks" - the third.
Calendar sheet
All players are pinned to their chests on a piece of paper from a tear-off calendar. The sheets must fit so that the players can complete the tasks listed below.
Assemble a team consisting of five identical days of the week (Tuesdays, Thursdays or Fridays, etc. - it doesn't matter, the numbers don't matter).
Assemble a team consisting of all seven days of the week (day, month do not matter).
Bustle
The host tells each player in his ear what he needs to do (pinch, shake hands, click on the nose, etc.). The number of different actions depends on the number of commands. The players walk silently and look for the members of their team by actions.
Mirror
For arbitrary division, you can use the “mirror”: one participant turns his back, the counselor points to someone and asks the “mirror” which team to assign this person to.
Card deck
Everyone receives 1 card from the deck. Teams are grouped by suit color/value/suit.
Find your match
Cards are made in advance, on which objects are drawn that can be combined according to functionality: shoelace, watch-hands, needle-thread, etc.