Mrs. Navarre’s Teaching Blog: Partnering up for Collaboration in the Classroom

One of the big ideas in Common Core is having students spend much of their learning time collaborating with others. I love this idea on so many levels. Students get to learn how to interact with others. They get support with their learning. They also have the chance to learn more as they teach others what they know. I mean it seems like such a win-win situation. While classrooms and the curriculum may not yet be completely ready for this idea, there is a place for it right now in which we can definitely take advantage of.

There are many opportunities throughout the day in which collaboration/partnering students up can be implemented. I have my students partner up, pretty much anytime we are doing a whole group activity. If we are reading, then I might have them partner up to discuss the elements of a story. If we are doing a nonfiction comprehension sheet, then I might have student partner up to discuss what they have learned after each paragraph of the story. If we are writing, then I have students partner up for different stages, for example prewriting, rereading/proofing, editing and publishing/sharing. I also have students partner up to work on science and social studies facts/research together. While I don't have students partner up as much during my whole group math instruction, my students are always in small group or with a partner during math activities.

I guess I have really always had my students partnering up in one way or another. At first it was the simple turn to the person next to you. Then I tried having preassigned partners on a matching hand board. These ideas worked, but turning to a partner meant students were always working with the same person and the matching hands meant I had to keep remembering to change them. A couple of years ago I went through a training and got some other ideas for having students partner up. I still like and use these ideas. One idea I like is "Moving to the Music" in which students stop when the music stops and talk to the person next to them. The kids love this one too. I also like parallel lines in which the class forms two lines and the students from one line keep moving to the next person after each rotation. Okay, I probably didn't explain that very well, but I hope you get the picture.

I don't just use one way to have students partner up, but one quick and easy thing I do use are Partner up Cards. These cards can be passed out, placed on students desks, kept in a table group tub, or whatever other way you want. Students basically receive a card, stand up, and once everyone has a card they find their partners. It just adds some novelty to the idea of finding a partner and it also provides students with a bit of a Brain Break, which I also love.

Since my classroom is already set up in table groups, having students collaborating within a group is pretty easy. I occasionally switch students around to mix things up, but since these projects might go on for a couple of days or a week, I have to kind of keep these groups together for my own sanity.

However you have your students getting together to collaborate with one another isn't really the important issue. It is more about providing students with the opportunity to do this.