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| Group Work |
Most modern primary English textbooks tell teachers to use pair- and group work because of the opportunity this offers for increased language input, pupil practice and greater involvement in language learning. Children are by nature very sociable, and so pair and group work make use of this natural tendency. However, don't feel frustrated if it does not work the first time. Your pupils may be unfamiliar with working m these ways or may take advantage of the new freedom to misbehave In order to work effectively in groups, children have to be able to co-operate and communicate with others. They may need to learn how to do this.
Introducing children to pair- and groupwork
Children may have no idea what working in pairs or groups means initially. So they need to understand what it means and hopefully to develop positive associations with working in this way. We can use a number of different techniques for forming pairs and groups which may help to engage children's interest and make this form of working meaningful for them.
- Here are some ideas for forming pairs and groups. Which would you begin with to introduce this way of working?
- What problems might you find? How could you overcome them?
1 Find your partner
Choose a set of animals and create two pictures of each so that there is one picture for each child. Give each child a picture of an animal, eg pig, cow. Each child then has to find the child with the matching picture or badge and sit down beside him/her. They should ask and answer, eg Have you got a cow? Yes, I have/No, / haven't. For older pupils (ten upwards), you could choose the names of sports, pop groups or other topic areas of interest.
2 Musical circles
Draw a number of circles on the floor. Children walk around the room and when the music stops, they must stand in a circle. Only six children can stand in a circle. Each circle forms a group and you can do some simple action games in the groups.
3 Get together
Get children sitting beside each other to work as pairs. This does not involve movement around the class and so may give more control. Give them some simple instructions to carry out together as a way of getting them used to working as pairs. It can be done for a few minutes every day. For example:
T Face your partner. Say hello.
Catch hands. Make an arch with your hands. Move back and forwards.
Draw the letter A on his/her back.
Be a mirror. (Child A copies the actions of Child B.)
At a later stage, children can give instructions to each other. You could also get two pairsto move together to form a group.
4 Find your group
Choose different types of food such as vegetables or fruit, eg peach, grape, apple, etc. Give each child a picture of one of the types of fruit. The child goes around searching for other members of his/her group.
PI Have you got an apple?
P2 No, I haven't.
PI Have you got an apple, Eva?
Eva Yes, I have. We're in the same group.
Place pictures of the fruit in different parts of the room and children have to find their group homes.
Which activities you use will depend on your situation. Some are less likely than others given your classroom size and the age or the number of the pupils. You could begin with Get together because it does not involve any movement around the room. Pupils are likely to have chosen the person who they want to sit next to and feel comfortable talking to them. Pupils may be easier to control if they are not moving around. You could then later move on to an activity which involves movement, eg Find your partner. Once pupils are familiar with pairwork, you could then introduce them to the idea of working as a group, eg Musical or Magical circles. In Find your group, children have to search for several people rather than just one person. So you might leave it until later as it is a little more complex.
Pairwork activities tend to be more manageable initially than groupwork activities as both pupils in a pair are occupied. In groupwork, it may be easier for some pupils to do nothing or to misbehave.