The Sunday Scoop AND Forming Groups

I am pretty excited because I just found a new-to-me linky party over at The Teaching Trio!  It is called The Sunday Scoop.

So here my scoop:

Today I wanted to blog about something that almost ANY classroom can do, which is to form groups in fun ways.  We all know the importance of cooperative learning, whether it be partner or small group work.  So why not make it a little more fun for our kiddos when we form those groups?  Here are some ideas that I use:

For the life of me, I cannot find the link to where I found the partner-picking cards pictured above.  If they belong to you, please let me know so that I can give you credit!  But these are the ones we currently use.

I just now found these FREE Disney partner cards!  I will be printing these this week for sure!  Thank you to the Disneyfied Teacher!  (P.S. This is a set for 24 students or less.)

Oo!  Oo!  I just found these ADORABLE and FREE partner-picking cards from The Bad Apple.  Thank you for sharing!  There are enough in here for 42 students or less - and, oh boy, I hope you do not have 42 students!

Okay, here is another way my students find partners or groups:

This is an old picture from when I first bought these goodies on clearance at Wal-Mart last summer, but now I have them in a plastic container in my classroom.  I like using these because the we can easily form partners or even groups of three or four.  The kids simply close their eyes, pick a bracelet from the container, and then find the person or people that have the same color.  TIP - If you teach primary kids, tell them to keep these out of their mouths! Agh!  My little ones are always tempted to eat them, LOL!

We also use simple framed puzzles to form groups.  The ones pictured above are 16-piece puzzles, which obviously do not work.  I found mine at The Dollar Tree and they have 3 pieces, 4 pieces, and 5 pieces.  I have a WHOLE BUNCH of these, so that I can be flexible with my groupings.  Anyway, I put all the puzzle pieces in a bag, the students close their eyes and pick a puzzle piece, then on my cue they find the frame in which their puzzle piece belongs.  Once their puzzle is complete, they know who their groupmates are.  Easy peasy - lemon squeezey!

Here is another strategy that we use often and requires no materials:  Stand Up, Hand Up, Pair Up.

It is pretty straight-forward.  I say, "Stand up" and my students stand.  I say, "Hand up" and my students put one hand in the air.  I say, "Pair up" and then countdown from 10 to 0.  My students have 10 seconds to find a partner, high-five his/her hand, and sit down together knee-to-knee, eye-to-eye.

I have a Pinterest board called "Collaboration and Cooperative Learning" and I pin similar ideas here.  If you are interested in more ideas, follow my board and check back as I pin new ideas!

How do YOU form partners and groups in your classroom!?

Well, my boys will certainly be waking up any minute, so I better scurry along.  Enjoy your Sunday and thanks for stopping by!  :)