The 21st century
classroom uses group and pair activities to facilitate student-centered
learning. However, traditional methods
for grouping pupils are based on student ability level or test scores. Group activities or tasks can be more
successful overall if we group pupils of mixed ability levels. Pupils can assist each other and increase the
quality of their production activities (output) and increase fluency by
creating an environment that makes it safe to experiment with language. Please take the time to look at the
educational research relating to this topic.
Grouping Students for Instruction,
New York University
It is difficult to group
pupils. It is often time consuming and chaotic. However, you can turn a tedious task into a
fun introductory activity. When you use
a fun activity to group pupils, you can introduce and raise interest in your
topic, therefore making your planned learning activates more productive and
increasing the enjoyment of the pupils in your class.
15 Quick and Creative Ways to Group and Partner Students
Fun Ways to Group Pupils
Creative Ways to Organize Students for Small Group
Activities
10 Creative Ways to Form Groups
Recently the MOE has recommended
that classroom arrangement be organized in student learning groups. This has many advantages for pupils, but can
also present challenges for teachers when the pupils are placed in groups
according to their ability level. For
example, if the below-average pupils only interact with other below-average
pupils, then they have less opportunity to increase their fluency. Please consider the benefits for pupils to
sit in mixed ability groups. Pupils can
learn more in an environment where they are comfortable asking their classmates
for help. Additionally, mixed ability
grouping can also help teachers with large class size by utilizing peer
evaluation.
I hope you find this content
useful, and I look forward to discussing with you individually.
-Sarah Higgs, Jempol
Today the Luit branch of Maran cluster conducted a CPD session at the local PPD. Our workshop was titled "Teacher's Toolbox: Creating Fun, Interactive Lessons" and we discussed ways to implement a variety of ideas and skills that would make lessons both more interesting and more productive. We learned how to clearly define objectives as well as how to define the relative success of activities and lessons through various criteria. Most of all, we learned the importance of creativity, variation, balance, and discipline in lesson planning schemes. We hope that this will contribute greatly to more interactive, productive, and most of all fun, lessons. Thank you everyone for the participation and hard work that made this CPD so successful!
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