“In big groups it’s harder. It’s too busy. You can’t think. ”
The research about group work in classrooms tells us that we shouldn’t just put pupils into groups and ask them to talk. For it to be productive, and to impact on learning, pupils need to learn the skills of how to talk well in groups.
When starting this, one first step is to keep groups small. Start with trios.
“In smaller groups your idea gets processed and valued more. ”
More on talking in groups
Get them really listening to, and thinking about, each other’s contributions