Oh my word! Is fall flying by or what? I can't believe that October has come and gone, and now November is in full swing, with Thanksgiving just around the corner! I have to share with you a fabulous idea that I tried in my class this week. Our school is really focusing on cooperative learning techniques, especially Kagan strategies, so when I saw this idea on Pinterest, I instantly loved it. Like I said, I first saw it on Pinterest, then I heard about another teacher in my district trying it, so I decided to try it too. Here's how I did it. I got a template for an "iphone" from another teacher who googled the image to get it. Then I copied 9 sets of my students faces. The pics are tiny because the iphones are close to actual size, so I got 4 class sets of pics on a single page. Then, the hardest part was grouping my students into partners. Since the iphone has 9 "apps" or "buttons" on it, the students will have 9 different partners on their iphones. I just made sure that the students were paired accordingly, and I watched out for those little ones who perhaps didn't need to be together, if you know what I mean! It took me about an hour and a half to get all the little pictures glued on--I did it while watching the election returns!
Once I had them made, I laminated them and cut them out. This week, I explained to the students how the iphone buddies works. When it's time to do partner work, I'll choose an "app" and the students will go to the partner whose picture corresponds with that app. I was totally shocked at how easily they figured out who their partners were! And, not only did they find their first partner, which happened to be their "facebook" partner, they also quickly were looking to see who their "google" partner, "yahoo" partner, "angry birds" partner, etc. would be. I even heard one student say that it was the best day ever! The next couple of days went just as well. So, I really loved using this technique, and I think you would love it too! The kids looked so cute carrying around their little iphones and working with their partners on their math problem solving journals. They store them in their seat sacks for easy access. (I also made a copy of each student's iphone--just in case one gets lost!)
Here are a couple of pics of our little iphones. Enjoy! If you would like the template, just email me and I can send it to you. One day soon I hope to learn how to add a link to my google docs! (lynnebrhodes@gmail.com)
