ACTIVE LEARNING #3 - PEER TEACHING

Peer teaching is a powerful teaching strategy that can make a difference in your classroom this year. By working with a partner children can develop social skills, cooperation, problem solving, independence, oral language, and creativity. To avoid common behavior problems that can occur when children pick their own partner, try study buddy sticks.

Study Buddy Sticks
Put like stickers on the bottoms of two craft sticks. You will need as many sticks as there are children in your classroom. Place sticks in a plastic cup with stickers facing down. Each Monday let children choose a stick and then find the person whose stick matches theirs. That is their “study buddy” for all partner projects that week.

 

Note! You can use matching letters, shapes, numbers, etc. on the sticks.

*When there is an odd number of students, let the last child chose whichever group she would like to be a part of.

Peer Partners can:

Partner Teach – One student pretends they are the teacher and demonstrates or explains something to a friend. Then they switch places.

Partner Coach – One student demonstrates a skill while the other student “coaches” (corrects, makes suggestions). Switch places.

Back Writing – Study buddies take turns making letters, shapes, numerals, spelling words, etc. on their partner’s back. After the partner guesses correctly they can change places.

Partner Pop Up Q & A
Students stand and face their study buddy. The teacher poses a question. The students talk it over, agree on an answer, and then stoop down. When the teacher sees all students down she says, “Pop!” The students pop up and say their answer out loud. 

 

Partners can also:
Read together.
Retell a story. They can also discuss who, what, where, when, why, the problem, resolution, what might happen next, etc.
Whisper a prediction in each other’s ear.
Review information after a science lesson, social studies, etc.
Clean up a center or each other’s desks.
Read around the room.
Sing a song or say nursery rhymes together.
Help with dressing, such a zipping coats and tying shoes.
Draw a picture together. They could draw their favorite part of a story, illustrate a poem, draw a picture of their teacher, and so forth.
Do crafts such as lunch sack puppets seasonal projects.
Build together with blocks, Legos, etc.
Play with play dough or clay together.
Write together. They could write a sentence, story, poem, song, observation, etc.
Play a board game.
Play a computer game.
Review flashcards.
Practice rereading books.
Brainstorm! Make lists!
Do surveys and collect data.
Play hand clap games.
Make books together.
Answer questions. Teacher asks a question and they get together to come up with an answer they agree on.
Do puzzles together.
Check each other’s work.
Edit each other’s writing.
Play “Mirror.” One child is the leader and the other child is the “mirror” and must mimic what the leader does. Switch roles after a minute.