talking chips

In a meeting last year, we were introduced to the idea of "talking chips" - giving each kiddo in a small group x amount of chips. They would put one in the center whenever they wanted to say something and when they had used all of their chips, they were done talking. The idea is to keep those who like to talk a whoooole lot from talking quite so much and giving others a turn. 

I think I may try this in some of my small groups just to help with my kiddos who are eager to share their answer and don't always wait for the person talking to finish :)

partner up!

I came across this Partner Up for Fun Partnering System from Simply Kinder over the summer and knew it was something I'd want to use! This goes beyond peanut butter and jelly partners (which I think is still cute) and has things like eggs and bacon, scissors and glue, cats and dogs - it's a forty page pdf full of different combinations. I'm excited to be able to use this with two small groups I work with. I'll change out the cards maybe once a week and pick a different kind of partners but I think even fifth graders will think it's fun :) Click here to find it on Teachers Pay Teachers!