Free Random Grouping Cards For Visible Random Groupings & Building Thinking Classrooms
Teaching with problem-based tasks like the ones found on our tasks page will help to spark curiosity in your students as well as fuel their sense making.
In our teacher resource guides we often recommend the use of random groupings. Peter Liljedahl’s research suggest that students in visible random groupings will help students feel valued in a group setting. Since the group is random they can’t tell themselves that they are the weak one in the group or the strong one.
In the past we used playing cards to group students but we found after time we wanted a bit more flexibility.
We build our own deck of cards that help group our students randomly in multiple ways.
Ready to download these free printable random grouping cards?
There are three copies of the cards.
one designed for only groups of two, one with equations/expressions and one without (groups of 2 or 3 – 36 cards).
The cards have different ways to match. Just tape the master grouping card to a group of 3 desks (or pairs will work too) .
Then For example, today we may decide that we are all matching by colour. So when you grab a random grouping card from the teacher at the door, students will go and sit at that colour. But tomorrow we may decide to match symbols so if a student chooses this card
They would go and sit at the “gear” table! And maybe the day after that we’ll say to match expressions, then the student will have to evaluate the expression on the card to discover what table to sit at.
Pretty easy! There are 12 colours, 12 symbols, 12 shapes, and 12 numbers that match expressions. So 36 cards in total (or 24 cards if you choose that set).
If you’re like us and have only 24 kids then you can get rid of a few colours and it’ll all still work out. So grab them below here and have fun mixing it up!!
Click here to grab the cards.Resources Related To The Video
- The Thinking Classroom Book
- Random Grouping Cards
- Explore all of our real world problem based math lessons
- Become a member of the Make Math Moments Academy [Free for 30 Days]
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Each Teacher Guide consists of:
- Intentionality of the lesson;
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Each Make Math Moments Problem Based Lesson begins with a story, visual, video, or other method to Spark Curiosity through context.
Students will often Notice and Wonder before making an estimate to draw them in and invest in the problem.
After student voice has been heard and acknowledged, we will set students off on a Productive Struggle via a prompt related to the Spark context.
These prompts are given each lesson with the following conditions:
- No calculators are to be used; and,
- Students are to focus on how they can convince their math community that their solution is valid.
Students are left to engage in a productive struggle as the facilitator circulates to observe and engage in conversation as a means of assessing formatively.
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Often times, animations and walk through videos are provided in the Teacher Guide to assist with planning and delivering the consolidation.
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While this might feel like a natural ending to the context students have been exploring, it is just the beginning as we look to leverage this context via extensions and additional lessons to dig deeper.
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Facilitators are encouraged to collect these consolidation prompts as a means to engage in the assessment process and inform next moves for instruction.
In multi-day units of study, Math Talks are crafted to help build on the thinking from the previous day and build towards the next step in the developmental progression of the concept(s) we are exploring.
Each Math Talk is constructed as a string of related problems that build with intentionality to emerge specific big ideas, strategies, and mathematical models.
Make Math Moments Problem Based Lessons and Day 1 Teacher Guides are openly available for you to leverage and use with your students without becoming a Make Math Moments Academy Member.
Use our OPEN ACCESS multi-day problem based units!
Make Math Moments Problem Based Lessons and Day 1 Teacher Guides are openly available for you to leverage and use with your students without becoming a Make Math Moments Academy Member.
Partitive Division Resulting in a Fraction
Equivalence and Algebraic Substitution
Represent Categorical Data & Explore Mean
Downloadable resources including blackline masters, handouts, printable Tips Sheets, slide shows, and media files do require a Make Math Moments Academy Membership.
Use our OPEN ACCESS multi-day problem based units!
Hello,
Do you have students randomly grouped every day of the entire school year? Do you use homogenous grouping based on data for any specific lessons/tasks?
Do you have a black/white version of random grouping cards?
Yep. Go ahead and download them and you’ll see the options.
I have tried twice to download the HS cards and they do not get emailed to me :/
Love the idea of using grouping cards for a visible random grouping activity! As a teacher, I’ve found that it can be difficult to keep students on track and engaged when working in groups. These cards could be a great way to mix things up and add some elements of surprise to the activity. Definitely trying this out in my classroom!
Great idea for a blog post! Random grouping can be a great way to mix things up and create new opportunities for collaboration and creativity. I’m definitely going to try this out with my own groups. Thanks for sharing!
I have tried 3 times to get the random grouping cards but have not gotten an email. Is there any other way to download them?
I love this idea and did a trial run last year. I ran into trouble when I didn’t have a ‘full’ set. For example, I’m supposed to have 24 but there are kids absent so there were only 19. Some kids ended up with no partner. Same problem if I have a smaller class or a number that requires groups of different sizes. I feel like my brain is making this too hard but I haven’t been able to simplify it! Suggestions?