Pair Work
There are many opportunities for pair work in lessons but, often, there is little guidance for pupils about the best way to organise themselves to make the task successful. Establishing ground rules for pair work is a good way to focus pupils on the need for this work to be treated seriously. Emphasising the need to support each other's contributions and the need to move the discussion on so that it achieves its purpose are important.
By using the posters to reinforce the ways of working effectively you will help to ensure that pupils are aware of the best ways to organise their time in a paired discussion.
Rules for listening poster (24 KB)
Activity
Watch the video clip of a teacher setting a task for pupils to work on in pairs, and their subsequent response.
School A, Year 7 - Pair Work (01:14)
You can watch the video via 56k modem or slow (100kbps) / medium (256 kbps) / fast (400kbps) / very fast (800kbps) broadband connections, or as a Flash video for which you will need to have the flash plugin.
Transcript (21 KB)
Show the same clip to one of your classes as preparation for pair work and discuss which aspects could be improved (for example, the boy's dominance).
The Speaking and Listening improvement matrix has useful suggestions to support the teaching of these aspects of speaking and listening.
Speaking and Listening improvement matrix (159 KB)