One of the most strategic parts of teaching is grouping your students into center groups. Do you group them by skill, ability level, or who will work well together? You want your students to be able to work well together, but also be able to utilize practicing specific skills during that small group instruction lesson that each group of students needs. Today, I am going to show you how to group your students for center rotations by using characters you may know from one of my favorite TV shows, Friends.
Let's talk about your students personality types
If you take any group of students, you will find that there are plenty of different personality types. If you've ever watched the TV show, Friends, I'm sure you relate to one of the characters more than the rest. For me, I am a Monica, a little bit of a perfectionist and always trying to do the right thing. I've noticed six main personality types of students in the past, and honestly, they each relate to a Friends character. Usually, if you can get one of each into each group, they will work well together for different reasons. I talked about this in one of my old Instagram videos here, but I wanted to share step-by-step how I formed each group by using this analogy. Even if you've never watched Friends, you will still be able to use these traits to help form your center groups.
Type 1: The Monicas
These students are the rule followers and tend to be the leader of the group. They take charge of directing the rest of the group and telling them what to do. They also make sure the center is cleaned up nicely at the end. It is helpful to have one of these students in each group, however, they sometimes tend to be bossy at times. If you have more than one in a group, they may butt heads trying to take over.
Type 2: The Joeys
These students are the ones that tend to get in trouble or tempt other kids to make a wrong choice. You want to make sure these students are spread throughout the groups so that there aren't 2 in one group causing chaos. They like to have fun, so they will thrive in any center that is interactive or a game.
Type 3: The Rachels
These are the social butterflies of the class. They love to talk and sometimes will spend too much time talking that they won't get all their work done. If you have two in one group, they will probably just talk to each other and have trouble finishing their work.
Type 4: The Chandlers
These students love to be funny and the center of attention. They will do anything to get a laugh out of others, and sometimes have a difficult time choosing what they should be doing.
Type 5: The Ross
These students are easy to put into any group, however, they do tend to be the ones that tattle tell. They will make sure that the rest of the group is following directions and in order.
Type 6: The Phoebes
These students may need a little extra help with what to do for each center activity. They may not always pay attention when you are giving directions, or maybe they take a while to complete the center because they get distracted easily.
Think about what skills you want to focus on
Okay, so now you know which students fall under which type. Now, let's put those groups together. I will mainly group my students according to skill level or what phonics skills they need additional practice with. I write down 3 or 4 main areas that my students will need to work on for the quarter. For example, I may have these skills:
- Identifying beginning sounds
- Identifying middle sounds
- Blending CVC words
- Spelling CVC words
And yes, I do mainly focus on phonics during my small group instruction time. Usually, it's easy to differentiate for writing and reading than phonics, so I've always used phonics skills as a base. However, you can definitely use a mix of phonics, writing, and reading skills, or even translate this to your math centers.
How to group your students effectively
First, I will choose what each student in my class needs to work on. That is the most important part of grouping your students. Now, you get to play around with the groups based on their personality and who will get along with who. If there are any two students who will not work well together, I always separate those first. Typically, I will spread the Chandlers and the Rachels out because they are typically the ones that cause distractions. Then, I will start plugging Monicas and Rosses into each group, because they are the ones that will help keep everyone on task. Last, the Joeys and the Phoebes will go into each group. They benefit from having a Ross or Monica to help them with the center activity.
Did this analogy help you plan your center groups?
Let me know if you tried this out with your students and how it worked! You can use this center groups planning sheet to help plan your ELA center rotations.
