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Tips and Tricks for Working with Partners

How many times have you said the words, “find a partner” and complete chaos happens? Either students don’t move, fight, or go immediately to their best friend. Sound too familiar? In this post you are going to learn some easy and effective ways to get your students partnered, why it’s important, and ideas for utilizing partner activities in your classroom. 

Working with Partners Tips and Tricks

Communication Counts

Allowing students to have a voice in the classroom is really important for a variety of reasons. Not only does it help with developing communication skills, but it also allows students to feel valued and heard. When students are encouraged to voice their ideas, experiences, and feelings, students learn important collaboration and language skills.  It also helps greatly to identify and discuss common misconceptions. 

Sometimes students don’t get much practice communicating and this is where partner conversations can come in to help foster healthy connections and discussions. I love utilizing partners throughout the day with students. Whether it’s during the beginning of the day and we are sharing something personal or during academic times. Oftentimes students feel more comfortable sharing with a partner and can learn from them even better from us! 

But how do we help students learn how to collaborate? Check out these tools below that can help students learn how to use their voice and come up with things to talk about. They’re great to help them learn how to have conversations and how to respectfully disagree with each other. 

Sentence starters for partner collaboration

Partner Card Activity Pack

How many times have you heard, “we don’t know what to talk about.” These can help with diminishing that statement. Encourage them with practice topics and don’t forget to shine a spotlight on great conversations you overhear to set expectations for students. When sharing with the class, one powerful question I like asking students is, “what did your partner say?” This helps ensure that they are actively listening to their partner and not just sharing their own thoughts and opinions. It also helps give their partner a voice if they are too shy to speak out themselves. 

When to Use Partners

Partner work is so powerful to foster student’s growth exponentially throughout the year, academically, socially, and emotionally. Working together helps build friendships, it gives opportunities for peer teaching, and it keeps students engaged. This type of work opens up great practice for problem solving, verbal communication, and conflict resolution as well. Some instances where grouping partners are would be beneficial include:

  • Academic conversations
  • Games or activities
  • Buddy reading
  • Field trips
  • Turn and Talks
  • Completing a task

While students learn a lot from individual and whole group time, utilizing partner activities is just as impactful and there should be tons of time for it in the school day. 

Perfect Pairings

Rather than causing chaos by simply telling students to partner up, using partner cards is an awesome way to get this task accomplished. You can either pre-plan out partners for academic conversations or randomly hand out cards and have them find a partner. 

partner cards

If you want to pre-plan partners, make your list and hand out one of the pairs to each half of the pairs of students. It may seem “random” for students, but you have strategically paired them! Would you like a more random pairing experience? Have students simply pick a partner card from a hat and have them find their perfect match. Using this method allows for students to work together who may not otherwise choose each other, more collaboration, and it provides a nice, structured way to group students. 

When you need to pair students for an academic task, strategic partnering should be implemented. This is really important so that students can have a productive conversation where they are both sharing information and learning from one another. It requires deeper thinking about the whole child and their strengths and who best fits with each other based on their abilities. This may mean that they have a different partner for math than they do for reading or even writing. When I strategically group students, I think about a variety of factors including who they work well with and how their skill levels compare to one another. For example, if I have a student who is ready for addition within 100 but another student who is still working on addition within 10, those two students are not the best grouping. Instead, I may look for another student who is also working on addition within 10 so that they can learn strategies from one another and have a productive time. 

What if you have an odd number of students? That’s no problem! Simply make an extra card and have milk paired with cookie 1 and cookie 2. These cards can also be laminated and hot glued onto a popsicle stick to make it easier for little hands to hold onto!

partner carfds working with partners first grade

All of these tools and more are apart of the Partner Cards Resource! 

Partner Cards Activity Pack

Partner Cards Resource

Beginning of the Year Tips

When you are introducing this concept to littles, there can be confusion. Alleviate some of the confusion with some important lesson tools. Display this poster for students as they begin to learn about the different ‘perfect pairs’. They will see exactly who their perfect match is no matter which card they receive. 

Perfect Pairs Partner Cards and Tools

Students also need to learn what it means to be a good partner and how we collaborate with our peers. Take a look at these different expectation posters that can support student understanding during the first few weeks of school. These posters are also available in blank versions for you to add your own reminders for students!

working with partners elementary school

Partner Card Activity Pack

Want anther great way to practice communication skills at the beginning of the year? Charades is a great way to build team skills as well as important communication skills. The best part is that you can grab this engaging activity for FREE below!

back to school charades freebie

Love this FREE resource?

Sign up now and get exclusive access to this freebie and many more in the continuously growing freebie library!

I hope you enjoyed learning about how to utilize partners in your classroom. Collaborating is a CRUCIAL life skill for students and we need to help them learn how to do it successfully. Don’t forget to subscribe to my email list! You will get the most up to date tips, tricks, and classroom projects… and of course more fun FREEBIES including the Back to School Charades FREEBIE! You will also have exclusive access to tons of digital how-to videos! If you would like to learn about this and other things happening in my classroom follow me  @sweetnsauerfirsties on Instagram.

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Still LOVE this pencil hack from @teachatyourownri Still LOVE this pencil hack from @teachatyourownrisk!! 

What are your favorite pencil management hacks?!

Learn more of my favorite easy to implement hacks now!
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The first time I heard this I thought, what the he The first time I heard this I thought, what the heck does that even mean? 

But did you know that slow is actually fast?

Spending the first six weeks of school focusing on building relationships, setting expectations, and practicing routines will set your students up for the ENTIRE year.

Have you ever thought that your classroom could *almost* run itself? 

Imagine you’re in your classroom full of students, and you look around and EVERY single student is following the expectation. 

Sound too good to be true? It isn’t! 

What if I told you that you could leave school feeling happier everyday with less stress and overwhelm? 

Join us for a LIVE webinar that teaches you how to do just this! The best part is- it’s completely FREE! 

That’s right! You’ll learn quick and easy tips to help you get your time back and have the entire year be smooth sailing! So what’re you waiting for?? 

Sign up now for the webinar 3 Simple Ways to Stop the Overwhelm and Begin Creating Systems that Help Your Classroom (Almost) Run Itself. You will walk away with helpful tips, easy to implement ideas, and of course FREEBIES!! 

We’ll have a blast together, do some GREAT learning, and you’ll leave feeling ready and relaxed for the new school year!

So are you in? We have three options running:

🌟July 6th at 12pm EST 

🌟July 6th at 8pm EST 

🌟 July 7th at 3pm EST

Head to my stories to register now or drop a comment that says I’m in and I’ll send you the info to join the FREE training! 

It’s ok if you can’t join live too! There will be a replay option available for a short amount of time. Can’t wait to see you there! ❤️
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Another must have #teacherhack are Velcro dots! H Another must have #teacherhack are Velcro dots!

Have you used Velcro dots?! They are a must have for EVERYTHING! From calendars to name tags… you can NEVER go wrong! 👏

I was SO tired of re-gluing name tags and everything changed once I used Velcro dots! 

Check out the ones I use!
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Did that shock you? I know it shocked me the first Did that shock you? I know it shocked me the first time I heard it. 

You may be thinking…

“I don’t have time for that.” 

“I need to begin teaching content.”

“Six weeks? That’s way too long.”

If you are thinking the same thing, I get it I was there. But what if I told you that by spending the first six weeks of school building relationships, practicing routines, and setting a foundation, your classroom would *ALMOST* run itself. 

Join us for a LIVE webinar that teaches you how to do just this! The best part is- it’s completely FREE! 

That’s right! You’ll learn quick and easy tips to help you get your time back and have the entire year be smooth sailing! So what’re you waiting for?? 

Sign up now for the webinar 3 Simple Ways to Stop the Overwhelm and Begin Creating Systems that Help Your Classroom (Almost) Run Itself. You will walk away with helpful tips, easy to implement ideas, and of course FREEBIES!! 

We’ll have a blast together, do some GREAT learning, and you’ll leave feeling ready and relaxed for the new school year!

So are you in? We have three options running:

🌟July 6th at 12pm EST 

🌟July 6th at 8pm EST 

🌟 July 7th at 3pm EST

Drop a comment that says I’m in and I’ll send you the info to join the FREE training! 

It’s ok if you can’t join live too! There will be a replay option available for a short amount of time. Can’t wait to see you there! ❤️
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#elementaryteacher #teaching #classroom #teachingideas #classroomideas #education #handsonlearning #teachertribe #teacher #teachers
#teacherlife #teacherproblems #firstgrade #firstgradeteacher #teachersfollowteachers #teachersofinstagram #teachersofig #iteach #teacherpd #teacherhacks
 #teacherquotes #teachingtips #teacherspayteachers #weareteachers #teachersummer #teachershare #teacherinspiration  #clasroomcommunity #firstyearteacher #classroommanagement
Such a GREAT management hack from @miss_third_grad Such a GREAT management hack from @miss_third_grade!!

Learn more easy classroom hacks and tips now! 
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I feel called out! 😂 What about you? Have you I feel called out! 😂

What about you? Have you been shopping already? 🙈

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This is one of my absolute favorite digital hacks! This is one of my absolute favorite digital hacks!

Did you know you can add fonts to your @google suite apps?! There are SO many amazing fonts! 

Check out my blog post FULL of other amazing teacher hacks!

If you subscribe, you’ll have exclusive access to TONS of how to videos including how to add these beautiful fonts! 
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Thank you for sharing this gorgeous image @createandeducate 
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Yep! I feel seen! 🙋‍♀️🤣 How much is Yep! I feel seen! 🙋‍♀️🤣 

How much is this you too?!

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Still one of my absolute FAVORITE hacks!! How bril Still one of my absolute FAVORITE hacks!! How brilliant is this?! 

It’s super easy and effective for littles. 

Learn more easy must know teacher hacks now!
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Do you have a must know hack to share?! Drop it below and I’ll share it this week! ⬇️
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Still LOVE this pencil hack from @teachatyourownrisk!! What are your favorite pencil management hacks?!Learn more of my favorite easy to implement hacks now!{🔗 on profile}••••#elementaryteacher #teaching #classroom #teachingideas #classroomideas #education #handsonlearning #teachertribe #teacher #teachers#teacherlife #teacherproblems #firstgrade #firstgradeteacher #teachersfollowteachers #teachersofinstagram #teachersofig #iteach #iteachfirst #iteachtoo #igconnect4edu #teacherhack #teacherspayteachers #weareteachers #teacherhacks #teachershare #classroommanagement #classroomhacks #teachersonbreak #teachingtips ... See MoreSee Less

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15 hours ago

Lindsay Sauer
The first time I heard this I thought, what the heck does that even mean? But did you know that slow is actually fast?Spending the first six weeks of school focusing on building relationships, setting expectations, and practicing routines will set your students up for the ENTIRE year.Have you ever thought that your classroom could *almost* run itself? Imagine you’re in your classroom full of students, and you look around and EVERY single student is following the expectation. Sound too good to be true? It isn’t! What if I told you that you could leave school feeling happier everyday with less stress and overwhelm? Join us for a LIVE webinar that teaches you how to do just this! The best part is- it’s completely FREE! That’s right! You’ll learn quick and easy tips to help you get your time back and have the entire year be smooth sailing! So what’re you waiting for?? Sign up now for the webinar 3 Simple Ways to Stop the Overwhelm and Begin Creating Systems that Help Your Classroom (Almost) Run Itself. You will walk away with helpful tips, easy to implement ideas, and of course FREEBIES!! We’ll have a blast together, do some GREAT learning, and you’ll leave feeling ready and relaxed for the new school year!So are you in? We have three options running:🌟July 6th at 12pm EST 🌟July 6th at 8pm EST 🌟 July 7th at 3pm ESTHead to my stories to register now or drop a comment that says I’m in and I’ll send you the info to join the FREE training! It’s ok if you can’t join live too! There will be a replay option available for a short amount of time. Can’t wait to see you there! ❤️••••#elementaryteacher #teaching #classroom #teachingideas #classroomideas #education #handsonlearning #teachertribe #teacher #teachers#teacherlife #teacherproblems #firstgrade #firstgradeteacher #teachersfollowteachers #teachersofinstagram #teachersofig #iteach #iteachfirst #teacherhacks #teacherquotes #teachingtips #teacherspayteachers #weareteachers #teachersummer #teachershare #teacherinspiration #clasroomcommunity #firstyearteacher #classroommanagement ... See MoreSee Less

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Lindsay Sauer

1 day ago

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Another must have #teacherhack are Velcro dots!Have you used Velcro dots?! They are a must have for EVERYTHING! From calendars to name tags… you can NEVER go wrong! 👏I was SO tired of re-gluing name tags and everything changed once I used Velcro dots! Check out the ones I use!{🔗 on profile}••••#elementaryteacher #teaching #classroom #teachingideas #classroomideas #education #handsonlearning #teachertribe #teacher #teachers #teacherlife #teacherproblems #firstgrade #firstgradeteacher #teachersfollowteachers #teachersofinstagram #teachersofig #iteach #iteachfirst #teacherinspiration #igconnect4edu #teacherspayteachers #weareteachers #teachershare #primaryteacher #teacherhacks #classroommanagement #classroomsetup #flexibleseating ... See MoreSee Less

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Lindsay Sauer

2 days ago

Lindsay Sauer
Did that shock you? I know it shocked me the first time I heard it. You may be thinking…“I don’t have time for that.” “I need to begin teaching content.”“Six weeks? That’s way too long.”If you are thinking the same thing, I get it I was there. But what if I told you that by spending the first six weeks of school building relationships, practicing routines, and setting a foundation, your classroom would *ALMOST* run itself. Join us for a LIVE webinar that teaches you how to do just this! The best part is- it’s completely FREE! That’s right! You’ll learn quick and easy tips to help you get your time back and have the entire year be smooth sailing! So what’re you waiting for?? Sign up now for the webinar 3 Simple Ways to Stop the Overwhelm and Begin Creating Systems that Help Your Classroom (Almost) Run Itself. You will walk away with helpful tips, easy to implement ideas, and of course FREEBIES!! We’ll have a blast together, do some GREAT learning, and you’ll leave feeling ready and relaxed for the new school year!So are you in? We have three options running:🌟July 6th at 12pm EST 🌟July 6th at 8pm EST 🌟 July 7th at 3pm ESTDrop a comment that says I’m in and I’ll send you the info to join the FREE training! It’s ok if you can’t join live too! There will be a replay option available for a short amount of time. Can’t wait to see you there! ❤️••••#elementaryteacher #teaching #classroom #teachingideas #classroomideas #education #handsonlearning #teachertribe #teacher #teachers#teacherlife #teacherproblems #firstgrade #firstgradeteacher #teachersfollowteachers #teachersofinstagram #teachersofig #iteach #teacherpd #teacherhacks #teacherquotes #teachingtips #teacherspayteachers #weareteachers #teachersummer #teachershare #teacherinspiration #clasroomcommunity #firstyearteacher #classroommanagement ... See MoreSee Less

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Such a GREAT management hack from @miss_third_grade!!Learn more easy classroom hacks and tips now! {🔗 on profile}••••#elementaryteacher #teaching #classroom #teachingideas #classroomideas #education #handsonlearning #teachertribe #teacher #teachers#teacherlife #teacherproblems #firstgrade #firstgradeteacher #teachersfollowteachers #teachersofinstagram #teachersofig #iteach #iteachfirst #iteachtoo #igconnect4edu #teachershare #teacherspayteachers #weareteachers #teacherinspiration #primaryteacher #teacherhack #teachingtips #teacherhacks #classroommanagement ... See MoreSee Less

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  • Are you getting ready to prepare your classroom for the first week of school? This blog post gives you everything you need to feel ready for the beginning of the school year. Included are a bunch of classroom resources that you can use to help set up your classroom and great classroom management ideas for planning classroom rules, routines and procedures. See everything from my bin labels, back to school checklist, and first week of school kit to feel ready for the start of the school year.
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  • Is the start of the school year around the corner? Check out these 5 classroom tips and tricks that you can use to be stress free for the beginning of the school year. Included are classroom organization ideas, classroom expectations for the 1st day of school, ideas for building connections in the classroom, and tips on how to have fun with your elementary classroom. If you are looking for more beginning of the year ideas, you can also check out my beginning of the year survival kit.
  • Are you working on putting together your classroom library? This blog post will give you some classroom tips and tricks for classroom library organization. You will want to start by book leveling to have an organized system for students to access books. After books are leveled, I love to organize books by genre in my elementary classroom. I even link to the editable classroom library labels I use. These classroom organization tips will help you see reading growth with your elementary students.
  • Are you getting ready to prepare your classroom for the first week of school? This blog post gives you everything you need to feel ready for the beginning of the school year. Included are a bunch of classroom resources that you can use to help set up your classroom and great classroom management ideas for planning classroom rules, routines and procedures. See everything from my bin labels, back to school checklist, and first week of school kit to feel ready for the start of the school year.
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  • What do you include in your classroom schedule the first few weeks of school? See why I don’t dig into classroom curriculum the first week of school in this blog post. It is important to build relationships, make classroom connections, teach classroom routines and procedures, build social emotional foundations and help students feel welcomed at the beginning of the school year. I include multiple back to school resources here, including a mega bundle first week of school kit.

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