High Five (Grouping Strategy)

High Five is easy, quick, and effective. Thank you to Robin Fogarty and Brian M. Pete for your great idea!

High Five

This another great way to get your students into collaborative groups or pairs. It's also wonderful to get your students moving around.

Students get out of their chairs and walk around the room shaking hands with or high-fiving their classmates. When you say freeze they stop. Whoever they are shaking hands with or high-fiving (or is it fiving high?) will be their partner for a discussion. This pairing strategy is a variation of Three Musketeers.

Example
I often use High Five with the quick write strategy. You will notice that what I am about to describe is a variation of Think-Pair-Share. 

My students watch CNN Student News in the morning. When the news is done, I pose a quick writing prompt for them to think about. After a minute or so of think time I ask my students to get out of their seats and walk around shaking hands or high-fiving their classmates. When I say freeze they partner up with someone whom they are making contact or who is nearby. The students then talk about what their writing idea with their partner. Afterward, they go to their quick write journal to log their thoughts.

I collect the quick write journals once a week to check for several things: comprehension, mechanics, complete sentences, deep thought, creativity, and more.

Try it this week!