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Speaking and Listening at Reception and Key Stage 1

2 Forming Groups

2.1 Group Size

Before any examination of how to group children for talk activities, it is essential to consider with students the optimum number of children who can usefully talk in each group. Faced with classes where children may be seated in groups of 6, 8, 10, students may be tempted to set up group talk for groups of similar numbers.  Guidance is fairly clear that groups of four allow for a range of ideas without the lines of communication becoming too complicated. Figure 6.3 in Bennett & Dunne (1994) is useful in exemplifying the lines of communication in groups of 3 to 5 children. See below.

Group Sizes

There is also advice maintaining that pairs can work well together as it is difficult not to respond to one other person and this is well worth students considering for children at Foundation stage and KS1.

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Contents

  1. Introduction
  2. Forming groups
    1. Group size
    2. Group composition
      1. Criteria for forming groups
      2. Planning for group size and composition
  3. Structuring Tasks Within A Curricular Context
    1. The potential of group talk
    2. Identifying talking tasks across the curriculum
    3. Features of effective talking tasks
    4. Using task structures
    5. Analysing talking tasks
  4. Other ideas for speaking and listening
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