Marie J. Campanaro, NBCT WLOE Cosgrove Middle School Spencerport, NY

 A consistent warm up, “do now” routine, to ensure independent start up and set the tone for the classroom  Clear expectations for needed materials  Clear expectations for what to do when done  Reminders given whenever needed  But “jump start” when necessary

 Clear signal – practiced to infinity!  Verbal signal with response  Count down with ‘reward’

 Desk formations – partnered & grouped  Well ‘orchestrated’  modeled,  who starts,  who moves, different signal for movement  no gaps in time  no left over time (what to do when done clear)  timer or cue

 Cara a cara (face to face)  Lado a lado (side by side)  Estaciones (stations)  Rotate seats for variety of partners, teams and teacher observation

 Creating the groups  Create groups within groups to keep numbers small  Balance personalities  Locations for groups  Assign specific locations within the room  Location of material  Keep directions with group materials  Post directions within the room (Smart Board?)  Give individual copies of directions when needed

 Try to keep students in groups of 3, regardless of the size of the tiered group  Balance by size, ability, personality, …, when forming groups  Assign each group an area of the room  Have needed materials for larger tiered groups in more than one place; assign student groups to a specific area for materials

 3 before Me  Student work should be 99% independent  Thwarts the efforts of “that student”!  Anchor activities  Must relate to current classroom activity  May also be differentiated  A lot of activity at the anchor station is a signal that group tasks need to be reworked

 Dividing the class  Order of play  setting the rules – and sticking to them  Watch the clock

 Random division of class and establishing the order of play (circles)  Provide list of acceptable cheers in the target language (points lost for poor sport behavior)  Designate the time of play from beginning to end to avoid wasting time. (Use the timer.)

 Assign homework before the very end of the class  Have activities requiring little or no supplies toward the end of class  Dismiss by row or group area when necessary