Pairing cards are one of my favorite ways to bring kids together for activities. There are a number of ways you can set up student partnerships in a classroom. Often, I’m very intentional when pairing up children. If the work is academic, I tend to pair kids who need support and a gentle spirit with kids who are patient and natural at coaching. I also try to avoid combining children who rile up one another. Not that I’m opposed to conflict-resolution strategies, but you know… why poke a hornet’s nest on purpose?
HOW WE USE PAIRING CARDS
I love to use pairing cards all year long. Even at the beginning of year, we use them in mixers, or meet-and-greet activities. Since my questions during these getting-to-know-you activities don’t have right or wrong answers, any student partnerships will work.
MIX-PAIR-SHARE … A FAN FAVE
If you’re familiar with Kagan’s cooperative structures, THESE CARDS work well for a MIX, PAIR, SHARE activity. To do this, choose a set of pairing cards, like these uppercase and lowercase letters.👆 Give each student one card from the set. Then, play a fun little song for about 10-15 seconds.
While the song is playing, children walk around the room, greeting one another and trading cards. (Key word… walk.) When the music is paused, the children then move to find the match for the card they’re holding. For example, if I have the uppercase G, I need to find the person holding the lowercase g.
I like to have my students stand back-to-back when they pair up. This shows me they’re ready to hear the question I’ve planned to ask. When all the children are paired up, you can ask your first question. Depending on your goals, here are some types of questions you might ask:
- GETTING-TO-KNOW-YOU QUESTIONS: “Tell your partner what you want to be when you grow up and explain why.”
- TEST PREP: “Share a fact you know about magnets.”
- PHONEMIC AWARENESS: “Take turns saying words that rhyme with chair. Keep going until each of you have shared three different words.”
- CHARACTER BUILDING: “What would you do if you saw someone take food off of another person’s lunch tray while they were in the restroom?”
When the children are done sharing, they thank each other and turn back-to-back again. This way, you can see when everyone is finished and ready to go on.
At this point, you can resume the song and let the kids continue to mix and trade cards as they walk around the classroom. When you pause the music again, ask a new question, and so on… as long as your time allows.
PAIRING CARDS SETS
I can get bored as much as the next guy (or girl), so we’ve made different sets of pairing cards to keep life interesting. Everyone likes the silly food pairs set, so that’s a good one to begin with, especially for 1st and 2nd graders. When they’re ready, you can introduce new sets that require a bit more knowledge and thought.
- SET 1: Food Pairs
- SET 2: Beginning Sounds
- SET 3: Onset & Rime
- SET 4: Rhyming Words
- SET 5: Homophones
- SET 6: Sums to 12
- SET 7: Sums to 22
- SET 8: Uppercase & Lowercase Letters
- SET 9: Colored Shapes
- SET 10: Animals
I definitely recommend laminating the pairing cards. If you’re like me, you’ll use them a lot. Printing them on card stock and laminating them will make them so much more durable. They should last for years.
DIFFERENTIATED SETS … STRAIGHT-UP MATCHING
If you want to lighten the cognitive load, choose sets whose cards are exact matches. That makes it easier for young children to pair up and gives them the mental space to be ready for whatever question you want to ask them once they’re paired.
You can also make your own pairing cards using index cards and stickers. Or for a fun twist, let your students make them. Give each child two blank cards and let them come up with an idea for their pair of cards. Then, you can store them to use later when you want to pair them up. They’ll get really excited when you use the set they collectively made!
If you don’t have time to make your own pairing cards, you can pick up our sets HERE. They’re ready to print and use. (Gluing them to craft sticks, optional. To be honest, I usually don’t. They’re easier to store as just plain cards.)
Happy teaching!
Interested in related posts?👇
OTHER CLASSROOM MANAGEMENT IDEAS
