[stanley]

I think it's important to vary the way you group the children. It largely depends on the activity. I don't think it would be fair to the higher level students to always pair them with lower level ones (I wouldn't like it in my Chinese classes - I much prefer to work with someone of a similar level) On the other hand, there are some situations where mixed ability groups work well, for example in a role play where the higher level student is given a more complex role. Today I did the True False activity, where students have to make up some true/false facts about themselves, get into groups, take turns to read their sentences to the group who vote on whether they think they're true or false. When modelling the activity, I first wrote out some simple sentences(about me!) and then explained how I'd expect more able students to expand these using more complex language. They worked in mixed ability groups and it was a success - everyone speaking at their own level and everyone listening to other group members.