Ideas for Splitting a Group into Subgroups - Revision history

Kmacdonald at 20:51, 15 July 2021

2021-07-15T20:51:09Z

Kmacdonald at 20:38, 15 July 2021

2021-07-15T20:38:42Z

Kmacdonald: Created page with "==== '''''Line up (or make a circle) and count off to f..."

2021-07-02T17:31:44Z

Created page with "==== '''''Line up (or make a circle) and count off to f..."

New page

==== '''''Line up (or make a circle) and count off to form groups''''' ====
This is a tried-and-true, and pretty fast, way of splitting a group. But kids sometimes try to "game the system" by placing themselves in line strategically so they can be with their friends. If you'd like to avoid that, you can have the kids do any of the following first, then count off:

# Line up in height order
# Line up according to birth date in the year (January 1 is here, December 31 is here)
# Line up alphabetically according to first name, middle name, or last name
# Line up according to shoe size

For extra challenge, you can stipulate that the participants must line up in the chosen order without any talking.

Below are three more ideas for splitting a group:

==== '''''Categories''''' ====
Skip the count-off, and just announce team categories. For instance:

# Birth month: if you were born in January, February, March, or April, you’re in Team A; if you were born in May, June, July, or August you’re in team B; if you were born in September, October, November, or December, you're in team C.
# First letter of first name: if your first name starts with a letter from A to M, you're in team A. If it starts with a letter from N to Z, you're in team B.

==== '''''Rock band''''' ====
Everyone get in groups of three (or two, or four, or however many groups you ultimately need). Each group is now a rock band. Decide who will be lead singer, guitar player, bass player, drums, etc. Now: break apart your band. ALL the lead singers are ONE group. ALL the guitar players are a SECOND group, etc.

==== '''''Unicorn''''' ====
This method only works to divide a group into two. "Everybody close your eyes and, in your head, do a kindergarten drawing of a unicorn. Make sure to draw the eyes, the ears, and—most important—the horn. Open your eyes. If your unicorn was facing left, you’re in Team A. If it was facing right, you’re in Team B." This often works surprisingly well to split a group roughly in half. If the resulting groups are uneven, you may have to pick a few people to switch teams.

@@ Line 9: / Line 9: @@
 For extra challenge, you can stipulate that the participants must line up in the chosen order without any talking.
-'''''If you're trying to distribute people with greater or lesser amounts of skill in a certain topic evenly into sub-groups,''''' do the following. Have everyone line up between two landmarks, explaining that people with LOTS of skill or experience in a topic should gravitate towards one end of the line, and people with LITTLE TO NO skill or experience should gravitate to the other. Explain that there is nothing wrong with not having lots of skill or experience. Once everyone has found a place and made a line, count off by the number of groups you need. Doing so distributes the skill/experience levels among the groups.
+===== '''''Line up by skill and count off''''' =====
 '''''Below are three more ideas for splitting a group:'''''

@@ Line 1: / Line 1: @@
-==== <span class="mw-headline" id="Line_up_.28or_make_a_circle.29_and_count_off_to_form_groups" style="box-sizing: inherit;">'''''Line up (or make a circle) and count off to form groups'''''</span> ====
+====<span class="mw-headline" id="Line_up_.28or_make_a_circle.29_and_count_off_to_form_groups" style="box-sizing: inherit;">'''''Line up (or make a circle) and count off to form groups'''''</span>====
-This is a tried-and-true, and pretty fast, way of splitting a group. But kids sometimes try to "game the system" by placing themselves in line strategically so they can be with their friends. If you'd like to avoid that, you can have the kids do any of the following first, then count off:
+Counting off is a tried-and-true (and pretty fast) way of splitting a large group into sub-groups. But kids sometimes try to "game the system" by placing themselves in line strategically so they can be with their friends. If you'd like to avoid that, you can have the kids do any of the following first, THEN count off by the number of groups you need:
-# Line up in height order
+#Line up in height order
-# Line up according to birth date in the year (January 1 is here, December 31 is here)
+#Line up according to birth date in the year (January 1 is on one end of the line, December 31 is on the other)
-# Line up alphabetically according to first name, middle name, or last name
+#Line up alphabetically according to first name, middle name, or last name
-# Line up according to shoe size
+#Line up according to shoe size
 For extra challenge, you can stipulate that the participants must line up in the chosen order without any talking.
-Below are three more ideas for splitting a group:
+'''''If you're trying to distribute people with greater or lesser amounts of skill in a certain topic evenly into sub-groups,''''' do the following. Have everyone line up between two landmarks, explaining that people with LOTS of skill or experience in a topic should gravitate towards one end of the line, and people with LITTLE TO NO skill or experience should gravitate to the other. Explain that there is nothing wrong with not having lots of skill or experience. Once everyone has found a place and made a line, count off by the number of groups you need. Doing so distributes the skill/experience levels among the groups.
-==== <span class="mw-headline" id="Categories" style="box-sizing: inherit;">'''''Categories'''''</span> ====
+'''''Below are three more ideas for splitting a group:'''''
-# Birth month: if you were born in January, February, March, or April, you’re in Team A; if you were born in May, June, July, or August you’re in team B; if you were born in September, October, November, or December, you're in team C.
+====<span class="mw-headline" id="Categories" style="box-sizing: inherit;">'''''Categories'''''</span>====
-# First letter of first name: if your first name starts with a letter from A to M, you're in team A. If it starts with a letter from N to Z, you're in team B.
+Announce a set of categories that will determine what team people are on. For instance:
-==== <span class="mw-headline" id="Rock_band" style="box-sizing: inherit;">'''''Rock band'''''</span> ====
+#'''Birth month:''' if you were born in January, February, March, or April, you’re in Team A; if you were born in May, June, July, or August you’re in team B; if you were born in September, October, November, or December, you're in team C.
 Everyone get in groups of three (or two, or four, or however many groups you ultimately need). Each group is now a rock band. Decide who will be lead singer, guitar player, bass player, drums, etc. Now: break apart your band. ALL the lead singers are ONE group. ALL the guitar players are a SECOND group, etc.
-==== <span class="mw-headline" id="Unicorn" style="box-sizing: inherit;">'''''Unicorn'''''</span> ====
+====<span class="mw-headline" id="Unicorn" style="box-sizing: inherit;">'''''Unicorn'''''</span>====
 This method only works to divide a group into two. "Everybody close your eyes and, in your head, do a kindergarten drawing of a unicorn. Make sure to draw the eyes, the ears, and—most important—the horn. Open your eyes. If your unicorn was facing left, you’re in Team A. If it was facing right, you’re in Team B." This often works surprisingly well to split a group roughly in half. If the resulting groups are uneven, you may have to pick a few people to switch teams.