Activity One: The Grid
Create a 4x2 Grid in Word or some other word processing program. Insert clip art into each of the 8 boxes...8 boxes and 8 different images.
Each student gets one of the sheets and writes his or her name on the top of it. Students then circulate in the classroom getting people to sign in each box and they sign in the corresponding box on that student's sheet.
Example: If you use a picture of a truck in one of the boxes.....the student finds someone to sign their truck box and they sign that student's truck box.
They need to get all of their boxes signed with no repeats. Completed worksheets are kept in a folder, binder, etc.
Result:
1. Students get to know one another's names.
2. The teacher can now call students to find their "truck partner" "ostrich partner" "beach ball partner" etc. when pairing students up for reading, spelling word practice, quick sharing, etc.
Activity Two: The Wheel
Draw a circle on a piece of paper, draw lines across the circle so that there 10 equal sized slices of the circle. Number each piece of the circle from 1 - 10.....
The rules and results are the same as with The Grid... this is a great Day Two version of the activity. Now you have TWO ways to make partnerships at "random" because they students do not know the results of the activity until you use it for your first partnership.
I usually make copies of the worksheets and keep them in a binder so that if a student loses his or her sheet I can still have them find their partners because I have a copy.....I also redo this activity several times throughout the year so that the partnerships don't get stale.