Instigate collaboration

This has been the most common strategy and it is backed by a lot of research.

Ask the children to pair up and collaboratively work on the task (Tom’s class, Ros’s class, Sara’s class, Paola’s class, Linda’s class). Most teachers use group work to solve issues such as differentiation and mixed ability classes. (Huda’s class).

Even those who thought they preferred doing it alone and faster have gained by sharing their expertise with others as this example shows in a girls school

The teacher took the risk and was rewarded with the surprising reaction of these girls who ’would not normally admit to enjoying their work nor doing extra work at home’. By making the game a ’cool’ thing to do, she not only increased their motivation but also vocabulary. Moreover the girls became interested in each others projects and began to collaborate.

It is a good idea to prepare a template of a game for those who are beginners or who seem not interested in continuing with the task so as to bring them to a more interesting step forward (Ros’ class).