Collaborative colouring

Photo: Topsy Page

A few months ago I saw a lovely collaborative colouring exercise in a primary school in London. Children each had a printed outline of a welly boot; they were working in pairs and their task was to colour in their welly boot so that it turned out identical to their partner’s. The idea was that they should discuss and decide how to colour it and to keep talking, listening and thinking together throughout the task.

Try it – it doesn’t need to be a welly boot of course!

Tips:

• Give some information / reminders about what collaborative talk is, before they start. For example: Listen to and value each other’s ideas. Be interested and supportive. Question, challenge and clarify. Take turns to speak.

• Model.

• Have them discuss ideas for a minute or longer before they pick up any pens. They need to have at least agreed on a first step.

• Provide talk prompts to encourage collaboration, for example: Shall we…? What do you think about this idea? What do you think? What shall we do next? I have an idea – let’s…

• Create pause points, to reflect: Pens down… How well are you collaborating?

Oracy skills development:

• listening

• showing interest in what someone says

• taking turns

• thinking together

• explaining clearly

• giving instructions

• using precise language

• asking clarification questions

Photo: Topsy Page