Musical Mix-Freeze-Group

Purpose

Students form brief partnerships to answer a question or complete a short task.

Materials

• Questions, words, or prompts prepared for each round
• Music

Instructions

1. Play music while students mix around the room.
2. Stop the music and say, “Freeze!”
3. Say, “Group!” so students get a partner or triad close to them.
4. Present a Think It Up question, an assessment item, a vocabulary word, a visual, or a text.
5. Students work with their partners to answer the question, summarize the word, explain the visual, or summarize the text.
6. Observe students’ thinking and clarify/verify as appropriate.
7. Repeat 3-4 rounds with 3-4 different questions or words.

Classroom Management

• Role-play appropriate mixing and ensure every student has a partner.
• Remind students there will be no harm or humiliation for incorrect answers because correcting mistakes is a sign of intelligence!

Differentiation

• Promote access by allowing students to preview the questions/prompts or by providing an idea bank for open-ended questions.
• Provide response support by offering thinking stems to frame responses.

Think It Up!

• Have students think more deeply about the concept by responding to a Think It Up prompt as an exit ticket or journal entry:
  • Evaluate which question was the most difficult and explain what you learned.
  • Make an inference of how this information might be assessed on a test.
• Encourage students to use lead4ward’s Thinking Stems (English/Spanish) to frame their responses, if needed.