resource guide
Group work role cards
KS3 > SkillsSpeaking and listening
How it works / A one-page resource that consists of four neat and colourful group role cards – speaker, scribe, judge and pioneer. Simply copy the resource onto card and snip each A4 card into four role cards. Put students into groups of four and give each member a different card, and thus a different role.Try this!
Or this!
Or this!
Or this!
Even this! / You can assign the cards randomly, or according to known strengths and weaknesses. It’s a good way of making students step outside their preferred styles of participation.
The resource defines the role of the ‘speaker’ as ‘to report on everything the group agrees’. A whole-class report-back that goes on and on can be the kiss of death to groupwork. Instead send each ‘speaker’ to the next group. The visited group’s scribe makes notes about the visitor’s report and the ensuing discussion. Now move the speakers on.
You can, of course, construct your own cards to introduce extra or different roles; chairperson and assessor come to mind. The chairperson would facilitate the discussion and ensure that everyone contributes constructively. The assessor could stay outside the discussion and simply note down comments about individuals’ performances against a set of previously agreed criteria. (My own website has some useful materials for this, developed out of action research: see
Another useful way of assigning roles is to take all the picture cards out of a pack of cards, shuffle them and then go round the groups dealing one card to each student. Students have to speak in the group according to their card: a lot if they have ten; not much if they have a three. Ace is high or low – as the student desires.
Here’s one more way of assigning roles: give each student a ‘thinking hat’ whose colour tells them how they are to think and behave: the black hat always looks on the negative side; the green hat always seeks out novel, creative ideas, and so on. See for fuller details.
Richard Durant
© 2007
Role play
© 2006 1