Re By M.

1. Give them another warning. explain that if this continues, they will have to work indvidual. Then, make them all do the same project, but alone.

2. Suggest that if they can't decide over the little details to draw names, straws, pick a number, rock-paper-scissors, eenie-meenie-minie-moe, etc. to decide who gets the final say.

3. It could really be that these students really don't have much experience working in groups. Perhaps you could over with the class (or the small group) what it means to work together and how exactly it's done. Although that may feel a little like baby-sitting, that may be what you need to do. I'm not sure how you could address the class without the others knowing who you are talking about though, so perhaps doing it as a small group would be better.

4. You said they waste time. Although my suggestion will take a lot of work on your part and will require you to pay a lot of attention to one group over all of the others, it may be necessary in order to solve the problem. Pay close attention to the group during work time. Whenever they start arguing/wasting time, use a stop watch or the clock in the room to time how much time they wasted arguing. When they stop arguing, you can stop timing. When they start again, start timing. Add these totals together and make them stay that long in for recess or after school to work on the project. That way they are using the time they wasted on their own time.

5. If it gets to a point where they can't decide on something, you could step in and say something. For example, if they are making a poster and they can't decide how the poster will look, you can step in and say "_______ is responsible for putting the title on." _________ is responsible for collecting information and putting it on the poster. _________ is responsible for finding and/or drawing pictures and putting them on the poster." Then, what that person decides goes.

Hope this helps! Good luck!