Giving students sentence starters for discussion can help them see what it looks like to discuss with group members. “I agree with _____ because…”, “Can you tell me more about ____?”, “Did anyone else think _____?”, “I didn’t understand _____.”, “One connection I made to myself/the world/previous learning/a book was _____.”

Building Thinking Classrooms by Peter Liljedahl is fantastic for establishing routines and structures for collaboration!
I used this in a kindergarten classroom last year and it was incredibly powerful for giving all students a voice and ability to participate in classroom discussions. It shifts the focus from being teacher centered to student centered facilitation. It is a game changer!

There are two things that I try. First give them a common task to do—I usually will make it STEAM related so that it’s fun and engaging. There is usually a time limit and then we debrief afterwards—what went well? What didn’t? How did you work (or not work) as a team? How did this contribute to your success? We have a discussion about how working together is vital. The next thing I do is determine roles for each person in whatever group students are in. For example in a jigsaw activity for reading, they are responsible to report back to their group so that their group can learn from them. It gives them a purpose and a responsibility!