Fun way to set up partners

In science, we use partners almost daily. Kids get tired of the same old same old partners. I know a lot of people have used Clock Buddies (me included) and other ways, but here is just another way to do it.

iPartners Journal Pages (click on the picture to get it)

Students use the symbols to partner up with another person. They write their names on each other's boxes with the same symbol. They only have 6 to fill out, then...they glue them in their journals! They cannot lose it unless they (heaven forbid!) lose their journals. When you are ready for new partners, do it again and add this new page to their journals.

When you are ready to partner up, just say, "Find your Recycle partner." I also like to color and laminate the large cards for each symbol. Then I can have it on the board and the students know to find their partner when they come to class without me saying anything. Then we are ready to go! Its just a fun way to do the same thing we have been doing.