Teaching Routines / Stand Up, Share Up
Stand Up, Share Up
Everybody stands up, crosses the room, and swaps ideas with somebody who is not on their table. It is the cheapest way to break a class out of the six people they always talk to.
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What is stand up, share up?
Stand up, share up is a mixing structure: children think of an answer, stand when they have one, then move around the room swapping ideas with people who are not on their own table. After a few exchanges everybody sits down.
Standing does two jobs. It signals readiness — you can see at a glance who has an answer — and it physically separates children from their usual table group, which is the only reliable way to get a class talking to somebody new.
How do you run it, step by step?
- Think (about forty-five seconds). Everybody works out their own answer, silently. Nothing is shared yet.
- Stand (about fifteen seconds). Stand up when you have something. You now have a room full of visible readiness, and the last few children have a reason to finish.
- Share (about three minutes). Find somebody not from your table, swap ideas, move on. Three people, then sit down.
Four minutes. Sitting down as the signal for finishing is neat: the room resolves itself and you can see who is still going.
Why not just use talk partners?
Because talk partners are the same person every time. A class that only ever discusses with its table hears the same four opinions all year, and the child who sits with three quiet children has a very different lesson from the child who does not.
This is not better than a talk partner for depth — a three-minute standing conversation is shallower. It is better for range, which is a different thing to want.
The instruction that matters is “not somebody you sit with”, and you have to say it every single time or they will simply stand up and turn round. I also had to add a rule about the last few: there is always an odd number, and a child left standing with nobody to talk to is the most exposed thing in the room. Now I say threes are fine if you cannot find a two, and I make a point of being the spare partner myself when I can see it happening. The other change was making them write their idea down before standing — without it, about a third of the class stands up with nothing and does their thinking in the conversation, which is fine for them and useless for the person they meet. With Year 4 I cap it at two partners rather than three; by the third the conversations have become social.
What usually goes wrong?
- They talk to their table. Say the rule every time; it does not stick from last week.
- Somebody is left without a partner. Allow threes, and be the spare yourself.
- Children stand with nothing to say. Have them write the idea first.
- It runs long and turns social. Two or three partners is the ceiling.
Which year groups is it for?
| Year group | US grade | What to change | How long |
|---|---|---|---|
| Years 1–2 | K – Grade 1 | One partner only. Model the whole thing first. | 3 min |
| Years 3–4 | Grades 2–3 | Two partners, idea written down before standing. | 4 min |
| Years 5–6 and up | Grades 4–8 | Three partners, and they must report somebody else's idea, not their own. | 6 min |
Compared with the other mixing structures
- Quiz & Swap circulates the same way but tests a fact rather than trading an opinion.
- Give One, Get One is the version where they collect ideas in writing as they go.
- Human Line-Up also moves the whole class, but orders them rather than mixing them.
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Written by a practising primary school teacher, and part of the free-to-try Teaching Routines set on Sage Teachers. Last checked August 2026. Everything here is free to try.