@ellythomas : It would depend on the personalities involved. I would consider two of the following approaches; (1) Ask the students to leave the class room until they are ready to participate in a manner that is conducive to learning for all; (2) I would just stop teaching, look at the group, tell them that I will wait but that the class will still be responsible for all materials that I intended to cover. Hopefully, the rest of the class would encourage them to behave appropriately; at least by "shhh"s. The silence in the room except for the chatter from the disruptives often will work wonders.
Disruptive students are often difficult to deal with, especially when there is a group of them.
