Co-op Co-op (Team Project)
Students work in teams to complete a project.
STEPS
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PROJECT IDEAS
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Cooperative Dialogue
- Students number off one through four.
- Each student pairs with another student from a different group who has the same number.
- Following the timeline from the article that was previously read each pair writes a dialogue between two characters in the passage.
- Pairs are selected to present dialogues in chronological order to the class. Activity is designed to be a text "re-presentation."
Carousel
This activity encourages all students to interact through reading and writing.
- Write different but related questions or prompts on chart paper and post the papers around the room.
- Students move around the room either freely or in small groups and write ideas or answers on each paper. Alternately, you can have them record the ideas on sticky notes at their desks ahead of time and then post the notes on the appropriate papers.
- Share and process the ideas with the whole group with a gallery walk (students silently move from poster to poster, reading and noting important ideas) small group to whole group presentations or some other technique.
Cooperative Graphing
This activity involves graphing information based on a survey. Each group of four will take a survey of how many countries each has visited (or other teacher-determined information). A bar graph is then developed. Each person in the group is responsible for one aspect of the graph, and signs his/her name on the chart along with their area of responsibility. Jobs are: survey group members and record results, construct the graph, write names and numbers on the graph, write title and assist with graph construction. Each person in the group describes his/her part of the graph to the class.
Circular Check
Students in groups are given a problem with a definite answer (good for math & science). First students completes first step without contribution from others in-group and passes it to the next student. Second student corrects any mistakes and completes next step, again with out input from the group. Problem gets passed to next student and the process continues until the group has the correct answer.
Four Corners Vocabulary
One page per word divided into 4 sections: Word, Picture, Word in context, Definition.
Task Procedure:
Task Procedure:
- Divide learners into groups of four. If these are homogenous language proficiency level groupings, then organize the vocabulary in step 2 below to meet the needs of beginners, intermediates, advanced, and native speaker language proficiency levels, then arrange groups with half native speakers, half not. If there are far fewer non-native speakers, then sprinkle them around the groups so that a peer translator/bilingual paraprofessional can be with each learner, with first priority to beginners.
- Give each group one numbered envelope with different key vocabulary/concepts, definitions, and pictures/clip art on separate pages.
- Students spill the contents of the envelopes on the table and are instructed to match a definition to a concept/key vocabulary and a picture in order to sort out and organize three of the four quadrants of a 4-corners vocabulary card (or in above variation, translated concept, same concept in English, translation of definition).
- Next, learners are asked to write a sentence that uses the concept/key vocabulary in context. If there are learners who cannot write, then include an envelop of simple sentences that are mixed. Learners have to find the relevant one. Or prepare on sentence cut up into words that has to be sorted. (It may be wise to model steps 2-4 before giving groups envelopes, so prepare an envelope for yourself.)
- After that, learners paste the sections of their 4-corners vocabulary poster together (hand out chart paper for this).
- After that, teams hang their posters in the corners of the room on adjacent walls for team inside-outside circle.
- Each team is given 2 minutes to read their posters. If there were four learners in each group, then each reads a different corner of their posters. Time this with clapping.
- Next, tell groups to write a new sentence using the concept/key vocabulary and add it to the poster. Encourage students to peer edit. (NOTE: After it has been peer edited, the teacher notes what is still in error and corrects it. Teaching what was not correctly peer edited comes at a later date).
- After that, ask every other group to take their poster to another corner of the room and begin the process again. Groups have returned to the corners where they started the task.
- The following day have pupils use their posters to play guessing games. Model this with the whole group before dividing the class into smaller groups of 8-10 players.
- Fold all posters so that only the picture (or translation) of each concept is visible. One team of 4-5 players shows this to the opposing team of 4-5 players. They are given two minutes to produce the concept, definition, and a sentence using the concept. Each game has an egg timer. When time is up points are determined in each game by comparing work. Points are given as follows: finished all work on time – 10 pts; each correct item – 10 pts.
Gallery Walk
A cooperative learning strategy in which the instructor devises several questions/problems and posts each question/problem at a different table or at a different place on the walls (hence the name "gallery"). Students form as many groups as there are questions, and each group moves from question to question (hence the name "walk"). After writing the group's response to the first question, the group rotates to the next position, adding to what is already there. At the last question, it is the group's responsibility to summarize and report to the class.
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Three-Step Interview
This routine is effective when students are responding to questions that do not have a specific right answer. Instructions: Present an issue about which varying opinions exist and pose several questions for the class to consider.
- Students work in pairs. One is the interviewer; the other is the interviewee. Each interview lasts two to three minutes.
- At the signal, partners switch roles.
- After each set of partners have interviewed each other, have them pair with another set of partners. Each partner shares his or her partner’s idea with the others.
Think-Pair-Share
Plan A
Plan B
Plan C
- Pose a question to the group and ask the students to think about an answer to the question.
- Ask students to pair up with someone at the table or close by, and have a student in the pair share his/her answer to the question. The other student in the pair listens.
- Ask the other student in the pair share his/her answer to the question while his/her partner listens.
- Bring the whole class back together, and ask several students to share what they learned from their partners.
- Chart the answers for further discussion, if appropriate.
Plan B
- Tell each student to find a partner.
- One partner at a time takes 3-4 minutes to outline the problems or issues. The other partner listens silently.
- The silent partner now responds either with questions needing clarification or with suggestions for resolving he issues. Allow only 3-4 minutes for responding.
- Repeat the process, as the second partner describes the problems or issues. The same time limits apply.
- The large group reassembles and creates a chart of the issues related to the topic.
Plan C
- Group the students in groups of two or three.
- Read the information or think about a specific topic and take notes.
- Ask students to think about what they read or contemplated. Decide how they can best share this information with another person, or pair.
- Students share relevant information with the other members of the group.
Jigsaw
10-2-2
Having students continually reflect upon previous learning helps them begin to process information in manageable chunks of information. Occasionally, teachers feel the pressure of trying to get as much information to the student as quickly as possible. As a result, lectures can often turn into runaway freight trains that can leave behind some of the students in the room. This method breaks longer periods of lecture into more manageable periods of information delivery and information processing.
- 10 minute lecture
- 2 minute pair-share with elbow partner, allowing them to share notes, revise information, and add any information that they might have missed
- 2 minutes of independent summarizing
- Repeat the process until all information is presented
Give One, Get One
In this whole-class activity, students have a task – to give and to get information. They walk around the classroom and randomly select partners with whom to share information and get new information about an assigned topic. Instructions: Before beginning, give students quiet time to consider what they know about a particular topic, and to record a number of possible responses (sketches, words, phrases, or sentences) on a sheet designed for that purpose.
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- Pose a question that is open-ended enough to generate a range of responses or provide a worksheet with multiple questions to discuss and respond to.
- Point out the resources (charts, articles, books, etc.) available to help students generate ideas or find responses. Then allow a couple of minutes for students to record their ideas.
- Provide a set amount of time (about 6 -8 minutes) to get up and find a classmate with whom to share ideas.
- Partners ask for clarification about any detail not understood, comment on anything of interest, then select one idea from the other’s list and add it to their own, with their partner’s name next to it.
- When one exchange is completed, students move on to a new partner.
- At the end of the exchange period, the teacher facilitates a class debriefing of ideas. A volunteer is asked to share one new idea from a conversation partner, utilizing the language structure of reporting, such as:
I learned from _____ that _____.
I found out from _____ that _____.
_____ said (mentioned) that _____.
My partner, _____ told me (said that) _____. - 7. The students whose idea has just been reported shares the next idea gleaned from another conversation partner, and the process continues.
Other Collaboration Strategies
- Socratic Seminar
- Philosophical Chairs