 Let's
Cooperate!
Teachers Share Tips
For Cooperative Learning
Cooperation starts at the top! Teachers who use cooperative learning in their classrooms have developed techniques that make the most of this method-- and they share them. From forming groups to using rubrics, these ideas will make any lesson of a cooperative nature a little more fun! Included: Teacher tips, a rubric for grading students' cooperative efforts, and additional online resources!
"Students, like adults, are social creatures who want some choice in
their lives," Gretchen Lee told Education World. "If we, as adults, got
a job that worked like the typical transmission-mode classroom, we wouldn't
last long-- sit down, don't talk, fill out the paper, take notes, ask
to go to the bathroom, three minutes between activities, and 20 minutes
for lunch. How many of us would stay?"
A teacher at Old Orchard Upper School in Campbell, California, Lee uses
cooperative learning to instruct sixth- and eighth-grade students in language
arts and history. She prefers this method of teaching because it promotes
working together and prepares students for the real world.
In Lee's words, "Kids need to learn in a social, challenging, noncompetitive
atmosphere where they feel they have both choice and responsibility. It
should also be a place where different learning styles are accommodated.
In my opinion, the teacher should be the coach and facilitator, not the
authority around which all learning revolves."
Well-designed cooperative learning lessons accomplish Lee's objectives.
- Students decide on goals and the means to accomplish those goals.
- Students decide which roles to play to reach goals.
- Students practice negotiation and social skills and evaluate both
their own contributions and those of the other group members.
- Students learn to collaborate and reinforce one another's strengths
and observe that people with different strengths may accomplish goals
differently or more efficiently.
Meanwhile, added Lee, the teacher is seen as a helpful source of guidance
who is there to make them successful, rather than a judge who hands out
grades and marks papers with red ink.
"My students love cooperative-learning activities," Lee said. "The kids
bounce into my room, clamoring to know what they get to do next. The biggest
excitement is when the desks are arranged in groups, and the loudest groans
are when the desks are back in rows."
The reason for some of the excitement in Lee's classroom is a unit called "Mythology!"
that Lee published on the Internet. She also has designed a poetry
unit. These units combine group and individual work to accomplish
a depth of study beyond what students easily achieve in whole-group work.
Assessing cooperative learning activities presents a challenge for this
educator. For each project, Lee gives a group grade, a daily grade, and
an individual grade for group work. In setting up the groups, Lee randomly
shuffles the students. Because she uses group assignments often, students
know they will be in a different group very shortly, which cuts down on
complaints.
"Each day of the group work, I have a roster with the groups listed.
I spend the entire period just watching the groups within the class,"
said Lee. "At each observation, I make short notations about how individuals
are doing. I use a code so I can just jot numbers.
"The students have to really know what the procedure is for a project,
or you repeatedly restate instructions and have no time for observation,"
Lee added. "Each child starts out with 10 daily points, and I add or subtract
points to this total, depending on the behavior I see. After a couple
of months, this is not really necessary in most classes."
A group grade depends on a finished presentation or project, according
to the established objectives. Lee develops individual grades, which receive
the greatest emphasis in scoring, from confidential "brag" sheets she
gives out at the end of a project. Each student explains his or her role
in the activity and the individual strengths he or she displayed. The
students rate their work on a scale of 1 to 10 and explain what they did
to merit the grade. The students also rate the others in the group on
the same scale and write similar explanations.
"I find that students are incredibly honest in both the self-evaluations
and the evaluations of their peers," Lee said. "In the three years I've
been using this method, only one student abused it in an effort to get
another in trouble. Because I had brag sheets from the entire group, it
was easy to see what was going on and to adjust for it."
Lee's grading method reassures the hardworking students that their efforts
will be rewarded, even if the group grade isn't what they might hope for.
The less-motivated students also learn quickly that they need to contribute
if they want a desirable grade. Before the implementation of this grading
system, some of Lee's students treated group work as a holiday, suggesting
that one of the motivated kids would do their job to make sure that the
group got the A.
Aimee McCracken, who teaches in the public school system in Perry, Ohio,
has a unique method of creating groups for cooperative-learning activities
in her third-grade class.
"I cut apart comic strips and pass them out to my students," explained
McCracken. "They must walk around the room to find the rest of their comic
strips, which creates a team. This activity is an easy way to create groups.
The kids think it's fun, so there are no complaints!"
According to McCracken, cooperative learning is a wonderful way for
students to work together in teams. "Students see the importance of understanding
one another's views and feelings," she explained. "They learn that working
with others is not always easy but has numerous benefits. I work with
students to help them understand that each person has his or her own way
of doing things.
"When the students are part of the workforce, they will have to listen
and learn from others as well as share their own opinions," added McCracken.
"This is great preparation for the 'real world'!"
McCracken says that cooperative learning is essential in her inclusion
classroom. She believes that the experience benefits all students-- not
just those with special needs. Through cooperative learning activities,
students become teachers and instruct one another. Children who
need challenge must think of creative ways to teach other students, and
those who need guidance are more comfortable because the lessons are coming
from their peers. McCracken has observed that students seem to feel secure
and are not reluctant to share their feelings with others in the classroom.
"My students move into their groups willingly, ready to tackle the assignment,"
said grade-six teacher Avis Breding, of Jeannette Myhre School in Bismarck,
North Dakota. "It is interesting to listen to the groups discuss questions
and see how their minds think and grow when discussing issues! You can
pick out students who would be great on a debate team!"
Breding assigns roles to the members of her groups during cooperative-learning
activities. The jobs are leader, recorder, encourager, and checker.
- Leader-- The leader directs the action for the day once the teacher
has given the instructions.
- Recorder-- This group member does the writing for the entire group;
he or she uses one sheet, which saves paper.
- Encourager -- The encourager gives compliments related to how the
group is working, such as "That was a great answer!"
- Checker-- This member checks and hands in the work for the group.
Breding believes that cooperative learning makes her classroom a friendlier
place and that her teaching reaches more of her students. "I have found
that my students get along better because cooperative learning teaches
them that everyone has a talent in an area that they might not have,"
she explained. "Another benefit is students learn better from one other
and learn through the discussions in the group. Last, all students are
working and learning in groups, whereas if you are the instructor, some
are not listening."
Lenora Grade School in Lenora, Kansas, is very small. When Bonita Slipke
was hired, she was told that her job would last for only one year, but
after ten, she is still there. The average class size is eight students,
and the entire K-12 school has an enrollment of less than 100. Slipke
says that cooperative learning works for her.
A favorite cooperative-learning activity in Slipke's sixth to eighth
grade classroom is the ABCs of Cooperative Learning. The project is a
bulletin board that may remain on display during the entire school year.
Slipke organizes students into pairs and distributes letters of the alphabet.
Each pair of students develops a trait of cooperation that begins with
the assigned letter, positions its letter on the bulletin board, and writes
the corresponding trait next to it.
"I used the ABCs idea this year in my classroom, but I did it in a little
different way," explained Slipke. "I made a 26-piece puzzle. Each piece
represented a letter of the alphabet. I held a class discussion about
cooperation and its importance when working on projects or anything together.
I then had the students make their own ABCs of cooperation. Each student
was responsible for a certain letter or letters of the alphabet. The children
wrote the letters on the puzzle pieces and decorated them as they wanted.
"When all 26 pieces were done, the students worked together to assemble
the puzzle," added Slipke. "I then had them glue the pieces on white paper
and sign their names. After laminating the puzzle, I used it as a permanent
display in my classroom. It was at the front of the room where all students
could see it at all times. I completed this project on the first one or
two days of school."
Another cooperative-learning activity Slipke uses is an open-ended,
long-term problem. Students work in groups of four. They use a problem-solving
plan and work together during class time as well as outside of class.
A recent problem: Would it be cheaper to get to New York City from Lenora
by car, bus, or plane? The students showed all their plans and all their
work for each mode of transportation so there would be no question about
their answers. The groups had a little trouble getting started, and getting
all parties involved was tough, but the final projects were quite good.
"There is no one right way to do cooperative learning. It is important
to try it and modify it as needed for your students. Some classes need
more structure and guidance than others," stated Howard Miller, associate
professor of middle school and literacy education at Lincoln University,
in Jefferson City, Missouri. A former middle school language arts teacher
and department chair, Miller has 20 years of middle school teaching experience.
"Teaching the students how to work successfully in groups is
at least as important as what they produce in their groups," Miller continued.
"It is really important to break down the tasks involved in successful
group work and get the students to understand what you expect of them."
Miller feels that cooperative learning has several benefits. It teaches
students how to be independent and interdependent on one another instead
of just being dependent on the teacher. It also shows students how to
work cooperatively with others to accomplish tasks that benefit from several
brains working together. Cooperative learning provides an opportunity
for more students to be directly involved, which occurs more in small-group
situations than in whole-class discussions in which a few students dominate
and the rest zone in and out.
Miller recommends using a
rubric for grading students during cooperative-learning lessons, and
he shared his own version with Education World.
Another evaluation method Miller described is called "fishbowling."
"In this technique," stated Miller, "one group carries out its discussion
in a circle in the center of the room. The rest of the students surround
the group and take notes about what they see going on in terms of effective
group practice. Afterward, the class analyzes what took place and identifies
the positive characteristics."
Using groups to evaluate groups completes the circle of cooperative
learning and takes even the traditional task of grading out of the teacher's
hands.
- Cooperative Learning
Center The Web site of the Cooperative Learning Center at the University
of Minnesota explains cooperative learning and offers many related essays.
- The
Cooperative Learning Network Find information about cooperative
learning, locate links with more facts and advice, and see how to join
an online cooperative-learning discussion group.
Cara Bafile
Education World®
Copyright © 2005 Education World
Originally published 11/03/2000
Links updated 10/19/2009
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