productive group work
Focus Standards reflected throughout the illustrations below:
1 - Know students and how they learn
2 - Understand content and how to teach it
3 - Plan for and implement effective teaching and learning
4 - Create and maintain supportive and safe learning environments
5 - Assess, provide feedback and report on student learning
1 - Know students and how they learn
2 - Understand content and how to teach it
3 - Plan for and implement effective teaching and learning
4 - Create and maintain supportive and safe learning environments
5 - Assess, provide feedback and report on student learning
TEAM (Together Everyone Achieves More) Coaching
This is a great activity to use when preparing students for their tests, an activity that fosters one of the most efficient ways for students to learn - reciprocal teaching. I have noticed with my students that when prompted to coach each other, not much interest was shown from the students. This activity addresses this issue as students set themselves an improvement goal for which they work towards as a team. A lot of hands-on learning, revision and coaching is involved because for a whole group to get the highest score possible, a lot of work has to be done.
This is a great activity to use when preparing students for their tests, an activity that fosters one of the most efficient ways for students to learn - reciprocal teaching. I have noticed with my students that when prompted to coach each other, not much interest was shown from the students. This activity addresses this issue as students set themselves an improvement goal for which they work towards as a team. A lot of hands-on learning, revision and coaching is involved because for a whole group to get the highest score possible, a lot of work has to be done.
Group Reading Comprehension
In this activity designed by D. Fisher, N. Frey and S. Everlove (2009), students work together to achieve a task-related goal. The group task is to reach an understanding of a text, and each of the three group members is assigned a role that matches a comprehension strategy: generating questions, clarifying key points and summarizing content. Based on their assigned or chosen roles, students contribute to constructing meaning of the text by discussing it from different perspectives.
In this activity designed by D. Fisher, N. Frey and S. Everlove (2009), students work together to achieve a task-related goal. The group task is to reach an understanding of a text, and each of the three group members is assigned a role that matches a comprehension strategy: generating questions, clarifying key points and summarizing content. Based on their assigned or chosen roles, students contribute to constructing meaning of the text by discussing it from different perspectives.
Vanishing Cloze
A variation of Cloze, Vanishing Cloze focuses on presenting students with a familiar text and erasing one or more words at a time anywhere from the text. When words are erased students read it aloud together trying to remember the missing words. Another set of words are then erased and the process is repeated until all the words are removed and students "read" from memory. I did this activity with my Year 9 Italian students and I noticed that these repeated readings were especially helpful for students as they were revising and memorizing specific vocabulary.
A variation of Cloze, Vanishing Cloze focuses on presenting students with a familiar text and erasing one or more words at a time anywhere from the text. When words are erased students read it aloud together trying to remember the missing words. Another set of words are then erased and the process is repeated until all the words are removed and students "read" from memory. I did this activity with my Year 9 Italian students and I noticed that these repeated readings were especially helpful for students as they were revising and memorizing specific vocabulary.
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Sentence Construction and Text Reconstruction
These two strategies are excellent for students to construct meaning from a text. I implemented both in Year 9 Italian class when students were learning about food. The Sentence Construction requires students to construct as many correct sentences as possible by placing individual words together. In the Test Reconstruction, on the other hand, sentences are already created but students are required to place them in the correct order to create overall meaning from the sentence sequence.
These two strategies are excellent for students to construct meaning from a text. I implemented both in Year 9 Italian class when students were learning about food. The Sentence Construction requires students to construct as many correct sentences as possible by placing individual words together. In the Test Reconstruction, on the other hand, sentences are already created but students are required to place them in the correct order to create overall meaning from the sentence sequence.
The Jigsaw Expert Grouping Approach
I mainly use this strategy to promote student interdependence. In this approach, a learning task is split among group members. Each student is simultaneously a member of two groups: a home group, whose main goal is to learn the content and complete tasks, and an expert group, which consists of one representative member from each home group. Students meet in their home group to discuss which member will become an expert at which element of the studied topic. Then they move to their expert group to focus on the agreed aspect of the topic. After mastering it, each member returns to their home group to teach that element to the rest of the group.
The Jigsaw strategy does also a great job at both preventing and minimising the marginalization of classmates, a routine that occurs frequently in today's society. Students learn that they need one another and they begin to appreciate the strengths others possess.
I mainly use this strategy to promote student interdependence. In this approach, a learning task is split among group members. Each student is simultaneously a member of two groups: a home group, whose main goal is to learn the content and complete tasks, and an expert group, which consists of one representative member from each home group. Students meet in their home group to discuss which member will become an expert at which element of the studied topic. Then they move to their expert group to focus on the agreed aspect of the topic. After mastering it, each member returns to their home group to teach that element to the rest of the group.
The Jigsaw strategy does also a great job at both preventing and minimising the marginalization of classmates, a routine that occurs frequently in today's society. Students learn that they need one another and they begin to appreciate the strengths others possess.
Fast and Furious Jigsaw
This is an extension of the Jigsaw Expert Grouping Approach. When students return to their home groups and finish teaching their area of expertise to the rest of the team mates, each group is given a an incomplete PPT handout and an accompanying vocabulary sheet which groups have to use to fill in the PPT gaps and to complete all slides. The group that is first to correctly complete the handout is rewarded.
This is an extension of the Jigsaw Expert Grouping Approach. When students return to their home groups and finish teaching their area of expertise to the rest of the team mates, each group is given a an incomplete PPT handout and an accompanying vocabulary sheet which groups have to use to fill in the PPT gaps and to complete all slides. The group that is first to correctly complete the handout is rewarded.
More coming up soon...
Progressive Writing
Cube-it
Numbered Heads Together