“Alone we can do so little. Together we can do so much.”
- Helen Keller
Cooperative learning creates confident, successful students because it fosters a supportive and collaborative environment where students work together to accomplish shared goals. Therefore, in my classroom, students will work together on a DAILY basis.
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| Bill and Mark Working Together in My Class |
Group Selection & Desk Arrangement:
- I will divide students into LCs at the beginning of each Quarter.
- Each LC will be composed of four students.
- Students’ desks will be organized in clusters of four so they will sit with their LCs every day.
- Each LC will ideally feature learners with diverse genders, ethnicities, races, and abilities.
- Each Quarter, students will be assigned to a new LC so they can work with as many as their peers as possible this year.
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| My Classroom Library |
- Each student will be assigned a specific role to fulfill for their LC during the Quarter.
- The four roles in each LC will be Facilitator, Recorder, Manager, and Presenter.
- The Facilitator should lead the LC in discussions and make sure it has well-defined goals.
- The Recorder should keep written reports of the LC’s discussions and progress toward its goals.
- The Manager should make sure the LC gathers and returns all necessary materials each day.
- The Presenter should be the main spokesperson for the LC during class-wide discussions.
- Students will rotate roles each Quarter so by the end of the 4th Quarter they will have performed each role once.
- All students should offer ideas, provide encouragement, and communicate respectfully with the other members of their LC.
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| My "Book of the Month" Cart |
- Students will engage in cooperative learning activities several times a week with their LC.
- These activities include, but are not limited to, daily reading discussions and quarterly projects.
- During daily reading discussions, students will take responsibility for their own learning as they make their own choices about how to read and interpret books and they convey those choices to their LC.
- Students will also hold each other accountable for reading and for preparing for each daily reading discussion session.
- Students will also take charge of their daily reading discussions and communicate respectfully with each other at all times.
- Thus, through daily reading discussions, students will read and discuss books together in a positive, supportive, and rewarding way.
- Students in the same LC will also work together on at least one group project each Quarter.
- The topics of each group project will be determined at the beginning of each Quarter.
- Rubrics for each group project will be given to students at the beginning of each Quarter.
- During all LC activities, students should talk at a noise level that can be heard by the other members of the group, but they should not speak so loud as to disrupt other groups.
- During all LC activities, I will rotate around the room visiting with each LC, monitoring their discussions and progress, and answering any pertinent questions.
- Students should try to answer questions within their group before asking me for help. If a LC still needs help, I will answer their question when I reach them during my rotation. LCs should not interrupt my visit with other groups to ask a question.
- All students must participate in their LC’s daily reading discussion sessions, group projects, and any and all other group activities.
- All students will receive grades based on their own performance as well as that of their LC.
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| My Collaboration Corner |
