Manual: Active Learning and Cooperation In The Classroom by Julie Boyd

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Active Learning and Cooperation

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Active Learning and Cooperation A Julie Boyd Manual By

JULIE BOYD

Published 2001 2nd Edition 2004 3rd Edition 2008 © Julie Boyd PO Box 66 Hastings Point, NSW 2489 Email: info@julieboyd.com.au URL: www.julieboyd.com.au ISBN:

1-876153-30-X

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Active Learning and Cooperation

Contents Introduction

Expanding A Teaching and Learning Repertoire

Whole Class Climate Building Strategies

Strategies Explained

An Independent Study Checklist

Extending Cognitive Skills and Creative Thinking

Reflecting and Processing Possibilities

Some Problem-Solving and Thinking Strategies

Planning Effective Lessons

Integrating the Curriculum

Key Ideas on Assessment

Developing Effective Lessons and Activities

Building Classroom Community

Bibliography

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Introduction In a world where the Internet and digital learning are starting to dominate, the social nature of learning, and the ability for students to form beneficial relationships is becoming even more crucial. Becoming a truly effective teacher is like any other art form. It may be innate, but in most people it requires a developmental process to take them from the challenges of beginning teaching through the various forms of professional maturation to become a truly effective teacher. Being an Effective teacher no longer means being able to follow specific directions set in syllabus form from set curricula. A truly great teacher is like a great artist. Someone who is able, through their chosen profession to inspire both students and peers to learn lifelong. Someone who is able to achieve the right balance in the choices they make in the learning opportunities and challenges they create. Someone who is able to put together a sometimes eclectic group of tools and strategies to achieve the ‗lightbulb flash‘ learning moment as well as sustained interest in learning individually, in small groups or whole classes, for one student or an entire class. Effective teaching means being able to take any given situation and turn it into a learning opportunity; to create learning communities face to face or increasingly through a range of community and digital environments; to build the ability of our individual students and to make a positive impact on the attitude of our students toward lifelong learning. It means having at your disposal 1) An understanding of how people learn 2) A clear view of how learning and behaviour interact 3) A repertoire of strategies on which to draw appropriately in different situations 4) An awareness of the attitudes and values you hold about students and learning 5) A ‗principle-centred‘ approach to teaching and learning 6) A capacity to make learning challenges relevant 7) An understanding of how to provide learning experiences and challenges which are multi-sensory, multi-modal and multi-styled. 8) A capacity to articulate learning across a range of face to face and digital learning environments 9) An ability to assist students to monitor and evaluate their own learning both formally and informally 10) A sophisticated and contemporary view of the role of teachers in the lives of young people. 11) A will to have a positive impact on young people. This manual is deliberately written to provide a generic smorgasbord of strategies so teachers may plan to expand their repertoire and in doing so become more ‗responseable‘ to students. The strategies are all appropriate for use with any age group and are ‗CONTENT NEUTRAL‘ in that the content may be adapted or substituted accordingly. They are also ‗ENVIRONMENT NEUTRAL and I, and others have incorporated and 4 Quick Time™ and a TIFF ( Unc ompr es sed) decompr ess or are needed to s ee this pic ture.

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expanded many of the techniques into digital learning environments involving both intranets and cross-school, cross nation learning opportunities and challenges. My intention in compiling this manual is simply to provide a ‗SPRINGBOARD‘ from which teachers will develop both the interest and confidence to create new approaches to learning for their students. Once new strategies are tried within a class group, it becomes quickly apparent that students have many new ideas as well. I would encourage teachers who are trying some of these strategies for the first time to both involve their students in the trial and further development and expansion of these ideas. In our classrooms we can often learn as much from our students in ways to make learning relevant and interesting as they can learn from us. The manual is designed to assist teachers to expand their repertoire of teaching and learning strategies. It is not designed to address curriculum design or learner centred assessment strategies. It comes as a result of requests from participants in the hundreds of workshops and thousands of teachers I have worked with over the past two decades and is simply offered as a tool for the teacher‘s ‗KITBAG. As teachers we do not need to teach our young people to think. That is an automatic human ability. What we do need to do, however, is to help our students become aware of their thinking processes to the point where they can question effectively and articulate their learning and thinking clearly in written, verbal, graphic, artistic, musical, physical or auditory forms. In order to do this as teachers we need to refine and develop both in ourselves and in our students the capacities to listen ‗CARE-FUL-LY, ask effective questions, inquire, challenge, clarify, encourage self evaluation. In order to achieve an interactive learning classroom in which the learning needs of your students are met it is also important that you give careful consideration to WHAT you are helping them to learn as well as WHY and HOW. As well as the content we want students to learn we need to be aware of the skills, values and concepts want them to practice simultaneously. A section has been incorporated into this manual to provide some assistance in making the distinctions between task and content, social skills and values, and other skill sets such as thinking skills, problem solving skills etc. While a bibliography/reading list is provided at the end of the manual, research to identify the original creators of these strategies in most instances is as elusive as trying to catch the first drop of rain in a storm. Some were created by specific researchers but popularised by others, some were created in our workshops by teachers as a result of guided learning, others were created by us. As such, while I believe strongly that acknowledgement is crucial I have not attributed specific techniques to specific individuals. Within the field of co-operative learning there are individuals who have made major contributions such as Eliot Aronson, Spencer Kagan, David Johnson, Roger Johnson, Bob Slavin, Neil Davidson, Elizabeth Cohen and Australians such as Sue Hill, Joan Dalton, Polly Eckert and Julie Boyd. Within the field of cognitive learning we acknowledge Edward De Bono, Arthur Costa, Thomas Armstrong, Bena Kallick, and Eric Jensen‘s contributions to the expansion of teaching repertoires. With multiple intelligences, sensory based learning and learning styles we acknowledge Jerome Bruner, Howard Gardner, Bob Samples, Jean Housten and Daniel Goleman. To these people all of us should express sincere thanks for research, their teachings, their vision, their persistence and the strategies they developed which thousands of effective teachers have built their practice. 5 Quick Time™ and a TIFF ( Unc ompr es sed) decompr ess or are needed to s ee this pic ture.

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Many of these techniques have become ‗home grown improvisations‘ which is the greatest compliment to a teacher and researcher. As such, acknowledgment goes to all those practitioners who were brave enough to ‗have a go‘ years ago when some of these strategies were first introduced to them, and who have, over the years, through practice, enthusiastic involvement in workshops, and patient persistence, continued to expand their own repertoires and to mentor their peers through their own learning processes. As I say to teachers in my workshops, enjoy learning with your students, if you don‘t – try something different! Here are a whole range of ideas for you. Have a go- try something new. Remember taking a risk is good for the soul and if something doesn‘t go quite as expected- keep your sense of humour, and turn it into a learning opportunity for yourself and the kids. Good luck Julie Boyd CEO Life‘s A Beach Consultancy (formerly Global Learning Communities) 1999 Telstra Tasmanian Entrepreneur of the Year 2000 Businesswoman‘s Hall of Fame

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Expanding A Teaching and Learning Repertoire

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WAYS TO EXPAND YOUR TEACHING AND LEARNING REPERTOIRE Invite other to your room Share articles Do an activity at a staff meeting Try a new strategy each week with a close colleague Share with your department or grade level Establish ―learning buddy‘ relationship Establish coaching or mentoring relationship Establish peer support group across schools Establish seminar or dialogue groups Establish journalling and writing groups Establish action research projects in school or district Volunteer to be videotaped and discuss with others Present to other schools in district Present to your own school only Present outside of district to other schools Present at conferences Present to parents Write up lessons/units to share with others Write up peer support group topics/process to share with others Write up and/or visualise action research projects to share with others Assist in the development of workshop materials Write up ideas for staff collaboration

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Criteria for Teaching and Learning Strategies Teaching and Learning Strategies may be seen as: Tools or Methods to Facilitate Learning Generic and Repeatable Ways of Organizing People and Thinking Ways of Processing Concepts we want Children to Internalise Cooperative Group Strategies include: Jigsaw Brainstorming Interest Groups Numbered Heads Together Round Robin Fishbowl Roundtable Magic Circle Paired Reading Carousel Discussion Web Group Consensus Expert Groups Conversation

Inside-outside (Concentric Circles) Think-Pair-Share Think-Pair-Write-Share Think-Pair-Share-Write Heads Together Community Circle Field Trips Interview People Search Round Robin Literature Circles Milling Pair-Share Turn to a Partner

Cognitive Organisers include Web Flow Chart Mind Maps Reading Guided Reading Imagery Categorisation Data Collection

Semantic Map

Human map Advance Organizers Visualising Observations Reflections Multiple answers Kinesthetic Movement Mix and Match

Fishbone Story Maps Constructing/Building TV Inquiry Projects Teach to Someone Else Scaffolding Read Aloud

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Generic Teaching and Learning Strategies You may wish to check this list to see how many of these strategies you are familiar with. When you come across some you are not sure about, make a note to check with your colleagues or learning buddy for explanation. Y charts T charts Jigsaw Brainstorming Goal setting Snowballing Concentric circles Round robin Round table Learning logs Journals Paired work Group work Cooperative group work Piggy backing Drill and practice Three way interview Three step interview Numbered heads together Bundling Dance/movement Readers/writers workshop Conferencing Buddying Sociograms Matrices

Venn Diagrams Story webs Workshops PMI Cloze Filtering Role play Learning games Learn and retell Thinking hats Thinkers keys Think-pair-share Cross age tutoring Peer Tutoring Brain gym Mind maps Three story intellect Heterogeneous groups Homogeneous groups Mentoring Dialogue Action research Keys for success Doughnut Pyramid diffusion

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A Repertoire of Teaching And Learning Strategies Y Charts/ T Charts Draw a Y or T shaped graphic. Choose a specific social skill then in each sector of the graphic write either sound like, looks like, feels like and brainstorm responses using student language for each sector. A T chart is used with ‗sounds like‘, ‗looks like‘.

Snowballing Teach two students a particular skill. The two of them then split up and choose another partner to teach the skill to, and so on

Pair Work Students work in pairs to ‗think-pair-share‘, ‗think-pair-write-share‘, ‗think-pair-share-write‘

Three Way Interview Interview involving student-parent-teacher or student-student-teacher, or teacher-support teacher-student for a range of purposes.

Journalling Students are asked to write down in their learning journals something that they have learned, or want to remember.

Conferencing Students may discuss with the teacher or another student their learning plan, the next step they will be taking or some other aspect of their learning.

Learn and Retell Students learn a particular strategy or skill then describe their learning and thinking processes to one other person

Read and Retell Students individually read a story then retell their interpretation of the story

Thinking Hats A DeBono thinking strategy where students are asked to look at an issue while wearing a particular ‗hat‘. eg. White(what information do we have), Blue(what should we do next?) Red(What do I feel right now about this?), Green( what creative possibilities can I see around this?), Black( why can‘t this be done?),

Cross Age Tutoring Students from a difference of 2-3 year levels come together to assist each other‘s learning.

Shared Writing Students work together in 2‘s, 3‘s or 4‘s to either generate shared sentence/story stems, to add one sentence each to a story, or to write a shared story or response.

Problem Solving Students work together to solve a problem, ensuring that each member of the group understands and is able to articulate the process used

Heterogeneous Groups Students work together in randomly chosen groups of mixed ability

Publishing Students work together to check each others draft writing, make suggestions and assist in the final publishing process for either individual, small group, or whole class work.

Story Maths Students either create or interpret stories designed to assist in explaining maths concepts

Science Diary Students maintain a diary of scientific concepts, processes and ideas which they learn either throughout the day at school and at home. The purpose is to assist them in understanding the widespread use of scientific concepts and processes.

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A Repertoire of Teaching and Learning Strategies Concentric Circles Also known as carousel brainstorming and inside-outside circles. Students sit in two circles facing each other one inside the other. They discuss a specific issue with one partner, then one of the circles moves so that they have a new partner to discuss the next issue with.

Group Work Students simply work together in groups on a particular project. Traditional groupwork does not necessarily involve any of the elements of cooperative groupwork

Three Step Interview Two students pair. A interviews B, B interviews A then they either combine their views and present a shared viewpoint or introduce each other by something they have learned about or from the other person to another pair.

Bundling Or clustering- concepts, ideas, skills etc

Buddying Working with one other person to seek advice, share ideas, practice skills or have them edit work prior to submission to the teacher.

Sustained Silent Reading Modelled by teacher and students alike-most effective when done simultaneously.

Learning Stations Set up different learning areas around the room either based around an idea or a concept, or different questions or learning challenges. Students then contract which ones they are going to spend time at during the day or week. Students can learn to create learning stations too.

Mind Maps Another graphic organizer to display and arrange thoughts. Start with an idea and generate ‗what do we know‘ and ‗what do we want to know more about‘ as starters toward negotiating a curriculum.

Homogeneous Groups Students work together in either ‗similar ability‘ or ‗like interest‘ groups.

Mentoring An older student or adult who is able to assist a student with the development of a particular interest or skill.

Jigsaw Students begin in a team of 2 or 4. For a ‗Base Jigsaw‘ each student takes a particular aspect of research, responsibility or task to do. They go off to prepare their piece then come back together as a group to assemble, share, write or prepare the original task. For an ‗expert jigsaw‘ each person in the group takes a specific aspect of research. They then split up and meet with people from other groups who also have that specific task or research to perform and the ‗expert group‘ generates the information needed. They then go back to their original group to share what they have learned and to learn what the other members of their ‗home group‘ have also gained from each of their expert groups. The ‗home team‘ or individual members of the home team then compile a summary of all of the information generated.

Round Robin Students sit in a group. Each person takes a turn to share an idea , or solution to the issue proposed. The team then selects which they think is the most original or different - or some other criteria proposed by the teacher.

Numbered Heads Together Students sit in a group of 4. Each person takes a number (eg. 1,2,3,4). A problem is then given which the group discusses for 3-4 minutes. The teacher calls eg. all number 4‘s. These people then answer on behalf of their group.

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More Learning Strategies. How Many Do You Know and Use Regularly? Dance-Movement Role Play CORT Thinking Processes eg. PMI Round Table Listening Post Peer Tutoring Venn Diagrams Learning Centres Dialogue Groups Doughnut Goal Setting Learning Logs Directed Thinking and Reading EEKK (Eye to Eye and Knee to Knee!) Readers/Writers Workshop Cloze Learning Games Concept Maps Think Pair Share Shared Book Conflict Resolution Three Story Intellect Imagining Action Research Pyramid Diffusion

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Whole Class CLIMATE-BUILDING STRUCTURES Climate-building activities are designed to get students to interact freely with everyone in the class, to learn about and appreciate their abilities, interests and values, and to develop trust in and liking for each other as a group. The structures are generalisable, that is, can be used with a variety of specific content. WHOLE CLASS MIXERS: These activities get students moving around and interacting with everyone in the class. They are good energisers when minds are beginning to sleep. SIMILARITY GROUPINGS: In this family of activities, students move into groupings with one or more of their classmates on the basis of shared characteristics, interests, preferences, etc. This dramatically illustrates the point that we share similarities with some of our classmates and not with others, and that these sharings vary and cut across differences of ethnicity, gender, and social status. LINE-UPS: There are many ways to get the whole class lines up other than by height and gender. Often these can provide an intellectual challenge or serve as a basis for grouping students heterogeneously with respect to a topic to be discussed or an activity to be engaged in later. People Graphs are a variation which can help students understand bar graphs kinesthetically, and are useful ways to promote understanding of the median, mean and mode of distribution. LINKAGES: In this structure students link together physically with other classmates who share a common experience or interest to form a complete class circle. By using a variety of content at different times students come to recognise their ―links‖ with all of their classmates. HUMAN TREASURE HUNTS: The scavenger hunt has long been a popular game. But when people are substituted for objects as the treasure, the game can help students recognise the diversity of talents, interests, or experiences to be found among their classmates. By using a variety of academically-relevant content, the activity can serve as an anticipatory set for any lesson.

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WHO AM I? In this variation on ―twenty questions‖ participants have some identity pinned to their back. Their job is to find out who they are by asking questions of their classmates which can be answered by ―yes‖ or ―no‖. To promote more mixing, impose the rule that they can ask only two questions of any one other participant. When participants discover their identity, they become ―helpers‖, working more intensively with those still trying to discover who they are. FIND YOUR PARTNERS: In this pair of team formation structure, each participant is given something (a piece of a puzzle, for example) and asked to find within the class as a whole the person(s) holding a matching piece(s). Randomly dealing out playing cards to form Groups of Four is a type case, and a variety of alternatives suggested. TEACH-A-TRICK This is a general structure for enabling students to share their non-academic talents with their classmates. First they practice teaching their skill to members of their ―family group‖ or ―base group‖. Then they can teach it to the whole class with the help and support of their teammates. Alternatively, an individual can teach the skill to one other partner, the two can teach two others, the four can teach four others, the eight others, and the sixteen the rest of the class (―snowballing‖). CAROUSEL: This is a structure for simultaneously sharing the results of a small group work. After completing their tasks, teams post their results on the walls of the classroom. Then they move around the room in their teams, examining and reacting to the work of the other groups. This simultaneous sharing of the work performed by other groups provides a unifying, whole-class experience. As a climate-building activity, the task can be chosen to gather data about the class as a whole. CONCENTRIC CIRCLES: This is a useful whole-class structure for simultaneously sharing ideas or information with other classmates. Form a circle and count off by twos. The ones take a step in towards the centre and face outward, forming two concentric circles. Facing pairs now each share something specified by the teacher. Then the inner circle moves to the right and/or the outer circle moves to the left, and participants share with a new partner. (The teacher may pose a new question or topic for each move.) CIRCLE GAMES: Simply forming a circle for any activity helps to unify the group, and ensures that each member of the group has eye contact with everyone else. The circle itself, however, provides the structure for many useful climate-building activities. GROUP CHALLENGES: The basic structure of a whole group challenge is created by the instruction that ―no one is finished until everyone is finished‖. This structure is more powerful as a climate-

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building activity, however, if the task is such that it is not possible to complete it (or your part of it) individually. Creating a co-operative classroom community by using whole-class climate-building structures is an important first step in preparing students for working together in cooperative groups.

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Strategies Explained Creative Problem Solving What is it? This is a six-step process that can be used to solve problems creatively. Each step need to be followed in order. Each step requires brainstorming. How can I use it? Step 1. Finding the problem. Identify the problem. Step 2. Fact finding. This is exploring the problem to find out why it exists and who is involved. Step 3. Problem Detailing. This is where the problem is detailed and any secondary issues are realised. Step 4. Idea finding. At this stage, ideas are brainstormed, but no evaluation takes place. Every idea is accepted. Step 5. Solution finding. All the ideas that were brainstormed before are now evaluated to find the best solution. Step 6. Acceptance finding. Once the solution is accepted, a plan of action is necessary to ensure success of the solution.

Whip Around Learners sit in a circle and are required to give feedback around the group.

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Huddle Like a football huddle, groups of learners join together to answer questions. Speed is a factor and all contribute. Variation: Interactive huddles may pose a question to ask other groups or each group may huddle to generate a question for the teacher.

Fishbowl This strategy can be used to facilitate the observation of a particular skill or behaviour. It involves a small group taking part in an activity while the rest of the group form a circle around them and observe what is happening. Those observing usually have a focus to watch for during the activity.

Y-Chart Y-charts are used to elicit responses. Learners focus on an activity, concept or a situation. The chart is completed individually or in groups under the following heading — 1. Sounds like. What can you hear happening? 2. Looks like. What can you see happening? 3. Feels like. How did you feel while taking part in the activity? An extra category can be added in some cases. 4. Smells like. What are some of the things you could smell while taking part in this activity?

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BAR is an acronym, with each letter representing a different thinking process. Bigger — Add — Replace

Mind Mapping What is it? Mind mapping is a way of organising ideas onto paper. It is visual note taking and allows a great deal of information to be recorded onto a page. It shows relationships between various concepts and ideas. It uses a central image, key words, colours and symbols to begin and these shows how all concepts and ideas are connected together.

Six Thinking Hats De Bono’s Method The Six Hats strategy is a colourful, easy and fun framework for directing thinking. It acknowledges that emotions, feelings and intuitions are important to practical thinking. The Six Hats are: 1.

RED - Feelings and emotions

WHITE – Facts

YELLOW – Positive points

GREEN – Creative aspects

BLACK – Cautious aspects

BLUE – Thinking which is needed.

Learners are required to ―think‖ according to the particular Hat or us e the ‗hats‘ as a strategy for evaluation.

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PMI — Plus, Minus, Interesting/Intriguing This is a way to analyse ideas, suggestions and events.

Learners write down what they believe to be the pluses, minuses, and the interesting points on a particular aspect of a topic or experience. This strategy encourages exploration of new ideas and can also be used as a form of evaluation, reflection or self-assessment. PMI can be used across all learning areas and is particularly helpful when there is a lot of information to be organised eg. Responses to parent surveys. Plus

Minus

Interesting

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Venn Diagram A Venn diagram provides a structure for organising thinking or information. It gives an overall visual representation of the relationship(s) between or among groups. Venn diagrams can be used in many areas other than the traditional maths area. The categories/circles can be increased to extend thinking. It can be a valuable means of group formation – identifying commonalities and differences.

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Brainstorming This strategy produces many ideas on a given topic in a relatively short space of time. All ideas are accepted without judgement in a brainstorming session. Expert brainstorm requires individuals to brainstorm for 1 minute their own list of ideas. Individuals then make pairs and combine lists without repeating common ideas. Pairs join into fours to join their two larger lists. This method ensures that a contribution has been made from each child.

Weigh It Up This strategy can be used to develop effective questioning and thinking skills. Eg. the class is divided into three groups. The teacher poses a problem, or learners talk about or observe an event that involves different points of view. One group takes on the question, while another takes on the opposite view. The third group formulates questions it would like answered by both groups before it decides on a stance.

Roundtable This is a co-operative structure in which one paper and one pen are systematically passed around the group. One partner writes an idea and passes the paper and pen to the next person. This proceeds around the group. A variation of the procedure is to have each person have a different coloured writing tool to use as the paper is passed around.

Round Robin This is the oral form of Roundtable. Each teammate verbally contributes an idea to the group in a systematic, ‗around-the-group‘ fashion.

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Thinker-Doer/Looker-Checker This strategy allows each person to develop their thinking and problem solving skills as well as encouraging careful observation. In this structure one person considers a problem and systematically solves it while another person observes the procedure carefully and reports to the ‗doer‘ what has been observed, presenting orally the procedure.

E.E.K.K. – Eye to Eye and Knee to Knee Learners sit in pairs on the floor with knees touching or in chairs facing each other to ensure maximum eye contact. A topic is then initiated. Each partner has equal time to present his/her point of view with the other partner actively listening. This strategy may be used to practice interviewer/interviewee situations or it can be an introduction for learners to simple debating skills with individuals assuming affirmative/negative roles.

Corner Poles or Value Lines This strategy enables individuals to think about their own view on a specific issue. It gives learners an opportunity to express and listen to opinions in a non-judgemental situation. Learners write their opinions and then stand in a corner that represents their point of view. In the two corners they can form pairs and tell their partners their reasons. Larger groups can collate the information. Alternatively, a value line can be drawn from Yes – Maybe – No. Learners stand where their responses best fit.

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Three Step Interview 1. Pairs are formed with a listener and speaker. A topic is discussed, and roles are reversed. 2. Pairs now join with another pair. Each person retells what their partner told them.

Bundling This strategy can be used to collate ideas on a given topic leading to groups of statements bundled according to sameness.

Structured Controversy In Structured Controversy learners learn that there are different points of view to a story, issue, statement etc. … The class divides into groups of four, then into pairs. Each pair takes a point of view. 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6.

Each pair brainstorms 3 arguments to support their point of view. Pair A present their arguments to pair B. Pair B present their arguments to pair A. Pairs switch positions and create 3 arguments the other pair didn‘t think of. They take turns to present their arguments. Groups of 4 are reformed and come up with 6 different ways to meet both points of view.

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Filtering The filtering strategy is a process used to generate ideas. Each learner begins with an idea about a topic. They then pair up and come up with an idea between them. Pairs form fours, then eights and so on until all ideas are prioritised into one statement about the original topic.

Scamper This is a strategy to foster thinking as it provides guidelines for questions. The letters stand for particular creative strategies. Substitute Combine Adapt Modify (Magnify or Minify) Put to use Eliminate Rearrange or Reverse

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Goal Setting and Positive Affirmation Goal setting is choosing a worthwhile goal for yourself, planning a strategy to achieve it, working through the plan and assessing whether the goal has been achieved at the end of an allotted time. Positive thinking is a powerful mental tool you can use to help you not only in goal setting but in all aspects of your life. How can I use it? —

Choose a goal.

—

Outline the steps you need to take to achieve the goal.

—

Think of the obstacles that may stop you achieving your goal and plan to overcome these.

—

Write down the benefits for you when your goal is achieved.

—

Set a deadline.

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Write a detailed daily or weekly plan of strategies you plan to use to achieve your goal.

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Write an affirmation statement to help you think positively about your goal as you work towards achieving it.

—

Work through your plan, checking at each stage to see if you have done what you promised you would.

Challenging RelationshipsThis technique involves combining two or more unrelated ideas to create a novel idea, or to help solve a problem. It can be used as a way to develop learners‘ associative thinking skills.

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Piggybacking This strategy is similar to the WHIP, but each person PIGGYBACKS on the response of the previous speaker by saying ‗I agree (or disagree) that…‘ Their own comments are then added.

Think, List, Think, Improve As a group or individually, this strategy involves listing the main attributes of a topic, problem or object, and thinking of ways to improve each attribute. It is useful to list ideas into some form of chart or grid.

Snowball Learner A is taught a skill or a concept. A teaches B. Both A and B teach two (2 ) others and so on, until everyone is taught the original skill or concept.

Numbered Heads In small groups, each person has a number. At any stage during the activity, but usually the end, any ‗number‘ may be asked to report on any part of the set task. This promotes active engagement by all for the whole task.

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Stop and Ask Time This strategy can be used to develop effective questioning and thinking skills and to encourage active listening in learners. During a session learners are asked to stop and write down a question about the current topic or issue.

SWOT This can be used to develop the thinking skills of learners. Thinking is organised under the following headings: 1.

Strengths

Weaknesses

Opportunities

Threats (Obstacles)

KWL – Know Want Learn This strategy encourages thinking involving inquiry and evaluation. Learners organise their thinking into three areas: 1) What we know. 2) What we want to find out. 3) What we‘ve learned.

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Active Learning and Cooperation

Concentric Circles This strategy allows oral interaction between different pairs of learners in a reasonably random manner. Each learner takes a partner and faces them. One partner becomes a member of the inner circle. The other belongs to the outer circle. Each learner has a set time to speak while the other learner engages in active listening. When both partners have spoken, either the inner or outer circle moves to the right or the left.

Expert Jigsaw This is a strategy to help information to be shared among a group of people or when there is a ―ton‖ of information to share with a group in a short period of time. Learners are formed into group according to set guidelines. This group is the home group. The learners are numbered eg. 1-5. All the learners of the same number move to a group and become Experts. Information is distributed on different aspects of the same topic. A set time is allowed for Experts to study the material. The material is discussed and recorded. All Experts must have the same information. All the experts return to their Home group to share the information they have collected. The information from the various experts are collated within the Home group.

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Active Learning and Cooperation

Redlight – Greenlight Thinking In pairs learners are given a focus topic or question. One learner takes the greenlight view, the other the redlight view. The greenlight view symbolises growth, energy and divergent thinking. The greenlight person brainstorms, looks at alternatives and seeks new ideas. The redlight view symbolises danger, caution, reflection, convergent thinking and examines the consequences of various ideas and actions. The greenlight person goes first. Once the greenlight brainstorm is finished the redlight person steps in to examine the consequences of the greenlight suggestions.

Climb the Ladder A ladder can be used for learners to rate or evaluate their ideas. Individually or in pairs, learners, rank brainstormed points or characters as to importance. Learners will need to decide on the criteria for their judgements so they can give reasons for their ranking.

Think – Pair – Share In this strategy think time on a given topic or question is allowed. Learners then pair and agree on an issue which is then shared with another pair or large group.

Jigsaw (Grouping) Jigsaw is a strategy for grouping. Each person in the group is given a small piece of a larger picture eg. half a word – football - pieces of a picture half a pair – eggs, bacon - words in a sentence Participants are given a period of time to find the other part of the puzzle.

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An Independent Study Checklist 1. Fits the developmental needs of the student

2. Is planned to meet a specific student-centred goal

3. Is only one part of a plan of balanced learning experiences and is integrated into the overall curriculum in a manner that is readily evident to the student

4. Encourages the use of creative and higher-level thinking skills

5. The central academic purpose is clearly understood by the student and the procedure for completion is in keeping with the studentâ&#x20AC;&#x2DC;s learning style, past experiences, and skills. 6. Includes clear, concise instructions which are not dependent on the teacher

7. Provides for growth in personal research and study skills

8. Specifies reference and resource materials that are readily available and meaningful to the student

9. Is presented as attractively and interestingly as possible

10. Includes introductory and background information and evaluation and evaluative criteria that are

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Extending Cognitive Skills and Creative Thinking

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Reflecting and Processing Possibilities 1. "Think-write-pair-share", where students pair up and share their learnings and then the partner shares in a group of four what their partner learned. 2. Students make riddles, poems, stories, bumper stickers, T-shirts, collages, songs, skits about what they learned. 3. Students illustrate their learning. 4. Students summarise their learning in five key words. 5. "Jigsaw" to form new groups with members teaching each other what they learned. 6. Groups present their products to another group. 7. Students write a summary of learning- social and academic - and make a newsletter of groups or individuals comments. 8. Students write in journals, learning logs, diaries about one's learning and growth. 9. Students fill out feedback sheets, rating scales, checklists, surveys, questionnaires about their learning. 10. Students use hand gestures (eg. thumbs up an down), coloured paper codes, or movement to indicate responses to learning. 11. Students use graphic organisers, charts, graphs, concept maps to visually represent their learning. 12. Make thought/feeling cards (thought on one side/feeling on the other), now and future wheels (learning now and what that means for future), PMIs (plus, minus, interesting) or other devices to summarise learning. 13. Students answer unfinished sentences ("I discovered…I found out…) or open questions in writing or orally. 14. "Four Corners": Students move to a corner of the room that best represents their learning.

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Active Learning and Cooperation

15. "Line Ups": Students make a physical continuum to represent their learning and to dialogue with others about their learning. 16. "Numbered Heads Together": Each person has a number. When that number is called they stand and answer questions, representing their group. 17. "Round Robin": Each person in turn answers questions from teacher or class members. 18. Students use puppets, roleplay or dramatise problems and learnings. 19. Students make self-contracts to move to next step with their learning. 20. Students write a "ticket-out-the-door" or "news headline" that summarises their learning. 21. Video or audio tape and replay to discuss learning. 22. Students write a story about themselves as though they were someone else and tell about the learning or write a letter to someone other than the teacher to tell about their learning. 23. Students develop a performance of most worth that exhibits their learning. 24. Students perform a community service for another class, the school, the community that demonstrates their learning. 25. Students make an invention or replica of something that represents their learning and they label how the learning concept, skills and attitudes are applied in the product.

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Processing Possibilities Ticket-in or out-the Door Community Circle Roleplay/Drama Numbered Heads Together Gallery Walk Journalling Self-Contracts News Flash Parent Note or Write to Someone Else Think-Write-Pair-Share 3-2-1 Processing 2 Stars & 1 Wish P.Q.P. Processing Coming up for A.I.R. Reporter Moves to New Group Thumbs Up or Down Rating Scales or Checklists Feedback Forms Story or Learning Maps Mind or Concept Maps PMI Thought/Feeling Cards Now and Future Wheel Video/Audio Tape Community Service Performance of Most Worth

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Some Problem-Solving Strategies Come to Common Definition of Problem Formulate Key Questions Conduct Research by Contacting Other Resources Guess and Check Work Backwards Brainstorm/List All Possibilities Ask… "What If"; "If Then…What?" Look for Patterns Make Diagrams, Charts, Tables Make a Model Make and Test Hypothesis Use Mental Maths Estimate/Predict Check All Possibilities

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Bloom’s Taxonomy of Cognitive Thinking Skills For Students BLOOM’S TAXONOMY OF CRITICAL THINKING SKILLS KNOWLEDGE LEVEL: When students think at this level, they are asked to memorise, remember, and recall previously-learned material. Some common verbs or behaviours for this level are: define, list, identify, label, name, recall, record, draw, recite, and reproduce. COMPREHENSION LEVEL: When students think at this level, they are asked to demonstrate their ability to understand the meaning of material learned and to express that meaning in their own words. Some common verbs or behaviours for this level are: explain, describe, summarise, give examples, classify, find, measure, prepare, retell, reword, rewrite, and show. APPLICATION LEVEL: When students think at this level, they are asked to use learned material in a situation different from the situation in which the material was taught. Some common verbs or behaviours for this level are: apply, compute, construct, develop, discuss, generalise, interview, investigate, model, perform, plan, present, produce, prove, solve, and use. ANALYSIS LEVEL: When students think at this level, they are asked to break down material (ideas and concepts) into its component parts so that the organisation and relationship between parts is better recognised and understood. Some common verbs or behaviours for this level are: compare and contrast, criticise, debate, determine, diagram, differentiate, discover, draw conclusions, examine, infer, search, survey, and sort. SYNTHESIS LEVEL: When students think at this level, they are asked to put together parts of the material to form a new and different whole. Synthesis is the exact opposite of analysis. Some common verbs or behaviours for this level are: build, combine, create, design, imagine, invent, make up, produce, propose, and present. EVALUATION LEVEL: When students think at this level, they are asked to judge the value of material (a statement, novel, poem, research finding, fact) for a given purpose. All judgments are to be based on a set of clearly defined criteria whose outcomes can be defended or validated. Some common verbs or behaviours for this level are: assess, critique, defend, evaluate, grade, judge, measure, rank, recommend, select, test, validate, and verify.

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Examples of Learning Challenges Using Bloom’s Taxonomy KNOWLEDGE Identify all the different types of information you can find on a map. COMPREHENSION: Randomly select twenty different places on an Australian map. Write your choices down and group or categorise them is some way. Describe your classification scheme. APPLICATION: Plan a five-day trip to include: Where will you go and what will you do. How will you get there and how will you move about? What will it cost and how will you budget your dollars? ANALYSIS: Compare and contrast a world map, a globe, and an atlas. List the advantages and disadvantages of each. When might one be a more effective tool to use than another. SYSTHESIS: Invent a new country. Describe its size, population, location and topography. Tell about its people, its lifestyle, its government, and its economy. EVALUATION: In your opinion, what should be the seven wonders of the world? What criteria will you use and how will you validate your choice.

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A Taxonomy of Divergent Thinking and Feeling for Students Fluency Level: When you practise creative thinking at this level, you try to come up with lots of ideas, oodles of responses, scads of choices, or many ways to do something. In two minutes, make a list of all the different ―red‖ things you can think of.

Flexibility Level: When you practise creative thinking at this level, you try to find many different and varied categories of ideas and situations. In two minutes, classify your list of ―red‖ things in some way. How many different categories of ideas and situations do you have? Can you add others to make it a more comprehensive list of ―red‖ things?

Originality Level: When you practice creative thinking at this level, you try to come up with the most unusual and original idea that you can think of. In two minutes, try to come up with some ―red‖ things that nobody else in your group or class has thought of. Try to come up with clever ideas.

Elaboration Level: When you practise creative thinking at this level, you try to stretch your mind and tease your imagination by expanding, enlarging, or adding details to elaborate on your best idea(s). In two minutes, add details to your most original and novel ―red‖ thing from the previous activity. Tell what it looks like, smells like, tastes like, feels like, and sound like.

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Risk Taking Level: When you practise creative thinking at this level, you try new challenges and explore new situations that often involve taking some personal changes or risks. In two minutes, tell about a time when you were so angry at someone or something that you saw ―red.‖

Complexity Level: When you practise creative thinking at this level, you try to make sense of some complicated idea or bring structure to a complex situation. In two minutes, try to explain why the colour ―red‖ is often selected to represent conflicting emotions such as love and anger.

Curiosity Level: When you practise creative thinking at this level, you try to follow a hunch, ponder a point, or wonder about alternatives in a given situation or experience. In two minutes, think of a series of questions you might want to have answered about the circulatory system of your body and the ―red‖ blood that makes it all function properly.

Imagination Level: When you practise creative thinking at this level, you try to visualise, dream, and wonder about things that do not exist or that are mere fantasies at this point. In two minutes, imagine what would happen if everything in the world were ―red‖ in colour.

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Active Learning and Cooperation

Core Thinking Skills FOCUSING SKILLS:

Defining Problems

INFORMATION GATHERING SKILLS

Observing

Formulating Questions

REMEMBERING SKILLS

Encoding

Recalling

ORGANSING SKILLS Representing

ANALYSING SKILLS

Setting Goals

Comparing Classifying Ordering

Identifying ATTRIBUTES and Components: Identifying MAIN IDEAS; Identifying RELATIONSHIPS and PATTERNS: Identifying ERRORS

GENERATING SKILLS

Inferring Predicting Elaborating

INTEGRATING SKILLS

Summarising Restructuring

EVALUATING SKILLS

Establishing Criteria

Verifying

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6 Thinking Hats

White - Information: What are the facts?

Yellow - Benefits: What are the good points?

Black - Judgement: What is wrong with this?

Red - Feeling: What do I feel about this?

Blue - Thinking: What thinking is needed?

Green - Creativity: What new ideas are possible?

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Learning Challenges to Extend Thinking Devise a list of ten things which you believe represent Australia today. Imagine you are an aborigine sighting those first settlers. What would be your thoughts? Describe how the convicts would have been feeling. What would the settlers have had to do to ensure their survival? Create a timeline that shows the important events in Australia‘s history. Explain what Native Title means. Design a new Australian flag. Select another country and explain what is celebrated on their national day. How might Australia in the year 2050 be different to Australia today. How might Australia be different if it had not originally been a convict settlement. List three things about which you are very curious to learn more. About whom would you like to see a book written? Offer suggestions on ways to improve you school‘s library/media centre. Think of three book titles that best describe you. Which would you rather be: an author, librarian, illustrator, publisher, bookshop owner, book reader, subject of a book, researcher, or editor? Why? How might ―progress‖ mean different things to different people? Discover why our planet is called ―Mother Earth.‖ Why is the sky blue? Explain the importance of conservation. Organise a recycling program for your school cafeteria

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Write a patriotic song. Determine which is more important: peace or security. Give reasons for your answer. List five adjectives that describe your feelings about Australia. Debate the issues associated with the presence of women in the military. What unknown person would you most like to nominate as a great Australian hero? Why? Brainstorm a list of ways to solve differences other than waging war. How has the role of a mother changed in the past 100 years. Ask your mother how her role has changed over the years. Discuss the state that motherhood is the most important occupation. Create a timeline of one mother‘s life. Interview a mother who works to find out how she manages to organise her time. Which traits do you admire the most in the mothers you know. Why is ―Australia‖ considered a free country. Consider why you feel there have been no female prime minister‘s in our country though there have been female heads of state in many other countries. List as many famous women as you can who are not from Australia. List some occupations which have been traditionally held by males but in which women have recently made great strides. List all the rights you can think of we enjoy in Australia. Express what the phrase ―human rights‖ means to you. If you could bring peace to one country, how would you do it. Define ―prejudice‖. Respond to this statement: The world is getting smaller every day. Write a story about how two hostile countries resolve their conflicts. Describe what life today would be like for a person your age in a specific foreign country.

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Explain what United Nations does and why it is necessary to have such an organisation. Decide what you want your tombstone to say when you die. Select a personal hero; design a memorial to him or her. If you had the money to do anything or go anywhere you wanted during summer holidays, where would you go and with whom would you like to go? Set ten goals for yourself which you hope to accomplish over the holidays. If you could spend a holiday with a family from another culture, where would you like to go and why? When does a minute seem like an hour? When does an hour seem like a minute? Design a summer holidays poster or travel brochure. What are all the ways we could improve the design of an umbrella. Where would you rather be, the desert of the rain forest? Explain. Describe what it would be like if you went to school on weekends and played during the week. Give five reasons teenagers are special. List as many uses for a feather as you can think of. As a school bully, what would be your greatest fears?

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Read the twenty answers below and write the best questions you can for each answer. 1) Question: Answer: Jonas Salk ------------------------------------------------------2) Question: Answer: East Timor ------------------------------------------------------3) Question: Answer: The Bermuda Triangle ------------------------------------------------------4) Question: Answer: Spherical ------------------------------------------------------5) Question: Answer: Hang gliding ------------------------------------------------------6) Question: Answer: Refugee -------------------------------------------------------

7) Question: Answer: Nuclear energy ------------------------------------------------------8) Question: Answer: Indonesia

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------------------------------------------------------9) Question: Answer: orangutan ------------------------------------------------------10) Question: Answer: Barrier Reef ------------------------------------------------------11) Question: Answer: Venn Diagram ------------------------------------------------------12) Question: Answer: Queen Elizabeth ------------------------------------------------------13) Question: Answer: Millennium ------------------------------------------------------14) Question: Answer: Safari ------------------------------------------------------15) Question: Answer: Vesuvius ------------------------------------------------------16) Question: Answer: Hieroglyphics ------------------------------------------------------47 Quick Time™ and a TIFF ( Unc ompr es sed) decompr ess or are needed to s ee this pic ture.

Active Learning and Cooperation

17) Question: Answer: Mozart ------------------------------------------------------18) Question: Answer: Tyrant ------------------------------------------------------19) Question: Answer: Vegetarian ------------------------------------------------------20) Question: Answer: Anesthesiologist -------------------------------------------------------

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Make a list of … 1. Seven original oxymorons 2. Thirteen words that express joy or happiness 3. Thirty-two uses for a large paper bag 4. The full names of ten well-known sports figures over forty years of age 5. Eighty-eight words that begin with the letter E (don‘t use the dictionary!) 6. The capitals of sixteen countries 7. Fifteen good story starters for tall tales and fifteen good story starters for mystery stories 8. Fifty two-letter words 9. Twenty-five games played with a ball 10. A dozen ways to reuse glass jars 11. Sixteen gemstones that are used to make jewellery 12. Twenty-two time-saving kitchen devices 13. Twenty-six careers in the health industry 14. Fourteen ways to send information from one country to another 15. Twenty kinds of desserts that contain chocolate 16. Ten major world seaports 17. A dozen ways to reuse junk mail 18. The names of ten people who have contributed significantly to world peace during the past decade 19. A dozen ways to express appreciation for someone‘s thoughtfulness 20. Sixteen different languages A dozen TV programs appropriate for pre-teen or teen viewing

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Planning Effective Lessons

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Ways of Integrating the Curriculum THEME: an idea or a feature that is shared by, or recurs in a number of separate elements ISSUE: identifies a specific question whose answer is a VALUE JUDGEMENT about what should be the case INQUIRY: identifies a specific question whose answer describes how things are or are likely to become PROBLEM: identifies a specific question whose answer is a course of action PROJECT: results in a ‗product‘ of some kind STORYFORM: is based on immersion learning in a real story with a beginning, middle and end ENTERPRISE: helps students learn the skills of becoming enterprising and entrepreneurial LEARNING CONTRACTS: assist students to monitor their own learning across different environments and situations KEY CONCEPTS: enables students to see the ‗big picture‘ in terms of timeless ideas INFUSION: integrates major concepts such as literacy across all aspects of curriculum SPIRAL: is planned to provide seamless learning over a period of years INTRA-DISCIPLINARY: integration within a specific learning area MULTI-DISCIPLINARY: integration which involves multiple learning areas INTER-DISCIPLINARY : integration across disciplines TRANS-DISCIPLINARY: integration in such a way that specific disciplines are transcended by major concepts or ideas.

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Key Ideas on Assessment Students need to be able to: * Self-evaluate and monitor their own performance and learning

* Assess Metacognition - how they think Metalearning - how they learn

* Use multiple forms of assessment - Teachers, Peers, Parents, Self, Others - Narrative anecdotal records journals learning logs portfolios - Observational - Interviews - Scales and Tallies - Exhibitions - Videos

Base assessment on OUTCOMES - reaching a GOAL No SECRETS; let students in on it Use just measurable, precise, attainable CRITERIA Assess PROCESS, as well as product ONGOING; needs to GUIDE INSTRUCTION

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The Goal of Assessment is Student Self Evaluation

ACHIEVEMENT:

QUESTIONS:

Global Proficiency

Is the student a generally competent language user?

Placement

Where does the student stand in comparison with peers?

Diagnosis

What are the student‘s strengths and weaknesses?

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Developing Effective Lessons: Questions to Guide Planning for Teachers. 1. What ACADEMIC SKILLS AND CONCEPTS and LEARNING STYLES will be included? 2. What SOCIAL SKILLS will be included? (One inherent in lesson design, another to meet the needs of students) 3. How will GROUPS BE FORMED? How many students per group? 4. What ROOM ARRANGEMENT will be best for the lesson? 5. What ROLES will group members play? Will they be assigned? 6. What MATERIALS will be needed for the lesson? 7. How will INTERDEPENDENCE be structured? (Goals, resource material and information, task, roles, etc) 8. How will ACCOUNTABILITY be structured? 9. How much TIME will be allocated for……? * Introduction/Orientation * Groupwork * Processing/Wrap-up 10. What will the OBSERVATION process be during groupwork? (Who will observe? Who will be observed? What will be observed?) 11. Is the lesson INTERESTING AND CHALLENGING for all students? 12. What EXTENSION activities will be used? 13. In addition to question generated by observation, what OPEN-ENDED QUESTIONS will be asked during groupwork and/or processing? (eg. Including both academic and social skills) 14. How will academic and social learning be ASSESSED?

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Problems in Lesson/Unit Development 1. Not allowing enough time for pre-planning 2. Taking an existing workbook lesson and putting students into groups to do it, instead of adapting the lesson to cooperative groups with social skills, appropriate group size, group interdependence and processing; 3. Turning to textbook first, instead of examining the scope and sequence of concepts to be taught and then brainstorming ideas and manipulatives that could be used to teach it; 4. Getting the skills and concepts the students are to practice mixed up with the task they are to do. Ask yourself ―What are the outcomes I want from this lesson?‖ ―What specifically do I want the students to learn about…? 5. Not structuring the lesson for a high degree of academic challenge or creativity 6. Not making the activity purposeful. Use the activity for discovery or application and then structure appropriately 7. Doing Cooperative Learning in isolated lessons that are not tied into a curriculum or unit; or that will progressively develop student‘s academic and social skills and learning styles 8. Putting too much into one lesson, you may need to stretch to 2-3 lessons 9. Not developing written and/or illustrative instructions for group; or too many instructions so students do not decide on their own process 10. No having needed materials ready for the groups 11. Using too large groups so students are sitting waiting to do task; lesson needs to be structured so all can be optimally involved 12. Teachers planning lessons in isolation, instead of sharing and brainstorming together.

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Hindrances To Facilitating Learning PLANNING Not planning Not having materials ready for lesson Not considering group size, or methods in forming groups Not tying lessons into a curriculum unit or focus Not planning lessons that need a variety of perspectives, student-to-student interaction or interdependence INTRODUCING THE LESSON Teaching the lesson, rather than merely introducing the lesson (makes the introduction too long and does not allow students to discover) Forgetting one of the elements of the introduction, i.e. academic skills, social skills (―sounds and looks like‖), how students are to be interdependent, how you will get individual accountability, how to form groups, roles, time limit) Giving too many directions orally rather than in written form Not clarifying students‘ understanding before sending them to groups OBSERVING GROUPWORK Not observing, not writing observation notes Not using data from observation to intervene and in processing Trying to observe all groups, instead of just a few Not staying at one group long enough to see what is really happening INTERVENING (or Interfering!) IN GROUPWORK ―Hovering‖ over groups, instead of letting them work Intervening to tell students something, rather than asking questions of the group Intervening without observing the group first Intervening and staying with the group instead of letting them solve the situation without you there Interrupting, rather than interacting; stifling, rather than extending

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PROCESSING GROUPWORK Not processing, TIME NEEDS TO BE SET ASIDE FOR PROCESSING Processing every group, rather than a sample (Go to individual groups as they finish for more in-depth processing) Giving your feedback first rather than questioning and drawing out student learning and reaction first Not asking for specific examples of academic and social skills practiced in groupwork No wait time after asking open ended questions; then following with closed questions.

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Questioning for Quality Thinking KNOWLEDGE – Identification and recall of knowledge Who, what, when, how, where Describe………….. COMPREHENSION – Organisation and selection of facts and ideas Retell……………..in your own words. What is the main idea of ………………. APPLICATION – Use if facts, rules, principles How is ………and example of ………… How is……….related to ……………….. Why is ……….significant? ANALYSE – Separation of the whole into component parts What are the parts or features of …………….? Classify …………….according to …………….. Outline/diagram/web …………… What evidence can you find for …………………? SYNTHESIS – Combination of ideas to form a new whole What are the parts or features of …………….? What ideas can you add to …………….? How would you create/design a new ………………? What might happen if you combined ……….with ………..? EVALUATION – Development of opinion, judgments or decisions Do you agree …………….? What do you think about ……………? What is the most important …………….? Prioritise …………….. How would you decide about …………….? What criteria would you use to assess ………………..?

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Sample Social Skills GROUP FORMING 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7.

Moving quickly and quietly to and from groups Stay with your group Make sure each role is carried out Use eye contact Include each other Divide labour Set-up, clean-up, share materials

COMMUNICATION 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6.

LISTEN to each other Share your opinion/reason Ask for help, give help when asked Paraphrase Extend others‘ ideas Ask questions

DECISION-MAKING 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7.

Make a plan, before doing the task Disagree in an agreeable way Get many ideas before deciding Use a variety of ways to decide Show respect for minority views Summarise all ideas before deciding Work toward consensus

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Lesson Introduction Proforma And Some Examples Task: (What I want the students to do)

Academic Concepts: (What I want the students to learn)

Values/Attitudes: (What I want the students to demonstrate)

Social Skills: (What I want the students to practice)

Roles: (Which roles will facilitate student learning and are they appropriate to the task?)

Time Limit: (How much time do we have and who will monitor this?)

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Are You Someone Who?

TASK:

INDIVIDUALLY, ANSWER ALL QUESTIONS WITH A YES OR NO (YOU MAY NOT SAY MAYBE, OR SOMETIMES; TAKE A STAND) WITH YOUR PARTNER, DISCUSS YOUR RESPONSES (YOU MUST BE WILLING TO ALSO ANSWER ANY QUESTION YOU ASK YOUR PARTNER)

ACADEMIC CONCEPTS:

ARTICULATING YOUR THINKING

VALUES:

RESPECT SELF AND OTHERS

SOCIAL SKILLS:

LISTEN TO EACH OTHER SELF DISCLOSURE

TIME:

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Active Learning and Cooperation

Are You Someone Who? 1. procrastinates about the things that you must do 2. meditates 3. prefers reading a book to going to the movies 4. listens carefully to others 5. tends to make snap judgments 6. waits for someone else to say hello first 7. goes back to sleep after the alarm goes off 8. keeps a record of your dreams 9. believes in ESP 10. enjoys dressing up for special occasions 11. is fiercely independent 12. prays before going to sleep 13. considers yourself a philosopher 14. must have advice from others before making a decision 15. knows what you will be doing one year from now 16. has difficulty saying "no" 17. can cry easily 18. never makes promises 19. can express yourself better in writing than in conversation 20. never goes anywhere alone

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What’s In Your Wallet?

1. THINK: FIND SOMETHING IN YOUR WALLET OR THAT YOU ARE WEARING THAT MEANS A LOT TO YOU AND "SAYS" SOMETHING ABOUT WHO YOU ARE.

2. PAIR: EXPLAIN TO YOUR PARTNER OR SMALL GROUP WHAT YOUR ITEM MEANS TO YOU AND WHY.

SOCIAL SKILLS PRACTICE: ACTIVELY LISTEN, WITHOUT INTERRUPTING, SHARE REASONS FOR YOUR ANSWERS

3. SHARE: AFTER EACH HAVE SHARED, FORM A GROUP OF 4 AND INTRODUCE YOUR PARTNER TO THE OTHERS BY SHARING AN IMPRESSION THEY MADE ON YOU.

SOCIAL SKILLS PRACTICE: GIVE AND RECEIVE FEEDBACK, MAINTAIN CONFIDENTIALITY

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Active Learning and Cooperation

One Minute Autobiography TASK:

THINK ABOUT YOUR LIFE, GO ROUND YOUR GROUP WITH EACH PERSON HAVE EVERYONE MINUTE TO TALK ABOUT THEIR LIFE

ACADEMIC CONCEPTS:

PRE-WRITE FOR AUTOBIOGRAPHICAL WRITING

VALUES:

RESPECT FOR SELF AND OTHERS

SOCIAL SKILLS:

LISTENING, SELF-DISCLOSING

TIME:

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Active Learning and Cooperation

―We Like‖ Collages TASK:

MAKE A COLLAGE USING MAGAZINES PROVIDED THAT DESCRIBES SOME OF THE FAVOURITE THINGS OF YOUR GROUP MEMBERS

ACADEMIC CONCEPTS:

SORTING AND CLASSIFYING

VALUES:

HONOURING AND ACCEPTING DIFFERENCES

SOCIAL SKILLS:

ROLES:

COMING TO AGREEMENT BEFORE MAKING PRODUCT; DIVIDING LABOUR WHEN WORKING

RECORDER, FACILITATOR, CUTTER, ENCOURAGER

TIME:

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Active Learning and Cooperation

Uncommon Commonalities TASK:

ACADEMIC CONCEPTS:

VALUES:

SOCIAL SKILLS:

ROLES:

DISCUSS WITH YOUR PARTNER, THINGS YOU MIGHT HAVE IN COMMON THAT WOULD NOT BE TRUE OF THE OTHER TWO PEOPLE IN YOUR GROUP OF FOUR

PREDICTION USING PRIOR KNOWLEDGE

HONOURING DIFFERENCES, RESPECTING OTHERS

EXTEND EACH OTHERS' IDEAS

RECORDER, FACILITATOR, CUTTER, ENCOURAGER

TIME:

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Active Learning and Cooperation

Make a name tag

2 people you admire

Name of a book you're reading

Name grade/subject

A hope you have

Something you're good at

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Active Learning and Cooperation

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Name Game TASK:

SITTING IN CIRCLE, EACH PERSON INTRODUCES THEMSELVES BY SAYING THEIR NAME AND A QUALITY THEY BRING TO THE GROUP TO THE GROUP USING THE SAME LETTER THAT BEGINS THEIR FIRST NAME AS IT BECOMES YOUR TIME TO SPEAK, YOU MUST SAY ALL THE NAMES AND QUALITIES THAT WERE STATED BEFORE YOU. THE LAST PERSON WILL THEN BE SAYING EVERYONE IS THE GROUP'S NAMES AND QUALITIES. THE FACILITATOR SHOULD BE THE FIRST AND LAST PERSON SO THEY MODEL THE PROCESS.

ACADEMIC CONCEPTS: MEMORIZATION, RECALL

VALUES:

RESPECT FOR SELF AND OTHERS TRUSTING THE GROUP

SOCIAL SKILLS:

LISTENING, ASKING FOR HELP

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Active Learning and Cooperation

Name Tag Maths

1. PUT YOUR NAME ON A NAME TAG.

2. IF "A" IS WORTH ONE CENT(.01) AND "B" IS WORTH TWO CENTS (0.2) AND "C" IS WORTH THREE CENTS (.03), etc., FIGURE OUT THE VALUE OF YOUR NAME.

3. HELP YOUR TEAM MATES FIND THE VALUE OF THEIR NAMES.

4. TOTAL THE VALUE OF ALL TEAM MEMBERS NAMES.

5. MAKE UP A TEAM NAME THAT COMES AS CLOSE TO $1.00 VALUE AS POSSIBLE.

6. WRITE DOWN OTHER $1.00 WORDS. (THERE REALLY ARE SEVERAL; HINT: THINK OF VEGETABLES, ETC.)

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T-Shirt Activity You will be designing you own T-shirt using words, pictures and symbols in answer to the different T-shirt sections. In the Middle -

put your name and an adjective that describes you;

Left sleeve -

2 things you enjoy doing;

Right sleeve -

favourite place that you like to be;

Collar -

quality you brought today to enhance this group;

Left pocket -

mentor

Right pocket -

wish, dream, fantasy that you would be willing to share;

Left bottom -

something most people don't know about you and you are willing to share with this group;

Right bottom -

a hope or wish you have for this workshop.

Find a partner and share your name and left sleeve; after a short time ask everyone to find a new partner and Share the right sleeve; then find two new people to find a group of three and Share the two pockets; then combine your triad with another group of three form groups of 6. Share the bottom corners of your T-shirt; when sharing your hopes for this workshop please have a recorder write down your answers so the facilitator/s can be aware of them. Form one large community circle and have each person share their name and one word from their collar. Processing Questions: 1. What do you have in common with the others? 2. Which grouping did you feel most comfortable with and why? 3. How could you use an activity like this in your classroom?

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Milling To Music

ROUND ONE: MILL AROUND THE OPEN AREA, AS MUSIC IS PLAYED. WHEN THE MUSIC STOPS, FIND A PARTNER. DISCUSS WITH YOUR PARTNER WHAT YOU WOULD DO IF YOU WON THE LOTTO. WHEN MUSIC BEGINS AGAIN, MILL AROUND AGAIN.

ROUND TWO: DISCUSS WITH YOUR NEW PARTNER, THE FAVOURITE PLACE WHERE YOU HAVE BEEN. WHEN MUSIC STARTS, MILL AGAIN.

ROUND THREE: DISCUSS WITH A NEW PARTNER, YOUR FAVOURITE ANIMAL.

THE ROUNDS CAN CONTINUE AS LONG AS NECESSARY. MAY WANT THE GROUPS TO CHANGE IN SIZE FROM 2S TO 3S AND 4S. THE PURPOSE IS TO GET TO KNOW OTHERS AND PRACTICE GOOD COMMUNICATION SKILLS. PROCESS WITH QUESTIONS ABOUT THE PURPOSE AND HOW THEY COULD USE IN THEIR CLASSROOMS.

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Active Learning and Cooperation

Communication Barriers

TASK:

WITH A PARTNER, ONE STANDING ON A CHAIR, THE OTHER SITTING ON CHAIR, CARRY ON A CONVERSATION ABOUT THIS COMING WEEKEND PLANS.

PROCESS WITH PEOPLE'S FEELINGS/REACTIONS SWITCH ROLES AND CONTINUE CONSERVATION

TASK:

PARTNERS SIT BACK TO BACK AND DISCUSS POLITICS WITH PARTNER

PROCESS WITH PEOPLE'S FEELINGS; COMPARE THIS TO UP/DOWN SITUATIONS

TASK:

PARTNERS SIT FACING EACH OTHER AND TALK ABOUT A PERSONAL INTEREST THEY HAVE, EXCEPT THEY CANNOT MAKE EYE CONTACT, THEY LOOK OVER EACH OTHER'S SHOULDERS

PROCESS WITH PEOPLE'S FEELINGS, THEIR COMPARISONS AND HOW THESE COMMUNICATION BARRIER ARE OFTEN PRESENT IN SCHOOL AND IN HOME.

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Active Learning and Cooperation

Master Designer: Communication Skills TASK:

REPLICATE THE DESIGN THE DIRECTION GIVER HAS HIDDEN AND WILL DESCRIBE TO YOU

ROLES:

DIRECTION GIVER, AND DRAWERS

ACADEMIC CONCEPTS: SOCIAL SKILLS:

ROUND ONE:

VISUAL PERCEPTION, KNOWLEDGE OF SHAPES

LISTENING SKILLS, FOLLOWING DIRECTIONS AND IN ROUNDS TWO AND THREE—ASKING QUESTIONS

ONE WAY COMMUNICATION ONLY THE DIRECTION GIVER TALKS, GIVES DIRECTIONS AND OTHERS DRAW WHAT S/HE IS DESCRIBING

ROUND TWO:

TWO WAY COMMUNICATION SWITCH DIRECTION GIVER AND ILLUSTRATION— NOW THE DIRECTION GIVER AND STUDENTS MAY TALK; HOWEVER, THE STUDENTS CANNOT TALK TO EACH OTHER

ROUND THREE:

THREE WAY COMMUNICATION SWITCH DIRECTION GIVER AND ILLUSTRATION— NOW STUDENTS CAN TALK TO EACH OTHER AS WELL AS TO THE DIRECTION GIVER.

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Miracle Workers DR. DORIAN GREY

A noted plastic surgeon; he can make you look exactly as you want

JERRY ANDERSEN

A job placement expert; job of your choice in the location of your job

MARY METHUSELAH

Guarantees you long life with aging process slowed down

DR. RUTH OVERHILL

You will be perfect male or female; you will enjoy sex and bring joy to others

DR. YIN YANG

You will have perfect health and protection from physical injury

CLAIRE VOYANT

All your questions about the future will be answered

A. THORITY

Authority expert; you will be immune from all control you consider to be unfair

PROF. VAL U. CLEAR

You will know what you want and will be clear on the muddy issues of today

CHARLIE SMART

You will have common sense and a high IQ

ROCKY FELLAH

Wealth will be yours

HOWARD PETERS

Leadership expert; you will be listened to and respected by those around you

MANNY GARENGY

You will be well-liked by all; you will never be lonely; will have a life of love

MAY SELF

You will have self-knowledge, self-liking, selfconfidence and self-respect

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Active Learning and Cooperation

Dinner Party

TASK: INDIVIDUALLY MAKE A LIST OF 5 PEOPLE (FAMOUS OR NOT; LIVING OR DEAD) WHO YOU WOULD LIKE TO INVITE TO A DINNER PARTY. (YOU ARE AUTOMATICALLY THERE AND NOT ONE OF YOUR 5) MAKE A GROUP LIST OF 5 PEOPLE FOR THE DINNER PARTY

ACADEMIC CONCEPTS:

PROBLEM SOLVING STRATEGIES, ANALYSING AND SYNTHESIZING DATA

VALUES:

HONOURING DIFFERENCES

SOCIAL SKILLS:

DISAGREE IN AN AGREEABLE WAY

ROLES:

RECORDER CHECKER

FACILITATOR ENCOURAGER

TIME:

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Drug Scene Forced Choice The following exercise is intended to challenge your personal values in the drug abuse area in a step-by-step process. On a piece of paper, please number from 1 to 10. Someone in your class will describe 10 situations, one at a time. Each situation will have key words to identify it. As I describe each of these situation, think HOW STRONGLY you feel about that situation—not how positively and negatively, but how strongly. Use number 1 to indicate the situation you feel most strongly about. As you listen to the 10 situations, write down the key words between 1 and 10. 1. CUSTOM BRIBE:

Customs officer who accepts a bribe to allow 10 kilos of heroin into this country

2. FRIEND:

Young person who turns his/her best friend onto heroin

3. DRUG COUNSELOR: A counsellor in a drug treatment program who is using drugs himself 4. ACID HEAD:

A young person, as a joke, puts LSD in his girl friend's coke

5. NARC:

A person who gets accepted by high school group to get evidence of drug pushing and possession

6. DEFENDER:

Parent who suspects his child is on drugs, but when told by teacher he panics and says his child would never do such a thing

7. SOCIAL DRINKER:

Adult who gets drunk every weekend at parties

8. AVOIDER:

Adult who sees another adult selling middle school students pills and does nothing

9. MOTHER:

A mother on heroin who gives birth to an addicted baby

10. COUNSELOR:

After student confides in school counsellor about his drug use, the counsellor calls the student's parents Now, that you know all of the choices you will have a few minutes to change your rankings around. Once you have your individual rankings, look at how you made your decisions without knowing all the information and how you made decisions once you had more information. What criteria did you use to make your decisions? What does this say about your values? Now, in your group, discuss each person's rankings and come up with a group rank order. Be prepared to discuss your decision-making strategies and the thinking behind your decisions.

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Active Learning and Cooperation

Classroom Goal Structures

TASK:

LOOK AT THE DIFFERENCES IN TEACHER'S ROLE AND STUDENT PARTICIPATION IN INDIVIDUALISTIC, COMPETITIVE AND COOPERATIVE GOAL STRUCTURES

ACADEMIC CONCEPTS:

MATHS OPERATIONS, PROBLEM SOLVING

VALUES:

INDIVIDUAL, COMPETITIVE AND COOPERATIVE

SOCIAL SKILLS:

EXTEND OTHER'S IDEAS

ROLES:

RECORDER, FACILITATOR, CHECKER, TIMEKEEPER

TIME:

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Cooperative Structures: How Many Triangles?

How did you work together? What strategies did you use? How many triangles did you find?

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Collaborative Community Structures

TASK:

DRAW IDEAS TO REPRESENT THE VALUES INHERENT IN A COLLABORATIVE LEARNING COMMUNITY

DRAW WHAT THE RELATIONSHIPS WOULD BE IN A COLLABORATIVE LEARNING COMMUNITY

ACADEMIC CONCEPTS:

SPATIAL REPRESENTATION OF IDEAS; APPLICATION OF CHANGED THINKING AND INTERACTING

VALUES:

RESPECT SELF AND OTHERS

SOCIAL SKILLS:

USE EACH OTHERS IDEAS

ROLES:

FACILITATOR

CHECKER

ILLUSTRATOR

REPORTER

TIME:

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Active Learning and Cooperation

Directions for "SPEND-A-DOLLAR"

1. Each of you has $1.00 to spend as votes on the choices generated.

2. You may spend any portion of your dollar on any number of the alternative choices. FOR EXAMPLE: You may spend the total $1.00 on one choice You may spend $.10 on each of 10 choices You may spend $.80 on one and $.05 on four other choices, etc.

3. Plan how you will spend your dollar; those choices with the highest value will be our priority items.

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Jigsaw Puzzle Pieces Activity

1. MAKE JIGSAW PUZZLE PIECES from any photographs or pictures pasted onto cardboard and then cut into shapes

2. FIND THE OTHER MEMBERS OF YOUR GROUP by matching puzzle pieces. Move all your belongings to your new group.

3. MEET YOUR TEAMMATES; LEARN THEIR NAMES AND WHAT LANGUAGES EACH PERSON SPEAKS.

4. ACADEMIC GOAL: AS A TEAM, DECIDE ON ONE ITEM IN YOUR PICTURE AND LEARN THE NAME OF THAT ITEM IN EVERY LANGUAGE MEMBERS OF YOUR GROUP SPEAKS. SOCIAL GOALS: ENCOURAGE EVERYONE TO PARTICIPATE LISTEN AND HELP EACH OTHER LEARN

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Weird Objects AS A GROUP, BRAINSTORM SOME POSSIBLE USES OF YOUR WEIRD OBJECT. ONCE DECIDING ON A USE, WRITE A COMMERCIAL ADVERTISING THE OBJECT TO THE PUBLIC. PRESENT YOUR COMMERCIAL TO CLASS.

TASK:

ACADEMIC CONCEPTS:

VALUES:

WRITE A TV/RADIO COMMERCIAL ABOUT THE QUALITIES OF YOUR WEIRD OBJECT

PERSUASIVE WRITING CREATIVE EXPRESSION

CURIOSITY, CHALLENGE OF LEARNING

SOCIAL SKILLS:

GIVE REASONS FOR YOUR ANSWERS GET MANY IDEAS BEFORE DECIDING

ROLES:

FACILITATOR RECORDER CHECKER PROP MAKER

TIME:

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Active Learning and Cooperation

Weird Objects Direction Sheet

1. LOOK AT YOUR GROUP'S OBJECT.

2. AS A GROUP, BRAINSTORM AS MANY POSSIBLE USES FOR YOUR OBJECT AS YOU CAN.

3. NAME YOUR OBJECT.

4. PREPARE A STORY, SKIT, POEM, PRESENTATION ABOUT YOUR OBJECT FOR THE CLASS.

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Life Is Like A …

TASK:

ACADEMIC CONCEPTS:

VALUES:

SOCIAL SKILLS:

ROLES:

WRITE A 3-4 SENTENCE PARAGRAPH ABOUT LIFE

USE OF METAPHOR OR SIMILE CREATIVE EXPRESSION

LOVE OF LEARNING

EXPAND ON OTHER'S IDEAS GET MANY IDEAS BEFORE DECIDING

FACILITATOR CHECKER

ENCOURAGER RECORDER

TIME:

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The Meaning of Life In response to the question is, "What is the meaning of life?" Workshop participants came up with these ideas Life is like a bagel. It's delicious when it's fresh and warm, but often it's just hard. The hole in the middle is its great mystery, and yet it wouldn't be a bagel without it. Life is like eating grapefruit. First, you have to break through the skin; then it takes a couple of bites to get used to the taste, and just as you begin to enjoy it, it squirts you in the eye. Life is like a banana. You start out green and get soft and mushy with age. Some people want to be one of the bunch while others want to be top banana. You have to take care not to slip on externals. And, finally, you have to strip off the outer coating to get at the meal. Life is like cooking. It all depends on what you add and how you mix it. Sometimes you follow the recipe and at other times, you're creative. Life is like a jigsaw puzzle but you don't have the picture on the front of the box to know what it's supposed to look like. Sometimes, you're not even sure if you have all the pieces.

Life is like an unassembled abacus. It's what you make of it that counts. Life is like new product development. Market research is the decision by the parents to have children. Product conceptualisation is conception. Development of prototype is birth. Debugging of prototype is learning. Successful sales is working. Product maturation is retirement. And product obsolescence is death. Life is like a maze in which you try to avoid the exit. Life is like riding an elevator. It has a lot of ups and downs and someone is always pushing your buttons. Sometimes you get the shaft, but what really bothers you are the jerks. Life is like a poker game. You deal or are dealt to. It includes skill and luck. You bet, check, bluff, and raise. You learn from those you play with. Sometimes, you win with a pair or lose with a full house. But whatever happens, it's best to keep on shuffling along. Life is like a puppy dog always searching for a street full of fire hydrants. Life is like a room of open doors which close as you get older. What do you think life is like?

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Spring Is … ACADEMIC TASK:

ACADEMIC GOALS:

Fill in worksheet so your group is composing a story about Spring.

Use of descriptive language Practice sentence construction Use parts of speech Vocabulary Development.

SOCIAL VALUES:

Respect for Self and Others.

SOCIAL GOALS:

Divide labour Encourage all to participate.

ROLES:

Checker Facilitator

Recorder Reporter

TIME LIMIT:

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Active Learning and Cooperation

Limericks

TASK:

ACADEMIC CONCEPTS:

VALUES:

WRITE A LIMERICK ABOUT TEACHING, COOPERATIVE LEARNING, AND/OR ABOUT TEACHING IN YOUR DISTRICT

RHYTHM AND RHYMING SCHEME OF A LIMERICK CREATIVE EXPRESSION

LOVE AND CHALLENGE OF LEARNING

SOCIAL SKILLS:

EXTEND EACH OTHERS' IDEAS GET MANY IDEAS BEFORE DECIDING

ROLES:

RECORDER REPORTER

FACILITATOR ENCOURAGER

TIME:

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Limerick Examples 1. ONCE YEAR MARCH CAME IN WITH A ROAR. LIGHTNING, THUNDER AND RAIN—HOW IT POURED ON THROUGH UNTIL MAY FLOWERED. YET, I MUST SAY… WHEN IT STOPPED, WE WERE ALL QUITE SPRING-BORED.

2. YOUNG FRANKENSTEIN'S ROBOT INVENTION CAUSED TROUBLE TOO AWFUL TO MENTION. ITS ACTIONS WERE GHOULISH, WHICH PROVES IT IS FOOLISH TO MONKEY WITH NATURE'S INTENTION.

3. A COLLEGIATE DAMSEL NAMED BREEZE, WEIGHED DOWN BY B.S.'S AND LITT. D'S, COLLAPSED FROM THE STRAIN. ALAS, IT WAS PLAIN SHE WAS KILLING HERSELF—BY DEGREES.

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4. A TEACHER WHOSE SPELLING'S UNIQUE THUS WROTE DOWN THE "DAYS OF THE WIQUE": THE FIRST HE SPELT "SONDAY," THE SECOND DAY, "MUNDAY"— AND NOW A NEW TEACHER THEY SIQUE.

5. THERE WAS A YOUNG WOMAN OF AYR, TRIED TO STEAL OUT OF CHURCH DURING PRAYER, BUT THE SQUEAK OF HER SHOES SO ENLIVENED THE PEWS THAT SHE SAT DOWN AGAIN IN DESPAIR.

6. A SLEEPER FROM THE AMAZON PUT NIGHTIES OF HIS GRA'MAZON— THE REASON, THAT HE WAS TOO FAT TO GET HIS OWN PAJAMAZON.

7. THERE WAS AN OLD LADY NAMED CROCKETT WHO WENT TO PUT A PLUG IN A SOCKET; BUT HER HANDS WERE SO WET SHE FLEW UP LIKE A JET AND CAME ROARING BACK DOWN LIKE A ROCKET!

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Graphs TASK:

ACADEMIC CONCEPTS:

VALUES:

SOCIAL SKILLS:

FILL IN THE GRAPHS ON THE CLASSROOM WALLS

READING DIFFERENT TYPES OF GRAPHS INTERPRETING DATA

CHALLENGE OF LEARNING

ASK CLARIFYING QUESTIONS

TIME: GRAPHS COULD INCLUDE THE FOLLOWING: 1. VENN DIAGRAM OF 3 CIRCLES — WHAT IS YOUR EXPERIENCE WITH COOPERATIVE LEARNING? ATTENDED WORKSHOP, READ A BOOK, IMPLEMENTED CL LESSONS 2. THREE COLUMNS — WHAT IS THE RELATIONSHIP OF YOUR FIRST NAME TO LAST NAME? SHORTER, SAME, LONGER 3. BAR GRAPH — ESTIMATE THE NUMBER OF POPCORN KERNALS IN THIS JAR…OR THE NUMBER OF PREPOSITIONS IN THE CIRCLED AREA OF A NEWSPAPER. 4. LINE GRAPH, HORIZONTALLY — USING MENTAL MATH, HOW MANY CENTIMETERS IN A LINE DRAWN ON GRAPH PAGE 5. BLOCKS — WHEN DO YOU USE SEATBELTS? ALWAYS, SOMETIMES, NEVER. (3 BLOCKS ARE FOR CHOICES WHEN IN FRONT SEAT, 3 BLOCKS FOR CHOICES WHEN IN BACKSEAT) 6. BLOCKS — WHAT IS YOUR FAVOURITE SEASON? AUTUMN, WINTER, SPRING, SUMMER

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Straw Structures

TASK: BUILD THE TALLEST STRUCTURE YOUR GROUP CAN WITH 50 PINS AND 50 STRAWS

ACADEMIC SKILLS: APPLY SCIENCE PROCESSES FROM WALL CHART. DISCOVER 2 PRINCIPLES OF BALANCE AND STRUCTURE RESULTING FROM Y0UR EXPERIMENT

SOCIAL SKILLS: EXPAND ON OTHERS' IDEAS ENCOURAGE OTHERS

Make group notes: 1. Science Processes Used During Experiment: 2. Two things you learned about balance and structure. 3. Specific examples of your group's use of social skills. 4. What social skills should your group work on tomorrow?

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Science Processes

OBSERVING COMMUNICATING COMPARING ORGANISING RELATING INFERRING APPLYING

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Building Classroom Community

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Whole Class Climate-Building Grouping Similarity Grouping Participants quickly move around the room, joining others in categories specified by the leader. They have opportunities to get better acquainted and exchange ideas with other who are similar to them in some way

Line-Ups Students are challenged to line up in a variety of ways other than the traditional ―by height‖. This promotes verbal interaction, problem solving, and whole class unity. For an added challenge, some of these line-ups can be performed in silence. Challenge your students to line up by any of the following dimensions. (You may want to keep time so that you can challenge your class to beat their record on the next occasion.) 1) 2) 3) 4) 5) 6) 7) 8) 9)

The length of your hair. The length of your skirt/pants. The size of your shoes. The number of letters in your name. The number of buttons or pockets in your clothing. The amount of change in your pocket. The longest number of days you have ever spent sick in bed. The longest number of days you have spent on a trip. The length of time it would take to get back to your place of birth, using the fastest form of normal transportation available to you.

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Linkages Participants each link physically to another classmate on the basis of a shared experience or shared interest until all the class is linked together.

Talent Scouts Task Sheet No one is good at everything, BUT Everyone is good at something! Instructions: This group is full of hidden talent. See if you can find a different person for each of these and have them sign you list. Find someone who can cook a gourmet meal. Find someone who sings in a choir or chorus. Find someone who has had a year or more of experience changing nappies. Find someone who comfortably speaks more than one language. Find someone who is an experienced photographer. Find someone who plays a musical instrument regularly (at least monthly). Find someone who enjoys writing poetry. Find someone who participates regularly in an organised sport. What is it? Find someone who knows how to use a sewing machine to follow a dress pattern. Find someone who can tell a good joke.

Teach-A-Trick Students are each given an opportunity to teach something to their classmates that they can do well. This can be anything from tying shoes or catching a ball (K, 1), to a jumprope rhyme, a recipe for cookies, a maths puzzle, a magic trick or a game such as cat‘s cradle with older students. This helps students learn to appreciate the diversity of talent in their class, provides each of them with an opportunity to shine among their peers, and is an important step on the road to creating a multi-ability classroom.

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Commonalities Within the whole class, in pairs, and in teams of four, students explore what they have in common, as well as their unique and individual differences.

What’s In A Name? In pairs, participants each tell the other about their name, its origin, meaning, significance to them, their feelings about it, and what they want to be called by their classmates. Partners then introduce each other to another pair, or to the whole class.

Significant Object This alternative to ―Show-and-Tell‖ works well with any age group, and can be very rich in sharing. Holding an object helps to overcome shyness, as does the pair and small group format. In pairs, and then in teams of four, students share an object of importance and its significance for them.

Slogans Participants are each given an envelope with one or more words in it. Their task is to find their fellow group members who have words on the same coloured paper, and then as a group to put these together to form a slogan.

Cooperative Concentration Students match together cards with riddles and their answers or other paired items such as mathematical equations, vocabulary words and their meanings, English and nonEnglish words with the same meaning, books and their authors, states and capitals, etc. The object is for the whole class to get matched up in pairs, similar to the card game ―Concentration‖.

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One-Line Drawings Participants make group pictures by rotating sheets of paper on which each draws only one line each turn. The trick is to make all additions conform to the tone or mood of those marks which went before. Useful as a warm-up to another group activity requiring people to pay attention to other‘s contributions and build upon them.

A $1 Team Name Challenge In Groups of Four students work together to form a team name in which the letters add up to exactly $1, where A = 1 cent, B = 2 cents, C = 3 cents etc.

Roundtable Adjective Pyramid 

Use a roundtable structure to:



Draw box and write a noun.



Pass the paper.



Draw two boxes under the first box and add an adjective.



Pass the paper.



Draw three boxes under the two boxes and add another adjective.

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Write a Story Using a Base Jigsaw Structure 1. In groups of three decide who will investigate: Who, Where, When 2. Beginning: Problems for hero(s) 3. Team of three separates and completes one investigation then comes back together 4. Reaction: Hero says, thinks 5. Goal: Hero wants 6. Attempt(s): Hero does 7. Outcome: Success or failure 8. Ending: Debrief

IAG Identify Analyse Generalise Smile If you Love Me Students stand in a circle, with one in the middle, who is IT. IT walks up to one and says, ―Honey if you love me, smile,‖ and makes faces, sounds, and motions attempting to make the other person smile. No touching. The other student answers, ―I love you, but I just can‘t smile.‖ If the student can‘t keep from smiling they become ‗IT‘.

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Knots Teammembers stand in a circle shoulder to shoulder. They reach out and grasp hands, each one holding the hands of two others. Make sure that no one holds both hands of the same person or holds the hand of a teammember right next to them. They then must untangle the knot. At first it may seem impossible. Sometimes it probably is. The first time the team may have one member who serves as a director. When the team gets good, they can do it with their eyes shut.

Vortex Students all hold hands in a large circle, facing the centre. One student is the leader, and he drops hands with the person on his left and leads the chain of students clockwise around the inside of the circle. When the leader has taken so many turns that the spiral is very tight, he switches directions and begins to lead the chain counterclockwise out of the spiral. As the students are pulled along, the spiralling-out people pass the spirallingin people. The key point is the vortex, where each student turns and changes direction, from spiralling inwards to spiralling outward. The leader can reverse direction again, or lead the chain into countless other formations.

Willow in the Wind Students stand in a circle of eight. (You can sue two teams in the class.) One person is the willow and stands in the centre. With eyes closed, feed glued to the floor, knees unbent, and arms crossed over the chest, she slowly leans back. She is gently rolled around the circle. At least two people maintain contact with the centre person at all times. The slower the better, as participants are to provide a gentle feeling of support. Each student gets a chance to be the willow.

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Stand Up Students pair up and sit on the ground, back to back with knees bent and elbows linked. They then try to stand up together. With practice, it gets easier. Once they master it, have them add a student and all three try to stand up. As they get better, keep adding one more student until you have a Mass Stand Up (more than five). This is difficult, but it helps if students sit close and firmly packed. Then stand up quickly and at the same time.

People to People Students pair up and stand in a circle, facing one student in the centre, who is the leader. The leader sets a beat by clapping or snapping his fingers and saying over and over, ―People to people.‖ Once all the students have the rhythm, the leader substitutes the name of a body part for the word ―people,‖ keeping the same rhythm. For example, if the leader says ―Hip to hip,‖ the partners bump hips. This continues, with the leader saying different parts, until the leader shouts, ―People to people!‖ Then the students run and find a new partner. The leader runs and finds a partner too, and there should be an odd person out, who then becomes the leader, and continues the chant.

Sharks in the Water As many students as possible stand between two lines. They are told they are in a lifeboat and there are sharks in the water. If any of them fall in, the sharks will know they are there and they will all die. Students line themselves up by (1) birthdates, (2) ABC order, (3) height.

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Yurt Circle The Yurt Circle is named after the tent of the Mongolian nomads. The roof pushes against the walls to the structure stands in perfect equilibrium. The whole class forms a circle, holding hands. Students number of 1, 2, 1, 2, 1 … All the number 1 people at a signal lean slowly in while number 2 people lean out to counterbalance them. Lean from the ankles, not the hips so that you would fall if not held. At a signal, the roles shift so the 2‘s lean out and 1‘s lean in.

Peer Resourcing Key Example — Devising Menus In order to demonstrate certain competencies in a Catering course trainees are required to cater for a number of ‗real‘ functions. As preparation for these undertakings trainees do a Peer Resourcing exercise. The 16 trainees are split into four base groups of equal size. The groups are set up in the corner of the room. Each base group devises a function scenario. The scenario makes reference to the venue, the clients, their food preferences, budgets and so on. One of the other groups will have to devise a menu in response to the scenario. When all the members have agreed upon a scenario, it is summarised in note form and given to one of the members. This person becomes the base group‘s Ambassador. The Ambassador is fully briefed by the group. Following the trainer‘s instructions, each Ambassador leaves their own group and joins a neighbouring group, ie their host group. All the ambassadors move in a clockwise direction. The process means that every group receives a visiting Ambassador. The Ambassador brief the ‗host group‘ on the scenario and then the group sets about devising an appropriate menu for the function presented in the scenario. The Ambassador remains with the host group until they complete their menu, answering any queries about the scenario. After 15 minutes the Ambassador return to their original base groups with the host group‘s menu. The menu is assessed with the Ambassador reporting on the host group‘s

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thinking behind the menu. A final assessment is made and the Ambassador is fully briefed on the assessment. To complete the exercise each Ambassador revisits his/her host group and briefs them on final assessment and the thinking behind the assessment. A variation or extension on this exercise could involve the host groups in costing menus or estimating the price of functions. 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10. 11. 12. 13.

Divide participants into base groups Allocate each group a working space and any materials they may need Introduce task and explain the process Base groups go about preparing their task for host groups The home group finalises its challenge or problem and the criteria for success The base group selects and briefs its Ambassador Ambassadors join and brief a neighbouring group, ie a host group Groups tackle their challenge or problem Ambassadors report back to their base group on efforts of the host groups Base groups assess the responses, solutions or demonstration Ambassadors inform the host groups of their assessment results Resolve an ‗agreed assessment‘ between the parties Ambassadors return to their base groups and the exercise concludes with all the groups debriefing.

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Example Science students use a Peer Resourcing exercise to study the concept of ecological balance. They are divided into five groups of five with the task of devising a small hypothetical ecosystem based around their existing knowledge of ecosystems. It will help if they base their work on a familiar system such as a local pond. Each group has to construct a diagram of a possible food web for its system. The group is then asked to devise a scenario whereby the population balance of their system would be altered. This could be something like the run-off from overuse of farm fertiliser entering the watercycle of the pond, which dramatically decreases the population of insect larvae. Or a new predator enters from another ecosystem. Through their Ambassadors the groups challenge each other to predict the likely effects of the changes on the balance of systems. The exercise will highlight the concepts of ecological balance and the effects of population. An addition could involve professional ecologists and agricultural scientists judging the responses to the challenges and providing real life examples. The whole exercise could be used as a preparation for an informed debate on sustainable development.

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Crossover Standard Process 1.

Divide participants into three equal size groups

In an open space arrange group A in a circle

Take group B and form an outer circle around Circle C

Arrange group C around group B in the same fashion as described in step 3

Explain that, when instructed the three aligned members form a group, with one member from Circle A, one from Circle B and one from Circle C.

Introduce the topic to the participants

The group spends four minutes brainstorming or discussing the topic

On a given signal members move apart and return to their original position. They are then instructed to form new groups along the following pattern

The new groups discuss the topic, review the ideas they have gathered so far and try to add new ones

10.

At a given signal the members return to their original positions, rotate to form new groups and continue working

Think Pair Share 1) Divide the participants into pairs 2) Introduce and clarify the topic/task 3) Individually participants think through the topic 4) Partners share their ideas 5) The task is completed

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Three Step Interview 1) Divide the participants into groups of four. Split the group into two sets of pairs 2) Introduce the topic for discussion 3) One member of pair interviews their partner, ie Step One 4) The roles reverse 5) One pair joins with the other pair to share their ideas and opinions, ie Step Two 6) The groups of four enter into open discussion and attempt to reach some consensus on the issue, ie Step Three

Constructive Controversy 1)

Introduce a controversial or contestable issue to the group

Divide participants

Pairs research the topic and prepare their cases

Pairs try to convince each other that their side is the right one

At a set juncture the debate is halted

When the debate is concluded the group must try to reach a ‗position of consensus‘ on the issue

To conclude the exercise

Triads A Triad is simply three people working together in a group with one person specialising in observing the performance of the other two and monitoring outcomes. Many of the techniques and activities, which involve people working in pairs, can benefit from the addition of an observer. Besides learning a lot himself or herself, the observer helps the others appraise their performance.

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Process and Variation 1. All the members of Triad should fully understand the role of the observer. Particularly they need to know what the observer will do with the information at the end. Who will the observer report to, ie just the pair, the whole group, the facilitator or some combination of these. They also need to know whether the observer‘s role is a passive or an active one, as described below. 2. Any implications that the observations may have on assessment need to be spelt out to all involved. 3. The process will be enhanced if the observer has a checklist as a prompt. Where competencies are involved the checklist may consist of the relevant assessment criteria. Such checklists add rigour and precision to the observation. 4. Observers can make a simple brief report back and perhaps respond to any follow-up questions by the other two. Alternatively the report back might consist entirely of the other two quizzing the observer about their performance and the observations. 5. The observer can play an active or passive observation role. The reactive observer does little else but observe and report back. The active observer may interrupt the performance to seek clarification or further information. There may be breaks in the activity specially set aside for this purpose. The active role needs to be treated with some care. It should not be too intrusive or disruptive. 6. The role of the observer is rotated around the triad for different tasks or sub tasks.

School Example In a History lesson students form Triads to revise their knowledge of the Roman Empire. Two students discuss or ‗dialogue‘ the main features of the Empire and agree on a brief point form summary. The observer notes the performance of each student and judges it against a summary provided by the teacher. The observer then discusses the observations with each of the pair. One way to conclude the exercise is to group the observers and challenge them to come up a list of the key revision points on the topic for the whole class.

Round Robin

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1) Divide the participants into small groups 2) If necessary allow participants the time to complete their individual tasks 3) Documents are prepared for the Round Robin 4) Rotate the documents clockwise round the group, one place at a time 5) Each participant ‗reviews‘ the new document they receive 6) Participants consider the feedback and rework the document, if necessary

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Gallery Walk The Gallery Walk is a simple and efficient method of sharing group work. The technique works best when attention detail is maintained. 1) Groups summarise their outcomes on poster size paper. The outcomes could be a list of ideas or conclusions, responses to key questions, a plan in point form or whatever. In some cases illustrations, diagrams, flow/process charts and other graphic representations may be the main outcome or they accompany other descriptions. 2) A representative displays the group‘s poster on a wall set aside for the purpose. 3) Groups split up and individuals view the other groups‘ posters, ie review their outcomes. 4) If necessary the Gallery Walk is concluded by using the information presented to prompt a whole group review. Special attention needs to be paid to the following. 1)

Groups need to be very clear about what they have presented on their poster. Provide an example of what is required and monitor their progress.

Groups must design their posters for public display. Writing should be clear, concise and large enough for several people to read at a distance. Diagrams and other graphics need to be clear and attractive.

The display wall and adhesives need to be ready. Ensure a clear view of the wall and an unobstructed access to it. It may be necessary to demarcate display areas for each group.

Consider providing participants with a specific focus and task when they view the gallery. For example, ask individuals to collect a certain number of ideas which their group did not cover or to extract the three most significant points from all the posters.

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Brainstorming Is used to encourage Students to: 1. Learn to express their ideas freely, without fear of criticism. 2. Learn to build upon each other‘s ideas. By: 3. All ideas are accepted. Defer judgment and criticism. 4. Participants must feel free to say everything they think and to hold nothing back. The ―farther out‖ the ideas are, the better. 5.

Participants build on the ideas of others. (Don‘t wait for a new idea to come; let it grow out of the last idea by altering that idea in some way.)

Strive for quantity! The more ideas, the better.

After the brainstorming session 7. Leave all ideas written as they were recorded. 8. Enlist student participation in setting some standards for evaluating and pruning the collected ideas. (The criteria will depend somewhat on the ultimate goal for use of the ideas.) Examples: Is the idea practical? Can we rally accomplish it? Is it compatible with everyday living? Does it solve a problem without creating a new one? 9. Discuss which ideas fit the criteria. 10.

Decide on ways to develop the ideas (like making a model, diagram, design, drawing, writing descriptive material, etc.).

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Discussion Springboard List as many as you can for … Create an ad slogan for … It‘s hard to believe … What if … Defend … It‘s best to forget … Describe … Did you know … Design … List ways to conserve … Why do you think … State your position on … That place reminds me of … Tell why … Who knows … Make up a story about … How would you improve … Predict what will happen when … Name people who … Where in the world …

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Getting Started With The Jigsaw Model 1. IDENTIFY A CURRICULUM AREA AND CLASS

2. SELECT NUMBER OF STUDY AREAS/‘EXPERT GROUPS‘

3. DEVELOP:  SPECIFIC QUESTIONS FOR THE ‗EXPERT‘ GROUP TO EXPLORE  MEHTOD OF PULLING FINAL INFORMATION TOGETHER

4. ARRANGE ‗HOME GROUP‘S IN APPROPRIATE SIZES

5. ALLOW HOME GROUPS TO MEET AND ALLOCATE TASKS

6. PROVIDE TIMELINE FOR COMPLETED WORK

7. PROVIDE INFORMATION REGARDING EVALUATION STATEGIES AND CRITERIA

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Getting Acquainted Know Your Neighbour Group Size:

Time Line:

2-5 minutes

Activity Description: 1. 2 people face each other. Each has 1 minute to tell the other all they can about him/herself. End of time, ask each to turn with backs to each other. Then ask — colour of eyes, is she wearing earrings, etc.

Know Your Class Group Size:

15-25

Time Line:

20-25 minutes

Activity Description: 1. Each person, in order, says his or her first name. 2. Then #2 says the name of #1, then #3 says name of #2 and #1, then #4 says the names of #1, #2 and #3 until #25 says the previous 24 names. Variations: 1. Start on the other side of the circle. 2. Switch number of positions and start again.

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Bingo Group size:

over 10 students

Time Line:

varies, but could be about 5 minutes

Activity Description: 1. 2. 3. 4.

Sign student‘s name on page if desired. Students put names of others who match them in that square. When they have a straight line (or tow straight lines) filled in, they yell, ―Bingo‖. They can each be rewarded as they finish, or numbered off for groups (i.e., 1, 2, 3, 1, 2, …).

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Classmates Group Size:

whole class (whether 20 or 33)

Time Line:

30 minutes (or so)

Activity Description: 1. At the beginning of the year/semester, each student gets the handout and with a time limit of possibly 10-15 minutes must get up and circulate and question other students in order to fill out the ―questionnaire‖. 2. After the 10-15 minutes, another 3 minutes is given to pair/share and then meet with another pair to compare answers (3 minutes). 3. Then we take up the questions as a class so that everyone can learn about everyone else.

TALK WITH YOUR CLASSMATES TO FIND OUT SOMETHING ABOUT THEM,THEN ANSWER EACH OF THE FOLLOWING QUESTIONS. 1. How many girls are there in this class? _____ 2. How many boys are there in this class? _____ 3. Who has the most brothers? __________________________ How many? _____ 4. Who has the most sisters? __________________________ How many? _____ 5.

Who is an only child?

6. Who is the tallest? _________________________ Height? _____ 7. Who is the shortest? _________________________ Height? _____ 8. Who has blond hair? _________________________ 9. Who has black hair? _________________________ 10. Who has red hair? _________________________ 11. Who wears glasses? _________________________ 12. Who has played on the school volleyball team? _________________________ 13. Who has blue eyes? _________________________ 14. Who take physical Education this semester? _________________________ 15. How many are left-handed? _________________________

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My Personality Group Size:

10 maximum

Time Line:

1 hour

Activity Description: 1. Dump items on floor or table in centre. 2. Students all come up at once and choose an item about which they are willing to say ―I am like this – because I …‖ and ―I am like this – because I …‖ (tell them previously what they‘ll be doing/saying with item. 3. It is AMAZING how they reveal personality traits when comparing it to the item. 4. All group members get to know each other much better. ―I‘m like this book because I like to tell stories.‖ ―I‘m not like this book because I don‘t like people to hold/touch me.‖

Getting To Know You Group Size:

any size class over 15

Time Line:

10 minutes

Activity Description: 1) See next page for record sheet.

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GETTING TO KNOW YOU SHEET

Names and faces go together soon after you have met your classmates. But you know very little about your friends if you know only their names. Find out about your classmates by completing the blanks below with the names of your classmates. Try to find a different person for each description. Find a classmate … 1) who has blue eyes ………………………………………______________________ 2) who has three brother……………………………………______________________ 3) whose middle name has ………………………______________________

six

letters

4) who has travelled to another country ……………………______________________ 5) whose parent is a teacher …………………………..……______________________ 6) who is ___ centimetres tall ……………………………..______________________ 7) whose favourite TV show is the same as yours …………______________________ 8) who has gone to camp……………………………...……______________________ 9) who likes to read…………………………………………______________________ 10) who wears glasses……...…………..…………………________________________ 11) who likes spinach …….……….…….…………………_______________________ 12) whose favourite colour is purple …….…………………_______________________ 13) who has a birthday in September ……………....………_______________________ 14) who has two great-grandparents …...…………..………_______________________

The Group Handshake Group Size:

< 20

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Time Line:

5 minutes

Activity Description: 1. Assemble the group standing in no particular pattern. 2. Teacher introduces self to a student emphasising the names of both parties. 3. Shake hands and don‘t release grip. 4. Teacher asks first student to introduce teacher to next student. 5. They shake but don‘t release. 6. #2 introduces #3 to #1. 7. #3 introduces #2 to #4. 8. All retain grasp. 9. Last person introduces second last to teacher to complete chain. 10. All names have been heard and group has enjoyed.

Personal Possession Group Size:

small group or whole class

Time Line:

dependent upon size of group

Activity Description: 1. Each person in the group takes one ―possession‖ on body or wallet at the time and tells the group why this is important to them or what it reveals about them. Eg. 1. runners – athlete 2. ring – boyfriend 3. driver‘s licence – independence

Memory Box Group Size:

small or large group

Time Line:

can modify but generally 5-6 minutes

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Activity Description: 1. Ask people to pretend they have a shoe box in front of them. 2. Tell them to put 5 things (imagined) in the box that represent ‗them‘. (2 minutes) i.e. kids, hobby, wish, etc. — things that can fit in the box. 3. Now pair up with another person in group and share what‘s in the ‗box‘. (1 minute per person) 4. Tell pairs: ―Now introduce each other to the group based on what you shared with each other.‖ Extension: Have people take 1 item out of their box because their imaginary box has shrunk. (Keep it a secret!) At the end of the morning session give the partner a change to figure out which of the 5 items their partner took our, knowing their partner more since they‘ve worked together.

Pulling Together or Pulling Apart Group Size:

two or more

Time Line:

open

Activity Description: 1. To play this game, divide players into pairs. 2. Have each pair kneel face-to-face, hold onto each other‘s arms, and try to stand up, but first tell them to pull in opposite directions, then to push toward each other. 3. Also have each pair try standing from a sitting position back-to-back with only their palms touching.

Who Am I? Group Size:

10-30

Time Line:

10 minutes

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1. Students circulate with signs on back. 2. Person cannot know who‘s name is on their back. 3. They may only ask each person one yes or no question to discover who they are.

Guess Who Group Size:

class

Time Line:

10-15 minutes

Activity Descriptions: 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6.

Write name on index card (cartoon character, movie star, body part). Tape one card to forehead of student so that everyone may see what character they are. With a question record sheet the students are to mix and ask yes/no questions in order to deduce the character on their forehead. They are to record the name of each person that they questioned. Only one question per person. If they figure it out quickly — have extra cards available.

Autograph Worksheet Group Size:

any

Time Line:

10 minutes

Activity Description: Provide students with a list of 10-15 descriptors. Have a space beside each for a name. Students must collect autographs of those who fit the descriptors. (see bottom for examples)

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Autograph Worksheet 1. Someone who thinks the Prime Minister is doing a good job. ___________________ 2. Someone with my same astrological sign. ______________________ 3. Some who likes to work alone. ______________________ 4. Someone who likes poetry. ______________________ 7.

Someone who loves dogs. ______________________

Someone from a large family. ______________________

Someone who plays a musical instrument. ______________________

10. Someone who works on the weekend. ______________________ 11. Someone who prefers bikes to cars. ______________________ 12. Some who enjoys competition. ______________________

Snowball Fight Group Size:

class

Time Line:

10 minutes

Activity Description: 1. Good for start of year, especially in a class where students have come from several ―feeder‖ schools and don‘t know each other. 2. Students are asked to print first and last name on sheet of paper. 3. Divide them in half and line up facing each other on opposite sides of the room. 4. Crumple paper into a ball. 5. When teacher says go! Throw the ―snowball‖ at the students on the other side. 6. Pick up the snowballs on the floor, coming towards you, etc. and keep throwing them. 7. When teacher says stop! Blows whistle, etc., find one snowball, undo it and find the person whose name is on it. 120 Quick Time™ and a TIFF ( Unc ompr es sed) decompr ess or are needed to s ee this pic ture.

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8. Introduce yourselves to each other, find out 3 interesting details about the person whose name you found. 9. Be prepared to introduce that person to the class and tell about them.

Group Formation Cooperative Captions Group Size:

any class – 4 people per group

Time Line:

first day of school (10-15 minutes)

Activity Description: 1. 2. 3. 4.

Give each person a puzzle piece (laminated). Find the people who have other puzzle pieces for that cartoon. They get puzzle pieces together and glue on chart paper. As a group they create a caption that will represent ANYONE, i.e. how they feel today, their reaction to a situation, etc. 5. Write caption on flip chart paper, present a larger group and post.

Line-Up Group Size:

entire class

Time Line:

3-4 minutes

Activity Description: 1. Students are to line up by hair colour, or height, or shoe size, or birthday, or address, or telephone number 2. Students cannot speak during the activity and must communicate non-verbally. 3. Once lines up, count and divide into groups of 3 or 4 as desired. 4. Once groups are formed, give them the task of forming as many words as possible from a larger word like: distribute, moderation, consideration, motivate. 5. See how many they can make and what they are.

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House of Cards Group Size:

class sizes 52 or less

Time Line:

5 minutes

Activity Description: 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6.

Student comes in door and gets card. Quiet group down. Divide by colours – 2 groups. Divide by suites – 4 groups. Divide by even numbers – 2 groups. Divide by odd numbers – 2 groups.

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Active Learning and Cooperation

Jigsaw Group Size:

2-?

Time Line:

dependent on group size.

Activity Description: 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7.

Give out pieces of puzzle. Each find one person who has pieces that fit. Partners find another set that fits, etc. Requires co-operation. Can be done in silence, timed, etc. Works well as a group ―getting to know you‖ activity. Try leaving pieces out and have small groups draw in the missing pieces using inference.

Alphabet Line-up Group Size:

classroom

Time Line:

5-10 minutes

Activity Description: 1. Children line up so first names/last names are in alphabetical order. 2. Then form random groups of any size by counting off.

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Active Learning and Cooperation

Birthday Game Group Size:

10-15

Time Line:

as quickly as possible

Activity Description: 1. Students arrange themselves in order according to their birthdates from youngest to oldest. 2. Form groups of any size.

Meet Your Partner Group Size:

depends

Time Line:

20 minutes or so

Activity Description: 1. Each person is given a name card of one member of a famous couple. 2. They are to find their partner, eg. Mickey Mouse and Minnie Mouse. 3. Next they are to find 1 other couple to form a particular category, i.e. cartoon couples, presidents/wives (political figures), actors/actresses. 4. This forms their HOME GROUP.

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Active Learning and Cooperation

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Group/Class Builders ―Build A Story‖ Tableaux Group Size:

20-30 students

Time Line:

20-30 minutes

Activity Description: 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6.

Have the class sit in a circle. Choose 1 student to go to the centre and ―freeze‖ into an action. Tap another student on the head and have them add to the tableaux. Continue until there are 8 or 9 student creating a tableaux. Choose students from the circle to ―tell‖ the story as they see it. Repeat until the fun ebbs.

Guess The Fib Group Size:

3-4

Time Line: Activity Description: 1. Each person in the group has a turn to make three statements about him/herself. 2. Two must be true, and one a plausible fib. 3. Others in the group try to reach consensus on which statement is the fib.

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Active Learning and Cooperation

Winning the Big One Group Size:

25-30 — groups of 3 or 4

Time Line:

10 minutes

Activity Description: 1. In your home groups, come up with 7 or 8 ways to spend your money if you won the lottery — $1,000,0000.00 2. Rank them first to last. 3. The group must be in agreement with the ranking. These are some statistics of how lottery millionaires spend their winnings: 93% 71% 56% 51% 44% 37% 29% 27% 7% 2%

put money in the bank share winnings with others who were not co-owners of lottery ticket bought a car donated to charity took a vacation or travelled paid off mortgage bought a house paid off education for self changed lifestyle bought a boat

Looking For Similar Interests Group Size:

approximately 24, groups of 4

Time Line:

5 minutes

Activity Description: 1. Groups are asked to list their two top recording artists with one reason for each. 2. A tally is taken for class and percentages are made up for the individual artists. 3. They could get together in another group by artists for a quick get together.

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Active Learning and Cooperation

Adjective Wardrobe Group Size:

class group or small group within large group – group studying adjectives

Time Line:

15 minutes

Activity Description: 1. Piece of paper torn into 8 pieces by student – each student has 8 pieces of paper. 2. Students should be as honest as possible and write 8 descriptive adjectives to describe themselves. 3. They now have a wardrobe of descriptive words that can be tried on, worn or discarded. 4. Consider one word at a time. Like it? Keep it? Expand it? Discard it? 5. Give up each quality – do you feel naked? How are you changed? 6. Fantasise about kind of person he/she would be with one, two, three or all qualities removed. 7. Reclaim qualities one at a time. How do you feel now? 8. End of exercise ask each student to record 2 things learned about himself/herself. 9. Share ―I learned …‖ statements.

Name That Tune Group Size:

groups of 3-4

Time Line:

3-4 minutes maximum

Activity Description: 1. 2. 3. 4.

Students stand up within home group. A tape excerpt is played of maximum 3-5 small snippets of songs. Answers are given by students. Teacher can either keep a running total of correct answers so groups that better their number of correct answer receive rewards or just do it as a fun break.

Machine Group Size:

groups of 4-10

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Active Learning and Cooperation

Time Line:

10 minutes

Activity Description: 1. Each person becomes a working part of a machine. 2. The group must co-ordinate so that each person is an integral part. 3. Perform for the rest of the class.

Take A Personal Object Group Size:

any size depending on ―time limit‖

Time Line:

10-15 minutes

Activity Description: 1. All participants take off a personal article privately. 2. As a group (in a circle), all articles dropped into a bag. 3. First person pulls out an article, and as a group, everyone guesses who it belongs to.

Untie The Knot Group Size:

Time Limit:

10 minutes

Activity Description: 1. 2. 3. 4.

In a group of uneven numbered people, all except one person links right hands. Then join left hands with a different person. One person is left with left hand out and one person is left with right hand out. Untie the knot. Don‘t let go.

Historical Identity Group Size:

any size group

Time Line:

as long as necessary depending on how many

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Active Learning and Cooperation

Activity Description: 1. Teacher gives instruction: If you could have been any person in history who would it be and why? 2. Give students 30 seconds to 1 minute to think. 3. Share round-robin. 4. Variations: Names could be characters from books, movies, sports, etc.

Getting To Know You Group Size:

6-15

Time Line:

depends on size of group

Activity Description: 1. Each person gives an adjective beginning with the same letter starting their name. Eg. Adorable Alison 2. Next person points to and says Adorable Alison, and continues to give his/her expanded name, eg. Nervous Norm. 3. Continue around the circle.

Stories With Symbols Group Size:

25-30

Time Line:

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Active Learning and Cooperation

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Activity Description: 1. To begin, pass the cards out to all the students face down. 2. Instruct the students not to look at them until they are told. 3. Select a student to begin a story by turning over his/her own symbol card and including that symbol or its meaning into his/her story. 4. Following this, the person to the storyteller‘s left takes over the story, and turns over his/her symbol ready to include that concept or symbol into the story. 5. When the story reaches the last person, he/she must end the story including their symbol.

Build A Better Bathtub Group Size:

Time Line:

20 minutes

Activity Description: 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8.

Establish groups. Appoint a recorder. Review rules of brainstorming. Outline task — Instruct groups they have 5 minutes to call out and write down as many ideas on the subject ―How to design a better bathtub‖ — enjoyment, efficiency, comfort. Recorder jots notes. Stop at 5 minutes. Recorders read list. Discussion, reflection, appreciation. Draw new tub.

Invitations To Dinner Group Size:

depends on your time to discuss answers

Time Line: answers.

5 minutes to write names, a few minutes for each person to discuss their

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Active Learning and Cooperation

Activity Description: 1. Give each person approximately 5 minutes to write down 5 people that he/she would like to invite to dinner. These people may be historical, famous, TV personalities, political figures or from fiction. 2. During the sharing sessions, each person briefly states why he/she invited that particular person. 3. This is entertaining plus it insightful regarding interests and hobbies of the people involved.

That’s A Great Idea Group Size:

whole class activity or pairs or small groups

Time Line:

10 – 15 minutes

Activity Description: 1. Two volunteers go to the centre of the circle. 2. ―A‖ suggests an activity, eg. ―Let‘s go for a walk‖. ―B‖ must reply, ―That‘s a great idea!‖ Support the improvisation with appropriate actions. 3. When ―B‖ is ready, he/she suggests another activity in the spirit of the scene, eg. ―Let‘s pick some flowers‖. 4. ―A‖ must reply now, ―That‘s a great idea!‖ and continue the improvisation. 5. Allow the pattern to continue until a satisfactory ending.

One To Ten Group Size:

any size

Time Line:

5 minutes

Activity Description: 1. The students all stand up at their desks. 2. They then start the count. 3. They must say just one number, like ―one‖ or they can say ―one, two‖.

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Active Learning and Cooperation

4. The next must say either the next or the next two numbers on the way to counting to ―ten‖. 5. If a student gets stuck with saying ―ten‖ he/she must sit down. 6. The count then starts again. 7. The last student left standing gets the prize. Any age loves it! (Variations: higher numbers, multiple of numbers or numbers in another language).

Wink Murder Group Size:

or less — 10 minimum Time Line:

5 – 10 minutes

Activity Description: 1. Wink Murder — Students in a sitting circle facing all members. 2. Teacher taps one student, while all others have eyes closed, to be the murderer. 3. Murderers kill victims by winking at them — where upon the victim dramatically ―dies‖. Others guess who the murderer is.

Club Med In The Classroom Group Size:

whole class

Time Line:

5 minutes

Activity Description: 1. Each team has 1 minute to come up with 5 upper body exercises that can be done while seated, to music. 2. Assign roles — time keeper, recorder, demonstrator, etc.

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Active Learning and Cooperation

3. The teacher then puts on the music and the demonstrator from each team leads the class in ―quality daily P.E.‖ as an energiser.

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Active Learning and Cooperation

Scavenger Hunt 1. READ EACH CATEGORY IN THE LEFT COLUMN. WRITE YOUR ANSWER IN THE MIDDLE COLUMN.

2. WHEN THE SCAVENGER HUNT BEGINS: - Introduce yourself to someone - Discuss a category - Sign you names when there is a match - Thank each other