Cooperative Learning

Cooperative learning, by definition, is a very successful teaching strategy where there are small teams of students, each with different levels of abilities, who use a variety of learning activities to improve the understanding of the subject they are working on. This type of learning is so important to have in the classroom, to help increase the success of the students. There are so many types of grouping that you can use in the classroom to achieve the highest level of understanding. If we group appropriately, we can use grouping fully to our advantage. Two ways that we can group our students is through homogeneous and heterogeneous grouping. Homogeneous grouping is when you place students with similar abilities into one group. Heterogeneous grouping is when you place students with various abilities into a group, such as mixing ELLs and Special education students into the general education groups. If I were to use homogeneous grouping, I would strategically place the students who were at the same level of learning together, place the ELL students together, etc. If I were to use heterogeneous grouping, I would place one ELL student in a group with at least one general education student who was excelling in the subject, so they could help guide them and help them grasp a better understanding of what they’re learning. 

Gardner’s theory of multiple intelligences is another way that we can group students together. There are 9 types of intelligences: naturalist (nature smart), musical (sound smart), logical-mathematical (number/reasoning smart), existential (life smart), interpersonal (people smart), bodily-kinesthetic (body smart), and linguistic (word smart). There are so many ways that we could group using the intelligences. You could group them simply by the intelligence that they identify with. You could group them in smaller groups where maybe you place a naturalist with a one who favors logic and math. You can place one who is body smart with someone who is word smart. You can have each person work individually, and they can take the lesson from their strong point, or we can have them look at the lesson through different eyes and challenge themselves to do something they wouldn’t usually go with. There are so many ways that you can group your students to challenge them and to help them get a better understanding, and to maybe see the learning from a different point of view. Cooperative learning, I believe, increases student performance in the best of ways. While there are students who groan and moan about having to do group work, once they get started they actually enjoy the work, and they tend to get more out of it, because they’re learning from their peers and they’re learning in a way that they wouldn’t have done otherwise. Yes, we as teachers teach them all that we can, but sometimes learning from their peers gets to them in a way that we couldn't. We can offer different types of learning within our classroom. We can offer different activities for the different types of intelligences, so that we have practice differentiation in our class. Grouping and differentiation is one of the best things that can practice in our classes.

Project Based Learning!

Project based learning is a student-centered style of learning that involves of dynamic classroom approach that allows for students to acquire a deeper knowledge through real world challenges and problems. These lessons are active and they can make the learning of a subject so much fun. In this blog, I am going talk about a lesson for Math and possible English Language Arts for 4th-5th graders using a project based lesson.

THE LESSON

Students will be designing a school carnival by using their math knowledge of area and perimeter. Their principal is asking that they help with the design and making the most use of the space they have in their field. To start, they will be given guidelines, in the form of worksheets, that tell them the requirements for entertainment, games, and other various carnival areas. 

THE ACTIVITY

Students will work in groups of 2-3, or individually if they choose, and they will design a carnival. They will design where each ride, game and food area will go, along with areas for tables. They will strategically place them where there would be the most room for them, using their knowledge of the use of area and perimeter. They will use worksheets to figure the numbers for each game, ride, etc. Their final presentation will be color coordinated and labeled for each area on graph paper, with their measurements labeled as well. I will also offer different activities that they can do throughout the lesson. They can transfer their carnival they made on graph paper to a larger scale poster board and present it to the class. They can create a game and write out the rules for an optional ELA portion for the assignment. Within the optional ELA areas, they can create a poster announcing the carnival, persuasively announcing that everyone should be at the carnival. 

DIFFERENTIATED INSTRUCTION

Within this lesson, I hope to offer two different worksheets when students are working out the calculations. There will be the basic one, which has the length and width already there, and all the students have to do is calculate the area and perimeter. The second option is a little more advanced and the students will have to figure the length and width, along with the area and perimeter. It’s more challenging for the students who think they can handle it. 

REFLECTION

I think this lesson will be great for testing students knowledge, and figuring out where they are in understanding how to work out area and perimeter. If i provide different options within the lesson to help students along, then that will help increase their access to the content. They will be able to achieve a better understanding, especially if they aren’t understanding it to begin with. Working with a group would also help in their understanding, because students are more likely to ask for help from their peers, in my experience. They can explain it in simpler terms. I think this lesson could be a lot of fun and show us how much our students know in that content area.

Differentiated Assessment

The point of differentiated instruction is to cater to the needs to each individual student to the best of the teachers ability. Knowing what best suits our students is crucial to having a successful learning environment. If we can offer different ways for a student to show what they learned or different ways to complete different types of activities in lessons, then we can make sure our students know the content and did their best to the best of our abilities.

When we plan lessons, we need to try and make sure that we offer different types ways for our students to be graded. Within our rubrics, we can have different areas that work best for the different types of students we have in our classroom. Within each rubric, we should try and have areas for visual, aural, physical, logical, social, and solitary. Because each student has a different way that helps them learn best, we can determine which area to focus the weight of the grade on. It definitely needs to be in more than one area, but this helps us focus on our students strengths, and help them improve their weaknesses.

In the visual area, the students prefer using pictures, and spatial understanding. In a math assignment, maybe these students would use the area around them to work out their math problem with building blocks or rulers and books. 

In the aural area, the students prefer to use sound and music. In an art or theatre lesson, these students could create a video, or use music to help them with their presentation or analysis.

In the verbal area, the students prefer to use their words, both in speech and writing. These students would excel in writing a paper, or giving a presentation on what they’ve been working on.

In the physical area, the students prefer to use their body, hands and sense of touch. In a science lesson, the students would excel in a hands assignment, where they use their sense of touch to identify the object, or work with their hands.

In the logical area, the students prefer to use logic, reasoning and systems. These students would excel in solving problems.

In the social area, the students prefer to work in groups or have the option to collaborate with other people. Giving students the option to work on an assignment with other people, they’ll be more confident in their work.

In the solitary area, the students prefer to work alone and like the chance for it to be reflective on what they’ve learned. 

In any one lesson, some, if not most, of these areas can be available for the students to use as their medium for completing an assignment. Most assignments should have a time for the solitary area, as well as the verbal and social. Anything else can be used to the students and teacher discretion. Within each lesson, we can have the options available for each of these areas. While it takes more time for planning, it gives our students the best opportunity to succeed in our lessons. When we grade these students, we need to take into account which area they focused on, and grade them accordingly. When we create rubrics like this, we can also take note of what they need to improve on, and how we can help them try a new area to complete their assignment in. 

Our students success is our greatest success. If we give them the tools to succeed, they will. 

Beginning Differentiation

In this blog, I am going to discuss 5 ways to differentiate instruction during a reading and character analysis lesson for the following groups of students. They read “Charlotte’s Web” aloud and analyze the characters as they go along.

1. English Language Learners

        1. Students placed in pairs or groups of 3, with at least 1 ELL student per group. They read it together, and help the ELL student   with the words. 

2. Pair two ELL students together to try and work through a section of the reading together.

3. Pair two ELL students together to analyze the characters, whether they analyze in their first language or in English to the best of their abilities.

4. I will have words written on the board to help with the character analysis.

5. We will do one analysis as a class to help get everyone started.

2. Special Needs Students

1. One Special needs student will be partnered directly with a general education student to help them out.

2. I will observe this group(s) more closely and help them as needed.

3. I will provide a worksheet specifically for these students, to help them with the focus.

4. I will work one on one with the special needs students to help with the reading and the analyzing.

5. I can provide an alternative one on one quiz verbally to see what they’ve grasped.

3. Advanced or Gifted Learners

1. These students will help me demonstrate what I want from this activity.

2. They can, in a way, act as leaders in their groups to get the discussion on the characters going.

3. I can, at the end of the lesson, give them an advanced quiz on the text if necessary. 

4. They can, when completed with their analysis for the day, go around and see if any other groups, specifically those with ELL or Special need students need any help.

        

Differentiated Instruction

The classroom that does differentiated instruction can be such a fun classroom. Every student learns differently, and in this classroom, every students needs could be met. There are so many ways that we can use this type of instruction in our classrooms. One way is group work. With the students in groups, they can work together use their strengths to help the others weaknesses. Another way is to offer different types of reading materials, that cater to the students needs. You can also offer different types of activities for your students to do. While this takes more planning on the teachers part, it is more beneficial to the students. Focusing on the student's multiple intelligences is another crucial way for you to use differentiated instruction in the classroom. While teaching a lesson, there are so many ways you can tap into the different intelligences, such as providing quizzes, acting out scenes in groups, studying for the final test as a group. Students can't sit in their chairs behind desks for long periods of time, and be expected to retain the information. If we make learning active, and fun for them, the chances of them remembering what they learned is far more likely. This gives us the opportunity to make learning fun again, and I am so excited to be apart of it. 

**For an about me, see my first post in January! 

MASHUP! Cross-Curricular Learning

Cross-curricular learning is such a fun way for students and teachers to work together on one topic, and it reach across at least two different content areas. It shows them that what they’re learning doesn’t just apply to one class. 

ACTIVITY

The activity will take place between a 5th grade History class and a 5th grade English class. The students will be studying Colonial America in History, and in English, they will be reading some primary sources from that era. The students are studying to prepare a group presentation. They will be in groups of 3-4, and they are assigned a specific topic from the era they’re studying. 

LEARNING OUTCOMES

The learning outcome would be that they would increase their research skills, and their analysis skills. The students will be introduced to new vocabulary through the lesson, and they will have to use critical thinking to analyze the sources they read from that time period. This will also be a new idea for them, because two of their classes will actively be studying one subject, rather than not. The students in English class will have to do some active reading, to evaluate the contents for its relevance. 

CONTENT STANDARDS

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.5.1

Quote accurately from a text when explaining what the text says explicitly and when drawing inferences from the text.

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RI.5.3

Explain the relationships or interactions between two or more individuals, events, ideas, or concepts in a historical, scientific, or technical text based on specific information in the text.

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RI.5.9

Integrate information from several texts on the same topic in order to write or speak about the subject knowledgeably.

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.SL.5.4

Report on a topic or text or present an opinion, sequencing ideas logically and using appropriate facts and relevant, descriptive details to support main ideas or themes; speak clearly at an understandable pace.

PRE ASSESSMENT

Before we start the lesson, I would work with the other teacher and we would have the students do a warm up activity. It could be a series of questions to test their knowledge. It could be a coloring page that is related to an element of colonial america. It could be a crossword or word search for terms that are common in colonial america. There are several options that we could do to get their brains somehow engaged in what they are about to dive into.

POST ASSESSMENT

The students will be placed into groups of 3-4, and they will prepare a presentation, based on a specific element of Colonial America. This is how we will test their knowledge, as well as a test at the end of the lesson. The presentation will be graded in the English course, while the test will be graded in the History course. The presentation will be graded individually, based on each persons performance and involvement. 

TEACHING REFLECTION

There is always room for improvement when you’re a teacher, especially when you’re working on a cross-curricular activity, and you have to make sure your plans line up perfectly (well, almost) with the other teachers. There are so many different ways that you could teach this lesson and make it enjoyable for the students, and that’s something we need to focus on. I think working on a lesson like this with another teacher would be such a fun experience. Yes, it would definitely take more planning in regards to making sure the lessons on each side flow, but it would be great for both the teachers and the students. We'd have a partner to help us out if needed, and sometimes, it is needed.