Cooperative Learning

There are many ways to create cooperative learning in the classroom. However, it starts with establishing effective grouping of students. In this post I will discuss some elements of student grouping and how cooperative learning (by means of student grouping) allows for differentiation and increases student performance.

1.

A)    You can use grouping patterns to teach your grade level standards in the area of writing by:

Since I teach Kindergarten, I like to use a variety of flexible grouping throughout the day. This includes whole class, small groups, and partners. For Whole Group, I might have the students sit on the carpet, take out their whiteboards, I write a simple sentence using sight words or CVC words. (Ex. I see a cat.) For small groups, I might group them based on their skill level. I would use a sentence strip for lower groups to help them write a sentence, and for higher groups I would give them a writing prompt and asking them to write a sentence on their own using “Brave Writing” (sounding out words and writing them phonetically.) For partner writing, I would pair lower achieving students with higher achieving students to for added support while writing a sentence about a provided writing prompt.  

B)    In my classroom I used a variety of student group. I form each group, attaining a mixture of heterogeneous and homogeneous students. I use heterogeneous groups for small group reading, writing. These groups are formed based on the currents abilities and needs. The groups are often restructured as students group in skill level.

I used homogeneous groups for partner groups for think/pair/share activities and collaborative writing activities. These groups are formed by placing low achieving students with higher achieving students; special needs students are placed with patient higher achieving students; and English Language Learners are placed with multilingual higher achieving students. 

C)    Below are some examples of three groups configurations based on Gardner’s intelligence. The examples include: Small Group; Peer Pairs, and Individual Design:

For Verbal-Linguistic Intelligences, I would group them in small writing groups in which I would verbally direct them in their writing. 

For Visual-Spatial Intelligences, I would group them in pairs to use pictures, graphic organizers, and a sentence strip to aid them in their writing.

For Interpersonal Intelligence, I would have a whole group activity in which we as a class would write a shared writing. I would display visual aids, as well as conduct an open discussion, then have students discuss elements for a writing topic to share as I write their ideas on the whiteboard.

D)    Each of the grouping patterns that I have listed above reinforces the following Kindergarten content standards in writing:

1.0 Writing Strategies Students write words and brief sentences that are legible. 

Organization and Focus 1.1 Use letters and phonetically spelled words to write about experiences, stories, people, objects, or events. 1.2 Write consonant-vowel-consonant words (i.e., demonstrate the alphabetic principle). 1.3 Write by moving from left to right and from top to bottom. Penmanship 1.4 Write uppercase and lowercase letters of the alphabet independently, attending to the form and proper spacing of the letters.

E)     Each group pattern facilitates meeting the Kindergarten content area standard in writing for each learner cluster by grouping them in a way that meets their specific learning style and need. Students are grouped in a manner that is designed to enhance their learning and aid them in meeting the educational objectives and goals.

2. Cooperative learning by means of student grouping allows for differentiation and increases student performance by: 

• Increasing student achievement
• Builds positive relationships among a diverse group of students
• Helps develop learning skills and social skills
• Increases retention.
• Increases motivation
• Students gain a higher self-esteem
• Students have social support from their peers
• Students have more on-task behavior
• Students have a better attitude toward teachers and school

How to begin differentiation.

When beginning differentiation, it is important to consider all of your students within your classroom. Below are some ways to differentiate instruction based on the needs of your students:

A.    English Language Learners:

1.      Speak slowly, distinctly, and write down key terms –Write down key terms so students can see them and connect them to the spoken word.

2.      Emphasize visual literacy - Visual literacy is independent of language. Visual Aids such as diagrams, pictorial riddles, photos, maps, help to build visual literacy.

3.      Graphic Organizers – Graphic organizers help to introduce and assess new concepts in a manner that encourages meaningful learning. Graphic organizers include diagrams or maps that show a link between concepts. Examples of graphic organizers are: Conceptual grids, Venn diagrams, flow charts, mind maps, and concept maps, etc.

4.      Think/Pair/Share – Students learn to speak English by speaking English. English language learners are often excited to share their thoughts using their new language with their classmates. The think/pair/share strategy provides students an opportunity to practice their English by explaining a topic.

5.      Word wall – Each week, new vocabulary words are posted on a wall and organized in a group.

B.     Special Needs Students:

1.      Cooperative Learning - Students work in groups and use various learning strategies of others. These groups provide a safe place for students to contribute to the group and receive support from their classmates.

2.      Explicit Modeling – explicit modeling includes the explanation of step by step procedures. Explicit Modeling can be used for activities such as “note-taking, making connections among ideas, asking questions, project planning, and time-management may have to be taught, because special needs students are not able to make the connections on their own.”

3.      Graphic Organizers - Organizing information is can be a problem for students with special needs. Students with special needs are often visual learners who respond well to information represented in graphic form. Examples of graphic Organizers include: Concept maps, Venn diagrams, Cause-and-effect charts, Story Maps, T-charts, and Timelines.

4.      Multi-sensory Approach - Students learn in different ways. Therefore, it is important to use multi-sensory instruction; such as using visual and auditory cues. In addition, physical cues, such as a light touch, are helpful if a student becomes distracted.

5.      Visual component – Students with special needs comprehend and respond faster when a concept or lesson is conveyed both visually using picture, graphs or other visual aids.

C.    Advanced or Gifted Learners:

1.      Change the Pace: advanced or gifted learners often already know the concepts to being taught, or learn them fast. When these students can demonstrate mastery of a learning goal, it is important to extend their learning and knowledge through an enrichment or extension activity. This includes: pre-testing; tiered activities ranging from the most difficult first, independent study, and learning centers.

2.      Change the Delivery/Content: With advanced or gifted learners, it is important to change the delivery/ content so that student don’t become complacent. Some examples include:  mini-lessons, different resources,  open-ended questions reading journals,  tiered activities, learning centers, anchor activities, discovery learning.

3.      Change the Product: By changing the product, advanced or gifted learners, are allowed an opportunity to apply their knowledge of content, and have the opportunity to demonstrate their talents and abilities.  

4.      Change the Process - Add Depth: advanced or gifted learners often quickly master the facts of a new concept and learning goals. These students need to focus on more than just the basic facts and information. It is important to allow these = students the ability to choose a specific area of the topic to encourages them to become an “expert” in that area.

5.      Change the Process - Add Breadth: advanced or gifted learners typically can make the connections between concepts, subject matter, and idea. It is important to motivate students find an interest that they are passionate about  and connect that passion to the greater theme.

References:

Drummosh Follow. (2009, March 29). Differentiating Instruction For Gifted Learners. Retrieved January 21, 2018, from https://www.slideshare.net/drummosh/differentiating-instruction-for-gifted-learners

Strategies for Teaching Science to English Language Learners. (n.d.). Retrieved January 21, 2018, from https://www.csun.edu/science/ref/language/teaching-ell.html

7. Differentiation Techniques for Special Needs Students - Differentiation & LR Information for SAS Teachers. (n.d.). Retrieved January 21, 2018, from https://sites.google.com/site/lrtsas/differentiation/differentiation-techniques-for-special-education

The importance of using rubrics that allows for differentiation.

During my research of differentiated instruction, I discovered the importance of using a rubric that allows for differentiation.

Rubrics provide guidelines to measure and evaluate student work. In order to achieve student success, it is important to set clear learning goals. Clear learning goals include: facts, principles, dates, and/or vocabulary that need to be include in the learning product. Clear learning goals also convey the skill(s) students need to demonstrate in the final product. A rubric can help students know exactly what they need to do in order to achieve a certain performance level and grade. 

A rubric should include:

A clear description of each performance level. This helps student understand what is expected of them. In addition, a rubric creates a dependable and impartial scoring system. A rubric should be designed for differences in students’ readiness levels. This provides students (whatever their skill or knowledge level) an opportunity to be successful.

In addition, a rubric should also consider a different learning style: 

• Visual
• Aural
• Verbal
• Physical
• Logical 
• Social 
• Solitary

By considering the differences in learning styles, a rubric should allow for different products. Some examples of different learning products include: brochures, plays, discussions, board game, flow chart, debate, research project, and many other products.

Lastly, when grading a product, using a rubric, teachers can measure: individual growth, performance and effort. Teachers are able to grade the content, knowledge, skills, processes and conceptual understanding reflected by the product.

While there are many ways to create a rubric, below is an example of a Kindergarten Writing Rubric: 

Example of a Kindergarten Writing Rubric:

Total Score /15	3 points 😊	2 points 😑	1 point 😞
Handwriting	Handwriting is excellent with no reversals (backwards letters.)	Handwriting is fair with some few reversals (backwards letters.)	Handwriting is poor with many reversals (backwards letters.)
Capital Letters/Lowercase Letters	Student appropriately uses all capital and lower-case letters when writing a sentence. Ex: I like dogs.	Student as 1 mistake with either capital or lower-case letters when writing a sentence. Ex. i like dogs.	Student as more than1 mistake with capital or lower-case letters when writing a sentence. Ex. i LiKe Dogs.
Punctuation	Student includes, and correctly uses punctuation. Ex. I see you.	Student uses punctuation, but it is not appropriate. Ex. I see you?	Student does not use punctuation. Ex. I see you
Spacing	Student uses appropriate spacing. Ex. I like to play.	The student uses inconsistent and incorrect spacing. Ex. I    like     to  play.	The student does not use any spacing. Ex. Iliketoplay.
Detailed Illustrations	The student is able to draws many details (7 or more) from a story.	The student only draws some (6 – 4) details from a story.	The student only draws a few (3 or less) details from a story.

Introduction

Hello and thank you for visiting my blog. My name is Julie Love and I recently completed my California Multiple Subject Teaching Credential and I am currently working to complete my Master of Education Degree with an emphasis in Best Practices. During my educational program, I have discovered the importance's and value of differentiated instruction in todays classroom. In this blog I will share you some key elements of differentiated teaching and some learning activities that I have used to engage learners. In addition, I will also share some links to websites to further enhance your understanding of differentiated instruction and why it is important for all students success in your classroom.

I hope you find this information helpful!

Best Regards, 

Julie Love

What is differentiated instruction?

Wikipedia defines differentiated instruction and assessment as “a framework or philosophy for effective teaching that involves providing different students with different avenues to learning in terms of: acquiring content; processing, constructing, or making sense of ideas; and developing teaching materials and assessment measures so that all students within a classroom can learn effectively, regardless of differences in ability.”

What are elements of differentiated instruction?

1. The first element is to develop an environment that is engaging and actively encourages learning. 
2. The second element consist of high quality curriculum and clearly defined instruction, learning goals, and expectations.
3. The third element discussed was about the importance of ongoing assessments. Ongoing assessments include a variety of products and different means to measure learning outcomes.
4. The forth element discussed was in response to students’ instructional needs. After formative assessments, teachers often find that all students are not at the same place in regards to achieving learning outcomes.
5. The fifth element that was discussed was that of effective classroom management. 

Why is differentiated instruction important?

Differentiating Instruction provides students with different paths of learning. It allows students to make choices/decisions in their learning.  It has also been proven that students learn better when making decisions and that providing students with choices increases their achievement. According to the book, Differentiating Instruction in the Regular Classroom, Differentiated Instructions, differentiating instruction “promotes acceptance of differences, affirms that all students have learning strengths, acknowledges that students learn at different rates and in different ways” (Heacox, 2012, pg. 13.)  

Learning activities and useful links: 

Learning Activities:

1. Equity Sticks -to randomly call on students during direct instruction.
2. Sentence Frames - can help students in answering questions.
3. Multiple Ways to Express Understanding - Depending on their needs, students can respond verbally, through sketching, or by writing. 
4. Share Air Time -During small group work, teachers can use a system to encourage equitable participation. 
5. Excerpt Texts-Struggling learners work with shorter excerpts as long as the excerpt conveys the ideas and claims of the whole text.

Useful Links:

What Is Differentiated Instruction?
Differentiated Instruction Allows Students to Succeed

Teacher Tested Strategies for Differentiated Instruction 

8 Lessons Learned on Differentiating Instruction

References:  

Differentiated instruction. (2018, January 10).
Retrieved January 12, 2018, from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Differentiated_instruction

Differentiated Instruction Allows Students to Succeed.
(n.d.). Retrieved January 13, 2018, from https://www.edutopia.org/blog/differentiated-instruction-student-success

Edutopia Follow. (2015, June 04). Teacher Tested

Strategies for Differentiated Instruction. Retrieved January 13, 2018, from https://www.slideshare.net/edutopia/teacher-tested-strategies-for-differentiated-instruction

Heacox, D. (2012). Differentiating Instruction in the
Regular Classroom: How to Reach and Teach All Learners. (1st ed.).Minneapolis,
MN: Free Spirit Publishing Inc.

S. (2016, February 15). Five key aspects of
differentiated instruction. Retrieved January 12, 2018, from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3TRGl3iXoAE&list=PLOXUrDMSVPHnDeKVZTOfi2pjWMegTcRCD

What Is Differentiated Instruction? (2015, December
31). Retrieved January 13, 2018, from http://www.readingrockets.org/article/what-differentiated-instruction

8 Lessons Learned on Differentiating Instruction.
(n.d.). Retrieved January 13, 2018, from https://www.scholastic.com/teachers/articles/teaching-content/8-lessons-learned-differentiating-instruction/