Cooperative Learning- From Complaints to Compromise

Today was quite eventful.  It all started with a wasp flying around the room during our morning meeting.  So, if that gives you an idea of how the rest of the day went....well, yeah.

(I am happy to report that the wasp met its demise and I successfully removed it from the room.  It's a good thing, because we weren't going to get ANYTHING done until THAT distraction was gone.)

During the course of a recess game school assembly and introducing a new math game later this afternoon, I had a little epiphany.  My students need much more practice working in partnerships.  

I watched as three students missed an entire recess game because Student #1 was following Student #2 around trying to partner up, and Student #2 was following Student #3 around trying to partner up, and Student #3 was trying unsuccessfully to get the attention of Student #1 while avoiding every other student looking for a partner in his path.  

I watched several meltdowns during our math game (which I modeled with students and kept very simple) because So and So ALWAYS gets to go first, and So and So is CHEATING, and So and So is taking all the pink cubes, and on and on.  Sheesh.  Above almost everything else, whiners and "me first-ers" can really get under my skin. 

I called the groups together and tried to emphasize to students that we don't have any fun doing fun activities when we waste time arguing and bickering.  I realize this is part of their age and maturity level, but we REALLY need to work on it in my room.  It is partly my fault, because, as I realized today, I tend to shy away from introducing partner-based activities because of all the commotion.  We focused first on whole group behavior, then small group.  We are coming to the point where we are working well in small groups of 5 to 7.  Now, I think it is time to hone in on our partner work behaviors.  

Some of the questions I have as I reflect on moving towards this...

• Is it better to assign partners or teach children to choose their own partners? 
• What are some "ground rules" about working in partnerships?
• What is an appropriate reaction from me when students approach me with a problem?  

Some of my thoughts...

• I think I need a consistent system to start with.  Something that will be catchy and pre-posted so their attention is diverted and there are no questions about who is working with whom.  I would LOVE for them to eventually get to the point where they can nicely pick partners on their own, but I don't think we are ready for that yet.  A few months ago, a presenter suggested assigning "peanut butter and jelly" partners for Read to Partner time.  I went to my favorite store (Dollar Tree) and they did not have the peanut butter and jelly cutouts, but I found mustard and ketchup cutouts.  I just need to get magnets on the back, work out a partnership list, and get them posted.  My list will be based on both academic and behavior considerations; aligning students who are at similar academic levels and who complement each other's personalities.  Besides, "work with your ketchup partner" just sounds so much better than "work with so and so."  :)
• Ground rules...my kiddies do really well with anchor charts that they discuss with me, help me make and can refer back to.  Actually, our behavioral anchor charts are more often used than our academic anchor charts.  So, I guess we will have to have a class meeting about working with partners.  We'll discuss how:  
• You don't have to be with that person forever.  
• Strategies for deciding who goes first (i.e., roll a dice and go with the highest number)
• No angry voices or snatching,  Provide appropriate alternatives instead, "Please pass me..." etc.
• Choices for what to do if there is a problem (work it out, or work alone) 
• Ask "Does it matter?"  Pink cubes don't matter.  Winning and losing doesn't really matter.  Learning and having fun DOES matter! 
• If the above has been done, then, unless the problem is life-threatening, I think my reaction will  hopefully be....nothing.  I can redirect their attention to the chart, suggest an alternative response, and ask them what they will choose to do.  

Time to go off and plan some good partner-based measurement activities!  

March Math..."While I'm Waiting" Activities

Just a quick midweek post about some "while I'm waiting" activities that I recently created. These are for those times when you have a small group waiting while you circulate getting everyone settled at their stations. They are nothing earth shattering and literally took all of 45 minutes for me to make. But the kids can easily take them out and work independently while they are waiting for me. 

Half of these have glitter on one side, and half do not. 

Recently I purchased several packs of these foam shamrocks and gold coins, thinking they would make some fun activities. My class is working on composing and decomposing numbers 11 through 19; especially the concept of 10 plus some more.  My below level group is still having a lot of trouble with ten frames...filling boxes in the right order, and realizing that if one frame is full, it simply equals ten and they don't have to count EVERY SINGLE BOX EVERY TIME. 

I laminated work mats from our math program. (So I can't share these, but I'm sure 10 frame templates are easy enough to find!). I have numbers 11 through 19 written on index cards. They each take a work mat and draw a card. They then have to build that number using the gold coins (which, by the way, make everything SO much more special!) 

I wanted them to have a way to self check, so if they flip the card over, I have drawn out circles and they can check their work.

All packed up and ready for the next time!  

My next game I call "the shamrock sort." It is for my high group, which really needs to be challenged. I've written three different ways to represent the numbers 11 through 19 on the shamrocks. The shamrocks get spread out and the group has to work together to sort them. For example, here are the three ways to show 19:  (I may add more 'ways' such as tally marks and more addition and subtraction facts, but this was enough for us to start!)

Again, I wanted a self checking component, so when they think they have found three of the same number, they flip the shamrocks over to check them.  

Tada!

Finally, I needed to use the glitter-sided shamrocks, so I made a little sight word memory matching game for my below level group: 

I used the first 10 sight words for set 1, and made a second set of the next 10 words for my mid level group. The foam does shed glitter quite easily, but the kids don't seem to mind being "sparkled" :).  

They love being able to pull these activities out while they are waiting for me, and I love that they are occupied with a constructive warm up! 

Like I said, nothing earth shattering but simple and fun. I'm sure there are many other ways to use the coins and shamrocks. What else could you do with these?

Monday Meetings

Several years ago I started Monday "How was your weekend" journal writing prompts with my high school ESL students.  The intent had several purposes- I could get to know a little about them outside of our school day, they could let me know anything that was bugging them or exciting to them, and they could practice their writing in a non-threatening way, because the language was coming from their own experiences.

I sort of became infamous for it.  They knew exactly what to expect on Monday when they walked into my room, and actually began to look forward to it.  I had forgotten about that tradition until it occurred to me that I could do the same thing with my kindergarten kiddies.  They always want to tell me about their weekend adventures on Monday mornings, so this way they can get some talking time and I can monitor their language, formation of complete sentences, and other communication skills.  Enter the "Monday Meeting."  I use a little orange dog that I had gotten for our reading buddy basket.  Every Monday we sit in a rectangle on the tape around our carpet.  The dog functions as our "talking stick."  Before we begin,  I remind them that the only person talking should be the person holding the dog.  This works well...until about the 15th student, then they start getting antsy.  We're still working on speeding up the process.  :)  They always have the option to just say "pass" if they don't feel like sharing.  I make the question VERY specific and focused:  "Tell me the BEST part of your weekend- just ONE part, the best part."  I start by modeling a quick, descriptive sentence from my own weekend ("This weekend I made delicious chocolate chip cookies") and toss the dog to the next person.  They love hearing about each others' weekends, and so do I.  However, I do have two or three 'ramblers.'  You know the kind...

Student:  Well.  I had this football.  It's my favorite football ever.  I got it for my birthday.  And me and my brothers went outside.  I think it was like Friday because we got off the bus.  And we started playing football and I fell down and ripped my pants.  And then my dad came.  And he said let's go bowling.  And we got our shoes and went bowling and while we were driving there we saw a dragon.

Me:  Remember...one thing.

Student:  But it's the same thing. 

Me:  OK just the best part.

Student:  Well the best part was that when we went to the bowling alley we started to order a pizza and I asked my dad if I could get some candy too.

Me:  (while checking the time and reprimanding the three students who are beginning to wiggle and talk) Finish up, your friends are waiting.

Student:  Okay well there was music playing and then I saw my friend and he said...

Me:  Sounds like you had a great weekend!  OK pass the dog!

Like I said, we're still working on being concise.

Meet our Monday Meeting helper: Pumpkin.  One day during center time a student came up out of the blue and said, "I know what to name our Monday meeting dog.  His name is Pumpkin.  Do you want to know why?  Because he is round and orange and green." 

It sounded like a logical idea to me.  So now he is Pumpkin.  Really though, you could pass anything around; the idea is that the visual and tactile object helps remind students who should be talking.

We also have our Monday meeting after any holiday or extended break.  Have you tried something like a Monday meeting?  What guidelines do you establish and how does it work for you?