Planning and Resources

Small Group Teaching Strategies

Small group or cooperative group work is an essential element of learning-based instruction. It provides variety and can help motivate students to succeed. Dividing classes into smaller groups that work on the same or different tasks provides several benefits to students. First, they learn the skills of group work by using roles, following rules, keeping records, and focusing on results. Second, students can review what you have just taught, or they can build on prior knowledge by pursuing something new. Third, like learning stations, cooperative groups provide hands-on learning experiences that require practice of essential skills and knowledge. Group work is also more likely to meet individual student needs.

Purposeful Group Work

There are a variety of small group learning structures that you can implement to both increase your students' learning and maximize classroom time.

• Have study groups review previously taught material to prepare for a test or quiz that you make.
• Allow drill teams/drill partners to serve as coaches and trainers to each other to learn new material.
• Create problem-solving teams and have them propose, build, and test a solution to a problem by making drawings, models, and prototypes.
• Ask research teams to conduct investigations by sharing ideas, information, and responsibilities.
• Organize expert panels (groups of students who have become expert in some aspect of a class study or unit) and have them share their knowledge.
• Have enactment groups prepare, rehearse, and present a reenactment of a significant literary, historical, or scientific event to the rest of the class or an audience beyond the class.
• Encourage shop/lab/studio helpers to serve as work group supervisors in a course for younger students.
• Group interdisciplinary investigation teams, sometimes called "area studies" teams, by interest or requisite skills to complete a study of a community resource.
• Form debate teams and have them research a controversial issue and marshal arguments for and against a particular position.
• Form student teams achievement divisions. Then, present (teach) new information, and have students review (study) in teams. Once students are done studying, give them a test and recognition (certificate) of team performance.
• Form team/games/tournament structures. Then, present (teach) new information, and have students review (study) in teams. Once students are done studying, play a game (tournament). Match students by ability and assign them points (for their study team) when they win. Follow this with a recognition (certificate) of team performance.

Preparing Students for Working in Groups

Because many students are not used to working in groups, it is important that you teach, model, and assess the skills of teamwork as if they were the content of the class. Focus on social skills: listening, taking turns, encouraging, supporting one another, staying on task, cleaning up the work area, etc. Give teams simpler tasks at first, and then build to more complex assignments.

Pick the right-sized task for your class when designing an activity. The task should be challenging enough to keep students interested, but easy enough for students to achieve success (with effort) in the time allotted. Not every group will finish at the same time, however. Have a classroom poster or handout with a list of ideas for what students who finish early can do. Ideas might include having students write in a journal in response to a writing prompt, helping other team members, etc.

Change the composition of groups frequently so that students of different backgrounds, academic achievement levels, and social skills learn to work together. This mixing and matching will build familiarity, insights, and trust among your students. Use flexible grouping strategies to ensure that students don't always work in the same group. Some flexible grouping strategies include:

• groups that you determine.
• groups that students determine.
• groups that both you and your students determine.
• groups that are determined by chance, such as location, birthday month, etc.
• groups that are formed based on skills and/or interests.

Organizing the work so that each team member contributes to the achievement of the team goals also builds a sense of individual—and group—responsibility. It makes every member of the group an important member.

When projects last over a period of time, it is easy for inexperienced groups to let assignments slide. Therefore, try holding groups accountable for completing specific tasks or project steps during work sessions. Include a very specific assignment or menu of options for teams to work on. Every meeting should result in some kind of a project, whether it is a list to create, a diagram to draw, an outline to display, a form to fill out, etc. This strategy also promotes group responsibility.

While you will be using observations, tests, checklists, and individual assignments to measure each student's achievement, it is important that team members also assess their own work. Two important outcomes of alternative approaches in student assessment are better understanding of self and increased responsibility for one's own learning. You will need to provide opportunities for both individuals and groups to use self-assessment tools, to reflect on progress over time, and to set new goals for performance. Teams need to assess how well they work together and what improvements they might make, and individual members need to assess how their actions contribute to the overall team. Reflection should be seen as part of every activity.

Your Role in Cooperative Learning

Your role as organizer and facilitator of the groups is very important. Much of what you will need to do is the same as what happens in planning for individual or whole group work. For example, you will need to determine what strategies are the most effective. If you determine that small group work is the best way, then you will need to determine what tasks the groups will need to do. What are the learning objectives? What content, skills, or attitudes should students be able to demonstrate? How much and what kind of practice will students need in order to demonstrate their new skills and knowledge?

Evaluating progress and encouraging self-assessment are very important aspects of your role with small groups. Some of the questions to ask yourself are: What standards must small groups achieve? What criteria will I use to determine that the task has been successfully completed? What rubric or rating scale will let me assess individual or group proficiency in executing the desired skill or demonstrating the required knowledge? As stated in the previous section, you will also need to provide opportunities for both individual and group self-assessments.

A final word on your role as coach. Small group work requires critical and creative thinking skills that many students may not have. You can provide these tools as team advisor or coach, or you can integrate them in a work session warm-up at the beginning of class. Your role during small group work is to serve as monitor, supervisor, and coach. Sometimes you must blow the whistle and redirect the group so that it can complete the assignment.