Co-Operative Learning Strategies

Group work, partner work, table work. It's always messy and difficult to get everyone on board but once you endure the hardship, it all works out and is worth the struggle.

Learning to get along with others and work cooperatively are very important skills that students need to learn. Understanding that it is okay not to always agree with others and everyone is not always going to agree with you is another big learning.

Your stubborn students may have tears, others may be storming off to sit in the corner by themselves, or just general bad teamwork but try to perceive and be wise how you use it in your classroom and it will lead to success.

Ideas to try include using;

• Knee to knee - think, pair, share

• Turn and talk to your thinking partner

• Turn and ask - which is great to increase questions and responses

• Allocating a 12 o’clock partner, 4 o’clock partner, or 8 o’clock partner so students are not always working with the same person

• Reciprocal reading strategies - techniques include predicting, questioning, clarifying, and summarizing

• Jigsaw technique - each child in the group works on one specific area of the topic being studied, then they must teach everything they know to their group

Of course, you must be mindful of the way you use cooperative learning with students with autism or learning needs. Consider who they may work best with or who they may not work well with.

Co-operative learning in small groups encourages leadership, communication, cooperation and accountability and when taught well with expectations clear can work well for your class.

Do you use co-operative learning strategies in your classroom? How does it work with you? What age group do you think it works best with? We would love if you joined the conversation and left a comment below.