Cooperative Learning Strategies

Think Pair Share

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Think-Pair-Share is a cooperative learning strategy that allows students to engage in individual and small-group thinking before they are asked to answer
questions in front of the whole class. There are four steps to this
method:

  1. Groups of two to four students listen to a question posed by the teacher
  2. Individual students are given time to think and then write their responses
  3. Pairs of students read and discuss their responses
  4. A few students are called on by the teacher to share their thoughts and ideas with the whole class

An example in an ELA classroom of think-pair-share: You (the teacher) are introducing dramatic irony to the class, so you ask the students what they think dramatic irony is. Give the students time to think, then ask them to partner up and discuss their thoughts with each other. After giving the class a few moments to collaborate, you will call on a few students to share their perspectives with the classroom.

Socratic Seminar

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In a Socratic Seminar, students help one another understand the ideas, issues, and values reflected in a text through a group discussion format. Students are responsible for facilitating their group discussion around the ideas in the text; they shouldn’t use the discussion to assert their opinions or prove an argument. Through this type of discussion, students practice how to listen to one another, make meaning, and find common ground while participating in a conversation. Socratic seminars are more complex and require a combination of procedures:

  1. Select an Appropriate Text
    The Socratic Seminar strategy is based on close textual analysis, so it is important to select a text that provides ample avenues for interpretation and discussion. Often, teachers select a text ranging from one paragraph to one page. 
  2. Give Students Time to Prepare
    Before beginning the seminar, it is essential that students have time to prepare ideas.
  3. Develop a Classroom Contract
    These seminars have rules that may not apply to other forms of discussion, so before beginning the seminar, it is important that everyone is aware of the norms. Below are typical rules used to structure a Socratic Seminar activity. 

    • Talk to each other, not just to the discussion leader or teacher.
    • Refer to evidence from the text to support your ideas.
    • Ask questions if you do not understand what someone has said, or you can paraphrase what another student has said for clarification (“I think you said this; is that right?”).
    • You do not need to raise your hand to speak, but please pay attention to your “airtime”—how much you have spoken in relation to other students.
    • Don’t interrupt.
    • Don’t “put down” the ideas of another student. Without judging the student you disagree with, state your alternate interpretation or ask a follow-up question to help probe or clarify an idea.
      • These qualities or criteria can be explained on a rubric and used to evaluate the seminar at the end of the class period. Criteria you might use to evaluate a Socratic Seminar activity include engagement (everyone listening and sharing), respect (no interruptions or put-downs), meaning-making (students understand the text more deeply at the end of the seminar), and use of evidence (comments always refer back to the text).
  4. The actual Socratic Seminar activity often begins with the discussion leader, a student or the teacher, asking an open-ended question. A typical opening prompt is: What do you think this text means? Silence is fine. It may take a few minutes for students to warm up. Sometimes teachers organize a Socratic Seminar activity like a Fishbowl activity, with some students participating in the discussion and the rest of the class having specific jobs as observers. At least 15 minutes should be allotted to the activity, and it can often last 30 minutes or more.

Jigsaw

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Jigsaw is a strategy that emphasizes cooperative learning by providing students an opportunity to actively help each other build comprehension. Jigsaw helps students learn cooperation as group members share responsibility for each other’s learning by using critical thinking and social skills to complete an assignment. This strategy also helps to improve listening, communication, and problem-solving skills. Using the jigsaw method, you will direct students to read the selection of text assigned to them. When the reading has been completed, the students meet for approximately 20 minutes with others assigned to the same topic. They discuss the material, identify the most important learning points, and return to their “home groups” to instruct the others about information in which they have become an “expert”. Each student takes turns teaching what he or she has learned to the other “homegroup” members.