Best Practices using Kagan
Cooperative Learning Structures and
Higher level questioning
Becca Massey
Gifted and Talented Teacher
Georgetown ISD
June 25, 2014
Logistics
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Class- 8:30-3:30
Lunch -11:30-12:30
Breaks- 10 min a.m./ 10 min. p.m.
Name cards
Find website: GISD, Cooper Elementary, Gifted
and Talented, Becca Massey
Objectives
• Today we will learn:
• How to implement best practices using Kagan
Cooperative Learning Structures
• Determine how adding depth and complexity
to daily lessons will result in long term
learning
• Use different higher level questioning
strategies to add rigor to our daily lessons
Stop to Jot
• Please complete the following prompt on
sticky note or piece of paper:
• The students in my classroom learn best
when…....
• Be prepared to share!
T-Chart Sort
• A/B Partner- Decide which of you would like to be partner A
and partner B- take turns sorting the statements according to
where you think they should go!
More
Less
TTT
• Truth telling time- Still using A/B partner take
a few minutes to share which statements you
use and implement on a daily basis.
• This is non-judgmental so please be honest.
Best Practices Model
Best Practices- Research Based
Student Centered
• We need to find students interests, all across
the curriculum and allow them to investigate
their own questions and ideas.
• How- Provide hands on, whole ideas and
events, real complex ideas and materials,
genuine challenges, choices and
responsibilities in their learning.
Cognitive
• Our most powerful learning comes when
children develop true understanding of
concepts through higher-order thinking
through inquiry and self-monitoring of their
thinking.
• How- students should be able to recreate and
reinvent every cognitive system they
encounter (math, language, literacy, sciences)
• Learners should be able to reflect, debrief
from their learning
Social
• Learning is socially constructed and often
interactive. Teachers need to create
classroom interactions that “scaffold”
learning.
• How- Cooperative learning activities tap the
social power of learning better than
competitive and individualistic approaches
• Sentence Stems can be used with all
Cooperative Learning Activities
What Makes An Activity Truly
Cooperative?
• Simultaneous Interaction- are the largest possible
number of students actively contributing to the
lesson at the same time?
• Equal Participation-are all members required to
contribute equally to the team project or activity?
• Positive Interdependence- Is the success of the
team dependent upon positive contribution by all
members?
• Individual Accountability- Is each member held
accountable for his or her own contributions and
learning?
Benefits of Cooperative Learning
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Higher self-esteem
Improved social skills
More on-task behavior
Higher academic achievement for all students
Better attitudes toward teacher and school
Greater use of higher-level thinking skills
Increased appreciation for different points of
view
Keys to a Cooperative Classroom
• Social Skills must be taught
• Taking turns, no put downs, sharing materials,
participating equally, staying on task,
encouraging others, patient waiting,
communicating clearly, accepting differences,
active listening, staying with the team,
celebrating success, helping others!
Kagan Cooperative Learning Goals
1. Make cooperative learning part of every
lesson
2. Requires very little advanced preparation
3. No changes in curriculum needed
4. Very easy to do
5. On the outside it might looks like a lot of
noise and chaos, but on the inside you will
find it to be a powerful teaching tool and that
the noise is constructive noise
Inside/Outside Circle
• In concentric circles, students rotate to face new
partners and answer questions.
• Students stand in two concentric circles, facing a
partner. The inside circle faces out; the outside circle
faces in.
• Students use flashcards to ask questions of their
partner, or they may take turns responding to a teacher
question(s).
• Partners switch roles: outside circle students ask,
listen, then praise or coach.
• After each question or set of questions, students in the
outer circle rotates to the next partner. (Teacher may
call rotation numbers: “Rotate three ahead.”)
Mix, Pair, Share
• Students mix to form pairs and share their
knowledge of a topic
• Teacher poses a problem or question that has an
exact answer or is open ended with many
responses
• Teacher calls, “Mix!” -Students mix around the
room. (Play favorite music)
• Teacher calls, “Pair!” (Stop the music and
students pair)
• Students pair
• Students share their responses to the teacher
prompt- students respond with “Thank you for
sharing”
Numbered Heads Together
• Teammates work together to ensure all members understand; one
is randomly selected to be held accountable.
• Students count off numbers in their groups.
• Teacher poses a problem and gives wait time (Example: “Everyone
think about how clouds are formed. [Pause] Now make sure
everyone in your team knows how clouds are formed.”)
• Students lift up from their chairs to put their heads together,
discuss and teach.
• Students sit down when everyone knows the answer or has
something to share or when time is up.
• Teacher calls a number. The student with that number from each
team answers the question individually using: response cards, dry
erase boards, manipulatives, or IPAD apps (Educreations)
Mix, Pair, Solve
• Students mix to form pairs and solve a problem
• Teacher poses a problem or asks a question
• Teacher calls, “Mix!” -Students mix around the
room. (Play favorite music)
• Teacher calls, “Pair!” (Stop the music)
• Students pair
• Students solve the problem that was posedstudents respond with “Thank you for helping”
• Good to review for an assessment
Showdown
• Students in teams number off. Student 1
becomes the Leader. The Leader reads the first
task card aloud.
• All students attempt to solve the problem and
write their responses on paper, dry erase, etc.
• The Leader asks for a “Showdown.” Teammates
compare and check answers.
• Students discuss the answer, offering help if
needed.
• Leader role rotates
Mix and Match
• Give each student a card with information on it and
the other half of information on another card
• Start music and have students mix the cards as they
mix around the room
• Stop the music and have students find their match.
Have the matching pairs form an outside circle
around the room.
• Students share why they match with their partner
Continue to mix and match
• Ideas-units of time, equivalent fractions,
different numeric representations, vocabulary
Rally Coach
• Partners take turns, one solving a problem while
the other coaches.
• The teacher poses a problem to which there is
one correct answer
• Partner A solves the problem; Partner B watches,
checks, and praises (A can be talking out loud)
• Teacher poses the next problem.
• Partner B solves the problem; Partner A watches,
checks and praises (B can be talking out loud)
• Repeat starting at Step 1
Round Table
• Students in teams number off.
• Students pass a paper around the team as
they take turns recording answers
• Have them fill in a graphic organizer to classify
something (geometric shapes, seasons, etc.)
Round Robin
• Students number off
• Teacher poses question or topic
• Teacher calls a number to indicate which team
member will share their answers first.
• Remaining students take turns orally sharing a
response (use a sentence stem when
responding)
Idea-non-fiction story that they all read,
question cards and then respond (STAAR)
Who Has, I Have?
• Each student gets a card with a statement and a
question on it
• Teacher prompts one student to start with the
question prompt *this student will answer last
• Students must listen to the question and
description and be ready to answer
• Example: Who has “the pointed top of a
mountain or hill? “I have Peak, who has the part
of an ocean, sea, or lake extending into the
land…I have Bay…keeps going
• Other ideas-math vocabulary, characters in a
novel
Activity
• Chose a Kagan Cooperative Learning Structure
and decide how you can use it in your
classroom?
• Mix, Pair, Share
Brain Breaks
• Research shows that children need a “change
of state” to maximize learning
• Mix, Pair, Share- what would be a way to
“change the state” in order for children to
refocus?
1. Pancake
2. Countdown
3. Hammer
4. Rocketship
5. Skate
6. Tree stand- count by 10’s, multiples of a number
7. Continent dance
8. Be Verbs
9. Songs/Poems
10.Water Cycle song
Higher Level Questioning
• Adding Depth and Complexity with Language
to Literacy Charts
• Socratic Questioning
• PLORE Questions
Depth & Complexity
• Depth and Complexity are words or prompts
that activate higher levels of knowing. They
are words that help us decode meaning. They
allow us to gain expertise in a domain. The
icons assure that you use these strategies
consistently and use them all of the time.
They provide a common vocabulary.
Depth
• Exploring a discipline by
looking below the facts
and investigating
generalizations,
principles, and universal
concepts.
Language of the Discipline
• Students identify terms
or words that are
specific to a subject or
discipline.
• How professionals in the
field talk to one another.
• Appropriate
terminology.
Details
• Students are instructed
to note the attributes,
traits, or characteristics
of an idea or event.
Patterns
• Students are instructed
to identify reoccurring
events.
• Patterns repeat
themselves.
• We use patterns to
predict.
Unanswered Questions
• Students are instructed
to question what is still
not known or
understood.
• What is still unclear?
• Discrepancies
• Do any conclusions need
further investigation,
evidence or support?
Rules
• Students are instructed
to define how the topic
is structured
• Orders you follow
• Laws, norms, formulas
Trends
• Students identify factors
or events (social,
political, economic, and
geographic) that cause
events to occur or
happen.
• Influences
• Forces
Ethics
• Students are instructed
to identify any dilemmas
or controversies of the
idea or event.
• Determine the elements
that reflect bias,
prejudice, or
discrimination.
Big Ideas
• Students determine the
overarching statement
that best summarizes
what is being studied.
• It is a generalization,
principal or theory.
• Bloom’s Synthesis
forming parts to make a
new whole.
Across the Disciplines
• Relate the area of study
to other subjects within,
between and across
disciplines.
Change Over Time
• Students describe how
the effect of time
changes the idea or
event.
• Examining the origin,
the present, and the
future.
Different Perspectives
• Students are instructed to
investigate the opposing points
of view, roles, status, or values.
• Students examine the event
form the perspective of
different disciplinarians
(anthropologist, economist,
sociologist, political scientist,
mathematician, scientist, artist)
• You don’t know an issue until
you know it from both sides.
Do you teach for questions or
answers?
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Be accepting of all answers and questions
Participate in the activities
Model answering and questioning daily
Incorporate questioning techniques in your
lesson plans
Answer: If your answer is “answers”, then cut the
strings and fly a little!
Convergent Questions
• Convergent Questions- attempts to find the
best answer
• Evaluation, describing, defining, graphing,
drawing, conclusions, etc.
• Attempting to take many ideas and draw them
together toward a single goal or result.
Divergent Questions
• Divergent Questions- many possible
answers…open ended, engaging to get kids
thinking; seeks responses that consider many
possibilities; responses are not evaluated as
right/wrong; good or bad
• Fluency, Flexibility, originality, elaboration
• Activity-next slide
1. In groups take a piece of paper and make a
circle map…tell me everything you know
about a rectangle.
2. Flexibility-think of different ways to use a
placemat…list those
3. Originality- Compile a list and decide which is
most creative or original
4. Elaboration- How could we make the
placemat better or more useable?
Productive/Reproductive Questions
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Compare/Contrast
Feelings/Opinions
Personification Questions
Analysis Questions
Synthesis Questions
Evaluation Questions
Application Questions
Was It Possible Questions
Risk- Taking Questions
Process of Elimination Questions
PLORE Questions
Predict- What do you think will happen to Arthur’s bike?
Locate-Find the sentence on pg. 27 where Francine tells
Arthur and Buster about what happened to her bike. Write
the sentence
Order- Put the following events in order from what happened
first to last.
– The kids decide to tell Mr. Haney about the bike.
– One of the garbage collectors picked up Francine’s bike.
– Francine tells Buster and Arthur her bike is stolen.
Recall- Why does Muffy think someone stole the bike? Pg. 28
Evaluation- Do you think Francine should tell her friends
about what really happened to her bike? Why/Why not?
What Kagan strategy would you use to implement PLORE
questions?
L to L Chart
• Select a book from your table
• Use the elements of depth and complexity
descriptors to fill in the L to L chart for your
book.
• Are there others to add? Can you make
connections to other literature? Can you see
any trends, across disciplines, etc.?