Structures
Dr. Spencer Kagan
Kagan Cooperative Learning ~ Chapter 6
“If teaching were the same as telling, we’d all be so
smart we could hardly stand it.” – Mark Twain
Good teaching is student-centered,
focusing on learning not teaching.
 Good teaching goes beyond the words that
comes out of the teacher’s mouth, it reaches
out to students and asks:
What is
learned?
Structures…….
 engagement and retention from meaningful experiences
 active learning adventures
 more likely to reach students with different intelligences
and learning styles
 lose far fewer students to boredom and disengagement
 help students enjoy school more
 develop a wide range of personal and social skills
The levels of knowing how to use
structures:
 Unconscious incompetence – never heard of it!
 Conscious incompetence – aware but you don’t know how
to do it
 Conscious competence – you can do it……..but you have
to think about it a lot
 Unconscious competence – like riding a bike or driving a
car – you go on about the structure automatically
Structures are like tools in the
teacher’s toolbox
Structures make it POSSIBLE to do…………….
The impossible job!!!
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Achieve high academic standards
Very diverse group of learners
Teach social skills
Thinking skills
Communication skills
Make wise decisions
Be creative
Develop multiple intelligences
Acquire interpersonal skills
Become persons of character
Meet the Teachers:
A
Teacher B
Teacher C
Who says this?
 “I will ask a question, and call on someone to answer it.”
 Teacher A
 “Talk the answer to this question over in your groups.
Turn to your partner and discuss the question and
answers.”
 Teacher B
 “Let’s use RallyRobin to discuss the possible answers to
this question…”
 Teacher C
What looks like this?
 Students sitting in straight, orderly rows……
 Teacher A’s Classroom
 Students sitting in groups.
 Teacher B’s Classroom
 Students sitting in learning teams with
designated roles and responsibilities.
 Teacher C’s Classroom
Where would students…?
 KEEP YOUR EYES ON YOUR OWN PAPER!!!
 Teacher A’s Classroom
 Help each other. Solve the problem with a group.
 Teacher B’s Classroom
 Serve as a Sage or a Scribe
 Teacher C’s Classroom
Teacher A
Needs to step UP
her game…..
Teacher B
Does some good things, but could be involving and motivating
students more by using structures.
Teacher C
Has higher achievement gains,
improved social skills,
required participation by all students,
and active engagement by all.
Structures
 organize classroom instruction
 are content free and repeatable
 implement the basic principles of
cooperative learning (PIES)
Know how to select the right tool
for the job at hand.
 Kagan has over 200 structures.
 Classbuilding (Find Someone Who or
Inside-Outside Circle)
 Teambuilding (Find-the-Fiction or RoundRobin)
 Social Skills (Talking Chips, Circle-the-Sage)
 Communication Skills (Match Mine or Same-Different)
 Decision-Making (Numbered Heads Together or Team Statements)
 Knowledgebuilding (Mix-Freeze-Group or Showdown)
 Procedure Learning (Fan-N-Pick or Jigsaw)
 Processing Information (Popcorn or Journal Reflections)
 Thinking Skills (Jot Thoughts or Think-Pair-Share)
 Presenting Information (One Stray or Carousel Review)