Describes an assignment that introduces students to argument through a collaborative process of data collection and problem solving. States that the goal of the assignment is to build students' confidence in their ability to apply the kinds of thinking and writing strategies they will need to succeed in college. (PRA)

Describes a classroom collaborative activity in which students are asked to write one-act plays based on three characters, two of whom know each other, and a third who affects the other two. Presents details of carrying out the assignment, and evaluates student response. (HB)

Presents suggestions for teaching students about poetry by using pets. The article recommends discussing poems about pets, writing with rhyme to describe pets, writing free-verse sketches about pets, collaboratively describing pets, and studying line breaks by writing one-line descriptions of imaginary pets. A reproducible teacher page offers two…

Research suggests that cooperative learning works best when students are first taught group-processing skills, such as leadership, decision making, communication, trust building, and conflict management. Inadequate teacher training and boring assignments can torpedo cooperative learning efforts. Administrators should reassure teachers with…

Examines the cooperative learning approach to elementary and secondary school history and social science instruction. Defines cooperative learning. Explains that students work in small, heterogeneous groups, in positive interdependence and are accountable both as individuals and group members. Provides details for teachers on how to get started.…

Offers several strategies for implementing cooperative learning in the classroom. Suggests sample exercises including (1) a scavenger hunt; (2) a reaction wheel; (3) cooperative brainstorming and classification; (4) a "pair of pairs" exercise; and (5) a three-step interview. Explains that the examples are starting points that have been used in…

Suggests methods for teaching about Yugoslavia. Recommends assigning students to maintain journals of news clippings about developments in Yugoslavia. Proposes forming cooperative-learning groups for researching the country's various regions. Offers activities for teaching about language arts, fine arts, reading and literature, religion,…

Describes a dual grading process for business writing assignments, initiated to expose students to collaborative evaluation and to verify instructor evaluation. Maintains that receiving feedback from both teacher and students reinforce students' confidence in the evaluation process while teaching them about audience expectations. (SR)

Study findings indicate that ongoing communication and collaboration among teachers play a critical role in promoting successful technology integration and that administrators need to establish ways to facilitate collaborative effort. (six references) (MLF)

Describes the Cooperative Reading Activity (CRA), a technique used with third graders to show them that everyone could read a part of a literature selection and contribute to another's learning. (PRA)

Presents an initial minicollaboration exercise with which to begin collaborative projects. Notes that students discuss how to respond to a range of comments and concerns of prior students to collaboration, thus shifting learning and discovery to students from the very first step. (SR)

Offers descriptions of three class activities involving collaboration between basic composition and freshman composition classes, involving magazine production and peer response. (SR)

Two experiments using a script for learning concrete procedures examined cooperative learning, effects of learning about equipment in advance, and retention of information over six weeks. Results from 114 undergraduates support positive effects of cooperative learning and a script incorporating simultaneous use of planning, performance, and…

Suggests ways to minimize the negative effects of extrinsic group rewards in cooperative classrooms, explains how to use intrinsic rewards, and outlines conditions calling for extrinsic rewards. The "social rewards" of working cooperatively probably enhance intrinsic motivation and are among the great advantages of employing cooperative…

Describes how students can help evaluate each other in discussion groups and how this improves their writing. Asserts that students appreciate the scrutiny of the conferences and take their own writing much more seriously as a result. Describes this technique in the context of a high school writing workshop. (PRA)