Productive Group Work: The Power of Collaboration

1. Productive Group Work:The Power of Collaboration Douglas Fisher and Nancy Frey www.fisherandfrey.com

2. Engage and Interact

3. What do these words mean? en: _______________________________

4. What do these words mean? inter: _____________________________

5. What’s the difference? Engagement vs. Interaction

6. Engagement • to engage: to attract, hold fast, occupy attention of another or oneself • en: to cause a person to be in…(a state, condition, place) • gage: (archaic) a pledge, a challenge, deposit • Spanish translation: ocupar • Synonyms: captivate, charm, employ, enthrall, involve, join, practice

7. Interaction • interact: to act one upon another, to have some effect on each other • inter: among, between, mutually, reciprocally • act: to do something, exert energy or force, produce an effect • Spanish translation: relacionarse (interaction: acción recíproca) • Synonyms: communicate, collaborate, cooperate, combine, connect

8. Engagement or Interaction? • Which tasks are designed to promote student engagement? • Which tasks are designed to promote student-to-student interaction? • Create your own engaging task along with a variation that promotes student-to-student interaction.

9. What does it take? What does it take to make a task engaging andinteractive?

10. What does it take to make a task engaging andinteractive? • Enough background knowledge to have something to say. • Language support to know how to say it. • Topic of interest. • An authentic reason to interact. • Expectation of interaction. • Accountability for interaction. • Established community of learners that encourage and support each other. • Understanding of the task. • Knowledge of the norms of interaction.

11. TEACHER RESPONSIBILITY “I do it” Focus Lesson Guided Instruction “We do it” “You do it together” Collaborative “You do it alone” Independent STUDENT RESPONSIBILITY A Structure for Instruction that Works (c) Frey & Fisher, 2008

12. In some classrooms … TEACHER RESPONSIBILITY “I do it” Focus Lesson “You do it alone” Independent STUDENT RESPONSIBILITY (c) Frey & Fisher, 2008

13. In some classrooms … TEACHER RESPONSIBILITY “You do it alone” Independent STUDENT RESPONSIBILITY (c) Frey & Fisher, 2008

14. And in some classrooms … TEACHER RESPONSIBILITY “I do it” Focus Lesson Guided Instruction “We do it” “You do it alone” Independent STUDENT RESPONSIBILITY (c) Frey & Fisher, 2008

15. TEACHER RESPONSIBILITY “I do it” Focus Lesson Guided Instruction “We do it” “You do it together” Collaborative “You do it alone” Independent STUDENT RESPONSIBILITY A Structure for Instruction that Works (c) Frey & Fisher, 2008

16. Knowing what to look for: Productive group work in action How do you know productive group work when you see it?

17. Knowing what to listen for: Productive group work in action How do you know productive group work when you hear it?

18. In terms of Productive Group Work • Complexity of task: The task is a novel application of a grade-level appropriate concept and is designed so that the outcome is not guaranteed (a chance for productive failure exists).

19. In terms of Productive Group Work • Joint attention to tasks or materials: Students are interacting with one another to build each other’s knowledge. Outward indicators include body language and movement associated with meaningful conversations, and shared visual gaze on materials.

20. In terms of Productive Group Work • Argumentation not arguing: Student use accountable talk to persuade, provide evidence, ask questions of one another, and disagree without being disagreeable.

21. In terms of Productive Group Work • Language support: Written, verbal, teacher, and peer supportsare available to boost academic language usage.

22. In terms of Productive Group Work • Grouping: Small groups of 2-5 students are purposefully constructed to maximize individual strengths without magnifying areas of needs (heterogeneous grouping).

23. In terms of Productive Group Work • Teacher role: What is the teacher doing while productive group work is occurring?

24. Roots of Guided Instruction • Vygotsky’s Zone of Proximal Development • “the distance between the actual developmental level as determined by independent problem solving and the level of potential development as determined through problem solving under adult guidance, or in collaboration with more capable peers” (Vygotsky, 1978, p. 86). • Wood, Bruner, and Ross’s Scaffolding • requires the adult’s “controlling those elements of the task that are initially beyond the learner’s capability, thus permitting him to concentrate upon and complete only those elements that are within his range of competence” (Wood, Bruner, & Ross, 1976,p. 90).

25. Scaffolds in Classroom Instruction • Robust questions to check for understanding • Prompts that focus on cognitive and metacognitive processes • Cues to shift attention to sources • Direct explanation and modeling to re-teach

27. Types of Robust Questions • Elicitation questionsdraw on information that has already been taught (5 W’s) • Divergent questionsrequire the learner to use both previously taught and new information (“Why does water in a lake look blue but is clear in a glass?”) • Elaboration questionsask the student to provide their reasoning (“Why do you think so?”) • Clarification questionsrequire extending thinking through furnishing an example (“Can you show me where you found that information?”) • Heuristic questionsengage them in informal problem-solving (“How do you know when you have run out of ways to answer this question?”)

28. Prompts • Focus on cognitive and metacognitive processes • Can be declarative or interrogatory • What does the student need to complete the task? Questioning is about assessment; Prompting is about doing

29. Cognitive Triggers academic knowledge Background KnowledgeandProcess or Procedure Prompts Metacognitive Sense-making and self-assessment HeuristicandReflective Prompts Types of Prompts

30. Using Background Knowledge Prompts Context: Students are creating a Jeopardy®-style game. The teacher is building the background knowledge of a group of students. He draws their attention to a sentence in the text: “When you eat foods—such as bread, meat, and vegetables—they are not in a form that the body can use as nourishment.”He asks Mauricio to retell it is his own words...

31. Mauricio: So, I think it says that your body can’t use meat like it is meat. It has to be changed. Jessica: But that’s what we eat to live. That’s good eating. Russell: I don’t eat any vegetables. I only like the meat and bread from this, like a hamburger. Mr. Jackson: How does that meat change so that your body can use it? Russell? Russell: It doesn’t change. It’s meat. Mr. Jackson: So let’s think about what we know about nourishment and our food. There’s a process that it goes through, right? [they nod in agreement] What’s the first step? You know this because you do it several times a day. Sarah: The first thing to eat? Is that what you mean? Mr. Jackson: Yeah, the first thing. Sarah: You take a bite. Mr. Jackson: Exactly, right on. So you’ve changed the food, right? Russell: Yeah, but it’s still meat. Mr. Jackson: It sure is. But it’s changed a bit, and will change more. Remember we talked about different kinds of changes. Physical … Chemical Jessica: So the first thing, when you bite it, it’s a physical change, right? Mr. Jackson: You know it! And then what happens?

32. Defining Cues • Shift attention to sources of information • Can highlight an error • More direct and specific than prompts • Often follow a prompt that did not elicit a correct response • Attention grows with competency

33. Types of Cues • Visual • Physical • Gestural • Positional • Verbal • Environmental Pair cues for greater impact

34. When a Learner Gets Stuck… … and prompting and cueing don’t work: • Direct explanation • Modeling • Thinking aloud

35. Defining Direct Explanation • Explicitly state what is being taught • Tell when and how it will be used • Think aloud to demonstrate reasoning • Monitor application • Check for understanding Take care not to re-assume responsibility too quickly

36. Productive Group Work:The Power of Collaboration Douglas Fisher & Nancy Freywww.fisherandfrey.com