Promote cooperative learning more effectively by transforming your classroom into a learning community. Experienced K–12 educators Paul J. Vermette and Cynthia L. Kline offer their Dual Objective Model as a tool for improving your students’ academic achievement and problem-solving skills, while encouraging their social and emotional development.
You’ll discover how to:
- assign meaningful tasks that require students to rely on one another;
- build efficient teams, purposefully monitor group dynamics, and assess group projects effectively;
- engage students in schoolwork while developing crucial career and life skills;
- motivate students to see the importance of personal and group responsibility;
- maximize the benefits of student diversity in your classroom.
Emphasizing teamwork, persistence, communication, self-regulation, and empathy in a complex, diverse, and technological setting, these strategies can be easily incorporated into any curriculum. The book is filled with vignettes and sample exercises to help you apply the ideas to your own classroom. Each chapter includes a list of "Big Ideas," which invites you to consider how these strategies can evolve over time.
Table of Contents:
The Real Question: "Why Should You Read this Book?" Introduction and Welcome, Why Do We Promote Cooperative Learning and the Dual Objective? Three Important Concepts + 1 Model, Chapter 1 Well-Structured Cooperative Learning: What? So what? What is Cooperative Learning? Cooperative Learning Outcomes, Chapter One Big Ideas, Chapter 2 The Dual Objective Model: How Do We Implement Well-Structured CL? The Dual Objective at Work, Frequently Asked Questions (Q&A) about the Dual Objective Model, Chapter Two Big Ideas, Chapter 3 What Do the Students Do in the CL Groups? Student) Talk: Why Do We Want it in Our Classrooms? Does How Much Matter? Student Talk in Learning Activities: How Do Different Types Matter? Introducing the Affective Component, Student Talk: What Are 100 Products Which Students Can Create Together? Examining Lee’s Day: Shadowing a Student to "See" Her Talk, Using Established Frameworks to Invent Team Activities, Team Self-Assessment (Group Processing), Chapter 4 How Does the Teacher Build Effective Teams? The Basics of Team Composition, Three Pieces of Wisdom, In Closing, Chapter Four Big Ideas, Chapter 5 What Does the Teacher Do While Students Work? "From Well-Meaning and Intuitive to Systematic and Intentional", Understanding "Systematic and Intentional", Student Team-Talk: Considering Interventions and Feedback, Two More Applications: Extending Transfer, Chapter 6 How does the Dual Objective align to the world of reform? Connections and Commitments, Globalization and the Common Core, P21 Partnership for 21st Century Learning, Problem-Based Learning and Project-Based Learning, Culturally Relevant Teaching, New York State Teaching Standards and Danielson’s Framework for Teaching, Developmentally Appropriate Practice Chapter 7 How Does the Dual Objective Look in Practice? Examining Examples and Exploring Challenges, Introduction: Cases and Examples to Examine, Three Opening Activities: Starting Strong, Showing the Potential, and Realizing Succes, Cases and Lessons to Examine, A Final Q&A: Overcoming Commonly Perceived Obstacles and Resolving Hesitations, Chapter Seven Big Ideas, In Closing, Appendix One Taxonomies of Affective Skills, P21 Framework Skills from the Partnership for 21st Century Learning, Collaborative for Academic, Social, and Emotional Learning (CASEL’s) Core SEL Competencies, Tony Wagner’s Seven Survival Skills, Steven Covey’s Seven Habits of Effective People, KIPP Schools’ Seven Character Strengths, Character First’s 49 Traits, Ontario Canada’s Learning Skills and Work Habits for Grades 1-12 Appendix Two Kagan’s Structural Approach, Four Corners, Three-Step Interview, Numbered Heads, Inside-Outside Circle
About the Author :
Paul J. Vermette has served as a teacher and supervisor of social studies in public and parochial schools in New York and New Jersey and has been a Professor of Education at Niagara University since 1985.
Cynthia L. Kline is an independent educational consultant and business professional serving both domestic and international K–20 settings.
Review :
"Group Work that Works provides the groundwork for a responsive, empathic classroom in which all students enjoy 'home court advantage.' The voice of the student is heard.
In this book, the dual objectives of cognitive and affective development will lead the committed reader to put aside some preconceived notions of classroom instruction.
The classroom vignettes and case studies are well chosen to fit the whole student philosophy that is in every sinew of the book. Especially remarkable is the opportunity for the reader to reflect upon the scenarios, thereby exhibiting a path for teacher learning from experience.
Another positive feature is the comprehensive inclusion of major teaching ideas and frameworks such as those embedded in cooperative learning. The authors’ selection is well referenced and reflects the best wisdom in the teaching profession. The beauty of Vermette and Kline’s text is the bringing together of this collective wisdom into a cohesive, practical whole.
The authors show sensitivity to the teachers in their work settings, especially as it pertains to the need for evidence of student progress in both cognitive and affective domains. In general, they anticipate teachers’ concerns and speak directly to these.
If I were teaching teachers at undergraduate or graduate levels, I would use this text gladly and without hesitation."
--Frank T. Lyman,Jr. PhD.
