Collaboration is one of the hardest skills to master. Adults struggle with collaborating, so it only makes sense that our students would struggle with it as well. Students need to be able to communicate and compromise. They need to be able to express themselves in a constructive way and in the process demonstrate their learning.
Too often we get focused on the Reading and Writing parts of the ELA standards and Speaking and Listening get thrown to the wayside. Speaking and Listening have become the red-headed stepchildren of the ELA Standards. You can bring these critical skills back to the forefront in fun and engaging ways. Here are some things I do in my classroom...
GAMES
Who doesn't love a fun game? Games are a great way for students to work on listening and speaking. They have an opportunity to talk and discuss while working through the topics and content. I like to use games that are specifically designed to address speaking and listening skills. The best kind require about 15 minutes, can be stopped at any point, and have flexibility in the number of players. It's even better if there isn't a designated "winner".
To truly engage in listening and speaking, I have my students play games throughout the year that emphasize a back and forth of information. Students roll a die, move the correct amount of spaces and share the information. It's seasonal fun where students are talking about themselves. In the process of working on their speaking and listening, they are also team-building.
MAKING WORDS
One of the struggles I have as a teacher is building student spelling skills. The ability to break apart words whether spelling or during reading is a skill that seems to allude all students at every level. I do incorporate all of the phonemic awareness, phonics, and what-not into my lesson plans. However, I also like to hone student skills with Making Words.
Making Words is a great collaborative activity that encourages students to work together to create as many 2-5+ letter words as possible within a given amount of time. I usually allow pairs of students 15 minutes.There is also a "bonus word" that uses all of the letters.
Students become skillful in using prefixes and suffixes. They learn the power of the letter s. They begin to see patterns in our language; and those lessons transcend the Making Words activity.
I go over what each duo has submitted after 15 minutes (as a whole class) and cross out the "nonsense words". It always brings a good giggle to the class. Proper nouns can be tricky, but if the letters are a tougher blend, I will allow it! To give it an extra edge of fun, I will incorporate some kind of prize for the duo that can find the most words.
QR CODE ACTIVITIES
Another struggle is vocabulary. Student vernacular seems to have fewer and fewer terms to pull from when encountering new words. Vocabulary development can help students make connections and solidify learning. To build their vocabulary, I have students work in pairs to scan and find synonym; this is typically done in conjunction with a holiday or season. I like to take advantage of the time of year when students may be hearing or reading the terms that are within the hunt. I also use hunts that ask students to find specific terms for a given definition. I will use these once students have had an opportunity to work with the vocabulary, read and write the terms, and hopefully master the words.
QR Code Scavenger Hunts are also fun for math. Students work in pairs to solve given problems and then seek out the correct number. If the duo doesn't complete the calculation correctly, they won't be able to locate the card. I always encourage BOTH partners to do the math as a self-check before they seek the card. Some are resistant to this method...until they are unable to locate the card!
TASK CARDS
Task cards are a quick, easy, and flexible activity that can be easily modified for collaboration. Oftentimes teachers use task cards to play Scoot (which is fun as well). However, you can place them at a center and you have a ready-made collaborative activity.
I usually keep this as a paired activity. If there are too many students collaborating, the accountability goes down.
The first couple of times I place the task cards in a center I remind students that they should ALL be solving the cards. I encourage them to tackle the task in a couple different ways to find the one that works best for them.
Students can divide the task cards up in one of the following ways:
- Student A solves the odds, Student B solves the evens.
- Student A solves the first 14, Student B solves the last 14.
- Student A solves first two columns of the answer sheet, Student B solves last two columns.
To complete all 28 Task Cards student pairs usually need 30 minutes. So, if my rotations are 15 minutes each day, I will plan for the cards to be at the rotation for two days. If you are unable to allow for 30 total minutes, you can check the problems that were completed.
Even if there are 6 students at the center at the same time, there are enough cards to keep everyone busy and working. The flexibility in the presentation allows students to "skip" a card that may be too challenging and find another that is just right for them. When they are nearing completion and only have the "hard cards" left, I encourage them to first check with their partner for help. If both partners are still struggling, check with another duo.
Task Cards are a great way to encourage collaboration. Partners collaborate with one another. And, if needed, they can collaborate with other duos. It allows for team-building and development of their speaking and listening skills even when the content is math!
Collaboration is becoming more and more important in the work place. Employers are looking for people who can not only do the skill set required for the job, but are also able to collaborate in meaningful ways. As we prepare our students with skills required in their future careers, we need to keep in mind that collaboration is a critical piece to that skill set.