INDIVIDUAL COOPERATIVE LESSON

EDP 621MA

SUMMER I, 2002

Title:

Who Am I?

Instructional Objective:

Students will recognize traits of the main characters in the novel The Outsiders, by S.E. Hinton and use appropriate adjectives to describe them in a T-G-T cooperative learning structure.

Lesson Objective:

Each student on a team will engage in rotating roles of either guessing which character is being described, by describing a character to the other teammates by using adjectives, and being the judge with the answer.

Background:

· Students will have completed assigned chapters. (approximately ½ way to the end at this point)

· Students will know what an adjective is through the recent grammar review.

Materials:

Each group will have a deck of cards that contains a character name and number. (Total of 24)

· Each group will have a deck of cards with corresponding numbers and adjectives describing that character.

· Each student will have an individual score sheet that he/she will use to keep track of correct and incorrect answers.

· Six “freebie” cards for correctly challenged answers (two per child).

Procedures:

1. Each student will be assigned to a heterogeneous group by counting off by eight. This will give us eight groups of three.
2. Students will decide who the questioner, the answerer and the judge are. They will rotate rolls after each question.
3. Take the cards out of their envelopes. One is marked “questions” and the other is marked “answers.” Both decks of cards will have a number on the back. The numbers must be facing up when placed on the table.
4. Students will place their score sheets in front of them and write their name in the appropriate space. There are two columns for them to track their answers; “Recognized the Character” and “Did Not Recognize the Character.” They will write the characters names in the appropriate column based on whether they were right or wrong in their answer. This sheet will help them go back and study the characters they missed.
5. The questioner will draw a card from the “question” deck. On the card will be two or three adjectives that describe a particular character. The questioner should read those adjectives out loud for the answer-giver.
6. Based on the description, the answerer should guess the name of the character.
7. The judge will draw the card with the corresponding number from the answer deck to see if they were correct.
8. The questioner has the opportunity to challenge the answer for a “freebie” card. This card would allow them to pass on one question. Each student may only earn two of such cards.
9. After the question has been answered and the score recorded, the students will switch roles, rotating around until all the question cards are gone.
10. Once the questions have been answered, groups should go over the incorrect answers and give each other feedback. This could be used as a mini-study session by going over the characters and their traits once again.

Assessment

• Score sheets will be turned in and the correct number of answers counted and recorded for each individual.

• The correct answers of each member of the group will be added together to see which group scored the most. The top group will be given 8 group points each; second place will be given 7 group points; third place will be given 6 group points; fourth place will be given 5 group points; all other groups will be given 4 group points. These group points are recorded for each individual.

Cooperative Learning Elements

• Positive Interdependence – Each student is held accountable for what they have learned about the characters in the novel and earns individual points for their effort. Each group has a common goal of achieving the most points so that they may earn more group points.

• Social Skills – Students must listen to the questions and answers very closely so that they may enter a challenge if they feel the answer was incorrect. They must take turns as the questioner, answerer and judge.

• Face-to-Face Interaction – Students are in small groups of three, sitting with their desks in a circle. They must work as a team to earn the most group points.

• Heterogeneous Grouping – Students are chosen for the groups by counting off.

• Evaluation – The students are assessed on an individual and a group basis. It is clear whether they understand the traits of the characters by how many correct answers they give. They keep track of their own answers on a score sheet that also contains the wrong answers so that they may study those characters that they did not recognize. The judge is responsible for making it clear whether an answer was correct or not.

• Processing – Once the game is over, groups are encouraged to discuss their answers and the characters they need to study.

• Individual Accountability – Each member is responsible for answering as many questions correctly as possible in order to gain more group points in addition to their individual points.

Card Samples