Type: Jigsaw

Title: My Favorite Seasons

Grade Level: Kindergarten

Goal: The students will work together to gain a better understanding of how the seasons are different in terms of weather.  Also, the students will work cooperatively in heterogeneous and homogeneous groups to gain practice in group social skills.

Abstract: see pictures of trees

Materials:  book: My Favorite Seasons by Dandi Landoll, several picture books about each season, felt boards representing each season, laminated pictures representing each season, cotton balls, pink or purple tissue paper cut into squares, green construction paper cut into squares; red, yellow, orange, & brown construction paper cut into squares, crayons, poster board for the number of cooperative learning groups in the class, shape of a tree drawn on white construction paper and copied so that each class member has two

Procedures:
1) Have all the students in the class gather on the carpet for circle time.  Tell the students that seasons are different times of the year when the weather is different, but do not specify what weather is specific to each season.  Read the book: My Favorite Seasons by Dandi Landoll.
2) Divide the class into heterogeneous groups of four students each.  Give each student in the group one of each of the following names: Winter, Spring, Summer, or Fall.  Tell the group to come up with a group name.
3) Divide the class into homogeneous groupings.  Have all of the Winter children group together and all the Spring children group together, etc.  At the Winter table have Winter materials such as books about winter, winter felt board, pictures of winter scenes, etc.  Have appropriate materials at the Spring, Summer, & Fall tables too.  Allow the children to look at these materials.
4) Next have each of the students create a tree picture to bring back to their heterogeneous groups.  Give each student a picture of the outline of a tree drawn on white construction paper.  At the Winter table have white cotton balls in a tray.  At the Spring table have pink or purple tissue paper cut into squares.  At the Summer table have green construction paper cut into squares.  At the Fall table have red, yellow, brown, and orange construction paper cut into squares.  Tell students at each table to glue the items in the tray to their trees and to draw pictures of things under their trees that would be appropriate for that season.  For example, a snowman would be appropriate for Winter.
5)  Tell the students to get back into their heterogeneous groups.  Give each heterogeneous group a piece of poster board with ‘My Favorite Seasons’ written at the top and their group name.  Tell the students to glue their tree pictures onto the poster board.  These can be displayed in the room at the conclusion of the lesson to give the group a sense of pride in accomplishing a task together.
6)  Next, while still in their heterogeneous group have the students talk amongst themselves and tell each other about their tree pictures.  Tell the students to be respectful of each other and listen to their classmates.  Also, inform them that later they will get to make a tree of a different season than the one they initially created(or the one they worked on in their homogeneous group).  At this age the children have difficulty understanding the concept of taking turns, so the teacher will most likely have to help direct the discussion.  For example, have all Winter students tell their group about Winter and their group members are to listen.  After a minute or so, have the Spring students share what they learned with their group.  Continue in this way until all classmates have a chance to share what they have learned.

Evaluation:  Ask students to recreate a season of the year on their own which is a different season than the one in which they were assigned to become knowledgeable about in their homogeneous group.  Have the materials the students used in their homogeneous groups available to them including copies of white construction paper with the outline of a tree.

Processing:  During this phase, have the students gather into circle time once more and direct them to reflect on the cooperative aspect of the lesson.

Rationale for Lesson Being Considered a Cooperative Lesson

 I would consider the above lesson a cooperative lesson because it has all of the basic elements of a cooperative lesson including: positive interdependence, individual accountability, social skills, face-to-face interaction, heterogeneous grouping, evaluation, & processing.
 The evaluation occurred at the end of the lesson.  Students were asked to recreate a season of the year on their own which is a different season than the one in which they were assigned to become knowledgeable about in their homogeneous group.

 The next phase of the lesson was group processing.  During this phase, students would gather into circle time once more to reflect on the cooperative aspect of the lesson.  The teacher would direct them to discuss what they thought about working with their classmates.
 The lesson also contains another requirement of any cooperative lesson which is face-to-face interaction.  The students are grouped at tables so that they can work closely together and communicate back and forth.
 The expected outcome of any cooperative lesson is to create what Sapon-Shevin M. refers to as a “classroom community” or a classroom where students have “feelings of connectedness, belonging, being part of something larger than yourself” (Sapon-Shevin M., p. 16).  One aspect of this lesson that makes this possible is individual accountability.  Students in the homogeneous groups are responsible for becoming knowledgeable about a specific season and teaching what they learned to their heterogeneous group classmates.  They do not want to let their classmates down by not doing their part.  This creates positive interdependence among students in heterogeneous and homogeneous groupings.  The dynamics of the cooperative lesson creates an environment of “cooperation” or as Sapon-Shevin M. explains, “people working together to achieve a common goal” (Sapon-Shevin M., p. 11).  This allows the classroom to develop what Schmuck R., & Schmuck, P. refer to as “leadership density” where “leadership is spread throughout the group” (Schmuck R., & Schmuck, P., p. 227).  Schmuck R., & Schmuck, P. explain that this is important, because “in classrooms where only a few students are able to to influence others, powerlessness and negative feelings about self and school are often the resulting feelings of those who have no power” (Schmuck R., & Schmuck, P., p. 227).

 Heterogeneous grouping is another aspect of a cooperative lesson that my lesson contains.  The students were placed in groups of diversity where individual group members may be of different ethnic background, gender, physical abilities, or achievement level.  As a result of this, the students have the opportunity to learn more about each other than they may have known before, and this changes the “expectations” as Schmuck R., & Schmuck, P. refer to them that students have of each other.  As Schmuck R., & Schmuck, P. explain, students may have negative “expectations” of a certain classmate in the classroom, but when they actually work with this student, they may find that the “expectations” are false.  An example of a negative “expectation” may be that the students in the classroom think that the girl in the wheelchair is not very smart.

 Also, what Schmuck R., & Schmuck, P. refer to as classroom “norms” can be changed as well by having students work together in heterogeneous groups.  Schmuck, R. & Schmuck, P. explain that some students may not be accepted if they do not follow with the “norm” of the group which includes the class “shared attitude” or “group feeling” on acceptable behavior and appearance (Schmuck, R. & Schmuck, P., pp. 199-200).  For example, the class shared attitude may be that boys who wear purple socks are nerds.  In working together, the students may find that this is not true and that boys who wear purple socks may actually have a lot to contribute to the group.

   Also, when students work together in heterogeneous groups, they learn to understand each other better.  As a result, Schmuck R., & Schmuck, P., explain that “friendship” and “cohesion” are strengthened, and “conflict” is lessened in the classroom.
 The lesson contains the final requirement of any cooperative lesson which is for the students to use social skills.  The students were asked to work cooperatively to accomplish a goal.  The goal in this case was that all classmates become knowledgeable about the seasons of the year.  Practice in using social skills allows students to strengthen their social skills.  This allows the class to move forward in what Schmuck, R. & Schmuck, P. refer to as “group development” or when students in a classroom improve in their ability to work cooperatively in groups and teach each other as well as learn from each other.  This is the main goal of any teacher using cooperative learning in the classroom.