The Flip-Flop Book

Cooperative Learning Lesson

Gina Federico

EDP 621, Summer 2002

Grade Level: Elementary School

Goal: To provide closure for cooperative learning teams before assigning new teams.

Abstract: The Flip-Flop Book is an activity that can be used before creating new cooperative learning groups. This activity provides an opportunity for each group member to share their appreciation for their previous group members before moving on to a new team.

Materials: A piece of paper with one large rectangle on the top half and three to four small sections on the bottom half (depending on the number of group members), as shown below. The comments written in the three to four small sections can be general appreciation starters or more specific to the group activity.

The child’s name goes here
Being on your team was fun because: From:	I’ll always remember: From: _______________	I just wanted to say: From: _______________	Thank you for: From: _______________

Procedures:

1. Each child is given a Flip-Flop Book. Have them fold it in half on the dotted line.
2. Ask them to write their name in the large rectangle, and then have them cut on the solid lines between each of the 4 small sections.
3. Each member of the group passes around their Flip-Flop Book to the other members of the group and asks them to write an appreciation statement under one flap. The members are asked to sign their name on the front of the flap and pass it to the next person in the group.
4. No one may read another group member’s statement except the person named on the Flip-Flop Book.

The Flip-Flop Book is considered a cooperative learning activity because it incorporates the 7 factors facilitating social interactions, which are described below. The children should have already established a sense of community and possibly friendships from working in the current groups. However by creating the Flip-Flop Book, they will be able to see how much their individual efforts were appreciated. With a sense of community and trust already established within the groups, more truthful and honest statements of appreciation may be expected, which could boost the students’ self esteem and provide positive reinforcement. It also serves as a good closing activity before switching groups.

Positive Interdependence: The students are able to establish group connectiveness by sharing appreciative statements about each group member. They also have a common goal of providing positive reinforcement for their peers.

Social Skills: The students are giving compliments and statements of appreciation to each group member, which enables the students to interact successfully. They must also take turns in writing statements in each member’s Flip-Flop Book.

Face-to-face Interaction: The students will be sitting with their group and interacting in close proximity to each other.

Heterogenous Grouping: Depending on the variety of ethnic backgrounds in the classroom, the students will have opportunities to interact with classmates of different race, gender, ethnicity, and/or socioeconomic status.

Individual Accountability: Each student is responsible for writing an appreciation statement about every member in the group.

Processing: The students reflect on how much each group member appreciates them.

Evaluation: The students can turn their Flip-Flop Books in to have the teacher evaluate them based on the number of appreciation statements written, which could be incorporated into the final grade for the original cooperative activity (the activity that originally grouped the students together). The students could also complete self-assessments and/or peer assessments for further evaluative information.

Adapted from: Laura Candler