Developing Group Lesson Plans for K-8 Classrooms

How to Create Group Activities That Foster Cooperation and Learning

Sep 3, 2009

By considering how to group students for instruction, and designing tasks that foster interdependence, K-8 teachers can improve classroom climate, as well as achievement.

Small group work in a K-8 classroom can have a powerful instructional impact. Students learn how to cooperate with others, to share ideas, and sometimes to disagree and still stay productive as a group. But these skills don’t just happen. Teachers must carefully orchestrate group lessons to build in cooperative skills and to ensure that though the group work is completed together, important content area concepts and skills are individually mastered as well.

Deciding to Use Small Groups

While the benefits of using small group work with students are many, it is important for teachers to choose their small group lessons wisely. Not every type of content lends itself to small group work, and having students working in groups rather than individually may not be the most efficient or effective way of teaching.

Planning Small Group Lessons

When planning for small group work, consider the content first. Will the students be working together to discover concepts on their own, or will it have been taught to the whole class first, and the small groups used for practice or assessment through a project or other assignment? Think about where in the instructional cycle small group work fits best.

Whether used with discovery learning, skills practice, or other assignments, small groups should be heterogeneous, with students of varying abilities working together. Ideally, groups should have two or three members; any larger, and it becomes easy for some students to only partially participate. Finally, structure the lesson to include tasks that can be divided among members; and if the project is done as homework, consider varying family schedules, and allow enough time for completion.

Teaching Cooperative Skills

Group lessons can contribute to a positive class climate, too. Teachers who want to emphasize specific social skills and cooperation simply structure the lesson to include them, modeling the desired skills, and then drawing the students’ attention to how they are used within the group. For example, students may practice taking turns, active listening, agreeing to disagree, and encouraging as they work through their assignment, and the teacher reinforces the skills through praise and recognition.

Assessing Small Group Work

Common complaints about group projects include some students doing all the work, while all receive the credit; or some students costing the others a good grade because they have not completed their share of the work. Use individual assessments such as tests or quizzes after group practice work. For projects, add a component of group processing, where members describe their contributions to project completion, and how they might improve as a group member.

Having children work together in small groups is a dynamic way for teachers to actively involve students in their own learning. With careful planning, K-8 teachers can ensure that small group activities do not deteriorate into chaos, but instead help effectively teach content, social skills, and cooperation in their classrooms.

Caldwell, JoAnne, and Ford, Michael. Where Have All The Bluebirds Gone? How to Soar With Flexible Grouping. Portsmouth, NH: Heinemann, 2002.

The copyright of the article Developing Group Lesson Plans for K-8 Classrooms in Lesson Plans & Materials is owned by Barbara Abromitis. Permission to republish Developing Group Lesson Plans for K-8 Classrooms in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.