Administrators’ MeetingFebruary 2012

Learning Targets• Participants will acquire in-depth

knowledge of Collaborative Group Work and Literacy Groups, two of the strategies of the Common Instructional Framework.

• Participants will acquire coaching strategies for the implementation and/or improvement of Collaborative Group Work and Literacy Groups within their school and classrooms.

Collaborative Group

Work (CGW)

& Literacy Groups

Powerful Teaching and Learning

Collaborative Group Work (CGW) and Literacy Groups

• “Key ingredient to creating the kind of school culture in which everyone shares a deep commitment to one another’s success” (UPCS).

• Prepare every student academically and professionally for any college or career.

• Allow for the use of academic content to teach 21st century survival skills.

Collaborative Group Work (CGW) and Literacy Group Planning

• Assigning groups– Teacher selected vs. student selected– Strategic grouping to ensure diversity

• Change instruction not just the structure– Pre-determining group size

• Modifying classroom layout• Incorporating CGW in the lesson plan• Utilizing the CGW Group Monitoring

Tool

Group Norms• Collectively establishing and posting ground

rules for collaborative group work– Importance of adherence– Consequences—conversations tied to the norms• 1st occurrence: Group conference (students only)• 2nd occurrence: Group conference (with teacher)• 3rd occurrence: Student assigned independent work—

they leave contributions with the group• Sample norms

Group Roles• Establishing group roles– Importance of rotating

• Traditional (Samples)– Group Leader/Facilitator, Recorder, Timekeeper,

Materials Manager, Task Master, Reporter• Innovative (Samples)– Discussion Director, Vocabulary Connector

(Word Wizard), Illuminator (Passage Master), Investigator, Connector (Creative Connector), Artful Illustrator, Summarizer

Collaboration Cubes Activity• Discussion Director will record evidence

of collaborative problem solving while group discusses the cube.

• Discussion Director shares out the answer, one “rule” that gave them the answer, and one point from the Group Monitoring Tool.– Rules and skills translate into the types of critical

thinking and collaborative discussions that should occur in every classroom.

Literacy Group Activity• Play the Role protocol• Select and explore group roles• Read “Learning as Collaboration: Group

Work at University Park Campus School”• Take notes based on your role• Discussion Director leads the conversation

in response to everyone’s comments.– Group discussion not individual presentations

• Summarizer reports out for each group

What do the data make you think?• Susie scored a Level 2 on her 2007-2008 Grade

8 Reading EOG.• Susie scored a Level 2 in sixth and seventh

grades, but her elementary scores were consistently higher.

• Susie is the oldest of three children who are being raised by a single mother.

• Susie’s mother is a college-educated registered nurse.

• Susie hates to read, but she likes soccer.• For the past two years, Susie’s reading

teachers have used the Brain Buster EOG test-prep series.

Common Instructional FrameworkResources

• Sample lessons/videos– Do you see evidence of the Common

Instructional Framework?• Remember the “How” not the “What”• Visit www.newschoolsproject.org and

the RttT Team Resources website for more examples

• Classroom Walk-Through Form

Chalk Talk Protocol• Why is Collaborative Group Work a

key ingredient to creating student success?

• How does Collaborative Group Work prepare every student for post-secondary education and careers?

• How do you plan on implementing and monitoring the use of Collaborative Group Work at your school?