Lesson Plan:  Group Work Skills

 

AIM: 

• How can we make our class discussions and our group work more productive?

 

DO NOW: 

• Journal:  Don’t you just hate it when you are trying to have a conversation and…

 

MOTIVATION: 

• Using the journal exercise as a catalyst for discussion, students will brainstorm ideas as to what elements make a good conversation.

 

PROCEDURE:

1.             Journals will be read aloud.

·        Students will be asked to identify the elements of a good conversation based on the journals.

·        The class will create a list of the qualities of a good conversation.

2.             Group Exercise (groups of 3-4 students)

·        Assign roles:

·        Describer (one who describes the picture)

·        Observer (records the conversation of the group)

·        Drawer (draws and asks questions of the describer)

·        One student from each group will be given a picture (see attached) that no one else in the group is allowed to see.

·        The student with the picture must describe the picture so that the others in the group can draw it.

3.             Presentation of Pictures

·        Each group will hang their original picture up on the board along with the artwork produced by the group members.  Each group will get a chance to talk about the conversation they had in their group to complete the assignment,

·        How many questions were asked?

·        What kinds of questions were asked?

·        What made the assignment difficult?

 

SUMMARY:

• Students will be asked to refine the list of the characteristics of good conversation that they came up with in the beginning of class.  The final list will become a class contract that each student will sign to promote more productive discussion in the classroom.