NJ PBSIS Strategies for Centers and Groups 1

Strategies and Practices to Promote Effective Learning Centers and Cooperative Groups

Practices for Using Learning Centers and Cooperative Groups

  • Purpose of learning centers:

 To develop fluency or reinforce key concepts

 To explore process, critical, creative expression

 To learn how to work together

  • Group membership should be:

 Dynamic (i.e., changes)

 Based on academic assessment

  • Use different groups for language arts and math
  • Membership selected based on acquisition & fluency needs (typically
  • Membership selected based on cooperative learning goals (typically heterogeneous group)

 Designed based on specific instructional objectives

  • Each learning center needs to have:

 A sign or label for the center

 Clear directions

 A stated goal (or end product) for the center project

 All the materials needed to complete the activity

Practices for Using Learning Centers and Cooperative Groups (continued)

  • For students to be successful during centers, they should know the routine for:

 What to do when something does not work

 When they do not understand the activity at a center

 When the finish early

 Whom to go to for help

 How to clean up

 How to decide who goes first in a pair or group activity

 How to transition from one center to another

  • Groups should have an individual identify (involve students in the selection of group names) and the identity should change when group membership changes
  • Use containers or tubs to organizer ready to use activities that students can access during center time

Practices to Promote Positive Behaviors during Groups

  • Work with students to develop 3-5 cooperative group norms
  • Define expectations in terms of what you want students to do (positively stated and action oriented)
  • Have expectations posted in the classroom
  • Explain the expectations
  • Model the expectations
  • Have the students practice the expectations
  • Adults continuously model the expectations
  • At the start of group work / center activity the adult facilitating that group reviews the expectations
  • Use a key attention getting phrase (e.g., “All eyes on me”)
  • Announce that you will use the phrase
  • Have students practice responding when you use the phrase
  • Distribute Caught being good tickets when students respond appropriately to the phrase

Practices to Promote Positive Behaviors during Groups (continued)

  • Assign group members roles; rotate roles among members. For example:
  • Leader
  • Material collector
  • Presenter
  • Recorder
  • Plan activities and debriefing that reinforce cooperative workgroup skills
  • Keep directives clear, concise, and declarative
  • Use a rubric to establish guidelines for how the cooperative groups work together
  • See sample
  • Teach the class pivotal cooperative group skills. For example,

 How to take turns and share materials

 How to start on-topic conversations

 How to make positive contributions to a conversation

 Recognizing social cues that indicate ‘back off’ ‘enough’

 How to handle disappointment / loosing

 How to access help

  • Know what changes in disposition, cooperation, facial expression, body posture etc. signal a student is having a difficult time. Respect the student’s privacy and talk with them quietly about:

 Using key calm down skills (deep breathing, muscle relaxation)

 Help the student reframe negative thoughts with positive statements

 Offer the opportunity to talk with someone

 Offer a break (e.g., to go to the bathroom) or access to additional assistance (e.g., school counselor)

 Provide reassurance

Practices for Facilitating Cooperative Groups

  • Develop a daily plan that guides facilitation of each of the groups

 See sample for a daily group plan

  • Write out directions for any tasks that have three or more parts
  • Ensure materials and work prompts are ready before breaking students into groups
  • Build social competency for working within a group

 Clearly define expected behaviors during group

  • See rubric sample
  • Use scaffolds to promote positive group behavior. For example,

 Provide extra checks or be in student’s area to assist quickly with issues

 Preview or prepare the student with written prompts, answers/info/material they can offer to the group work

 Pair with a peer who can be a good model

  • Use social coaching to promote positive group behavior. For example:

‘Here are two options to consider…..’

‘I can see you are disappointed, but tomorrow you can work on the computer again’

 Model a process for how to narrow down options – for example:

  • ‘First, pick out all the ones you like’ (student make a pile or a list)
  • ‘Next, pick the ones that are your favorite’
  • ‘Now, pick just one that you like the best’
  • Provide behavior specific praise to acknowledge and reinforce positive group behaviors
  • Use encouragement notes

 Write a note of encouragement from you

 Special note of encouragement from other key staff (e.g., coach, principal, favorite teacher, school counselor)

 Positive note to parent

Sample Daily Schedule Planning Document

Content Area:

RED TEAM / 9:45-10:05 / 10:05-10:25 / 10:25-10:45
GUIDED PRACTICE
Learning Objective(s) for the guided practice:
Materials needed:
Specific guided practices tasks / activities:
During Guided Practice students are expected to:
Adult facilitation responsibilities:
/ INDEPENDENT PRACTICE
Learning Objective(s) for the independent practice:
Materials needed:
Specific independent practice tasks / activities:
During Independent Practice students are expected to:
Adult facilitation responsibilities:
/ COMPUTERS
Learning Objective(s) for computer time:
Materials needed:
Specific computer time tasks / activities:
During Computer Time students are expected to:
Adult facilitation responsibilities:

BLUE TEAM / 9:45-10:05 / 10:05-10:25 / 10:25-10:45
INDEPENDENT PRACTICE
Learning Objective(s) for the independent practice:
Materials needed:
Specific independent practice tasks / activities:
During Independent Practice students are expected to:
Adult facilitation responsibilities:
/ COMPUTERS
Learning Objective(s) for computer time:
Materials needed:
Specific computer time tasks / activities:
During Computer Time students are expected to:
Adult facilitation responsibilities: / GUIDED PRACTICE
Learning Objective(s) for the guided practice:
Materials needed:
Specific guided practice tasks / activities:
During Guided Practice students are expected to:
Adult facilitation responsibilities:

GREEN TEAM / 9:45-10:05 / 10:05-10:25 / 10:25-10:45
COMPUTERS
Learning Objective(s) for computer time:
Materials needed:
Specific computer time tasks / activities:
During Computer Time students are expected to:
Adult facilitation responsibilities: / GUIDED PRACTICE
Learning Objective(s) for the guided practice:
Materials needed:
Specific guided practice tasks / activities:
During Guided Practice students are expected to:
Adult facilitation responsibilities:
/ INDEPENDENT PRACTICE
Learning Objective(s) for the independent practice:
Materials needed:
Specific independent practices tasks / activities:
During Independent Practice students are expected to:
Adult facilitation responsibilities:

Cooperative Group Rubric Example

Scoring Rubric / Met Expectation / Partially Met Expectation / Did Not Meet Expectation
Transitioning quickly / Was in seat at start of group / In group area but not seated at the start of group / Outside of group area at the start of group
Being prepared with materials / Arrived to group with required materials / Arrived to group with some of the required materials / Did not have any / the majority of materials needed for group
Cooperating with requests & directions / Cooperated with all requests without arguing or disrupting the routine / Cooperated with requests but only after additional redirections or engaging in disruptive behaviors / Did not follow requests;
Argued over requests;
engaged in disruptive behavior in response to requests
Using positive interactions / Used polite and respectful interactions with students and adults / Made an impolite or disrespectful comment but was responsive to teacher redirection (e.g., apologized, reframed comment, etc.) / Made ongoing rude comments; continued to use rude/disrespectful comments after redirection or prompt
Following rules & routines (e.g., cell, dress code backpack) / Followed rules & routines without needing correction / Followed rules & routines after being corrected 1x / Did not follow rules & routines after corrections
Needed multiple corrections before following rule
Requesting help / assistance / Asked for help;
Continued working until teacher was able to provide help / Inconsistently / inappropriately asked for help;
Stopped working but was not disruptive / Did not ask for help; stopped working and was disruptive
Quality of Work / Written work is neat, all items or parts of the assigned task are complete, name is on work, materials are kept in personal space / Some parts of the assignment are incomplete; written work is sloppy, some materials are outside the student’s personal space / Materials are ripped, crumpled; items are incomplete; written work is illegible, materials are spread into other group members personal space
Focus on the task / Stays focused on task / activity the whole time, keeps working despite distractions, makes comments on topic / At times the student is distracted from task, a portion of the comments are off topic / Student did not attend to task, most comments are not related to the task
Working with others / Almost always listens to, shares with and supports the efforts of others. / Often listens to, shares with and supports the efforts of others. / Rarely listens to, shares with, and supports the efforts of others.
Contributions to group / Routinely provides useful ideas and suggestions. Provides leadership to discussions and problem solving / Sometimes provides useful ideas or suggestions. Follows others’ ideas or suggestions. / Rarely provides useful ideas or suggestions, does not participate in the discussion, or makes comments in conflict with the group’s work

Considerations for Designing Groups and Centers

Small Group with the Teacher / Center Work / Table Work and Independent Seatwork
Students are grouped based on abilities or specific teaching needs for various reading skills.
The groups are adjusted based on curriculum-based assessments to reflect changing academic needs
The role of the teacher during small group instruction:
  • Provide direct instruction on specific skills and concepts tailored to group members’ academic needs:
  • Check for understanding
  • Re-teach or review specific skills or concepts
  • Provide cues, prompts, scaffolds
  • Provide behavior specific praise for positive behaviors
  • Correct, reframe and redirect off task behaviors
  • Monitor on task behavior
  • Answer questions and provide assistance
/ Center activities are designed for students to work cooperatively to solve a problem or create a product.
Group members all have a specific role to fulfil during the group activity.
Emphasis is on process, critical thinking and application.
Teaching and reinforcement of key social skills are infused into the activity
The role of the instructional aide during center work is to:
  • Facilitate a cooperative group atmosphere
  • Foster a cooperative group atmosphere
  • Provide cues, prompts, scaffolds to solve problems and work together
  • Provide behavior specific praise for positive behaviors
  • Correct, reframe and redirect off task behaviors
/ Students work independently or in pairs on a variety of independent tasks, such as:
  • Workbook pages or worksheets
  • Journal Writing
  • Assigned Reading
  • Seasonal projects
  • Researching for a project
  • Review activities (flashcard, definition matching, etc.)
  • Computer practice
Use a task menu so that students can direct task choices during independent work.
The role of the instructional aide during center work is to:
  • Monitor on task behavior
  • Answer questions and provide assistance
  • Provide behavior specific praise for positive behaviors
  • Correct, reframe and redirect off task behaviors

Examples of Group Roles for Students

Role: / Students Strength: / Responsibilities:
Leader /
  • Good peer relations
  • Can motivate others
  • Organized
  • Responsible
/
  • Keep group on task
  • Reminds students what to do
  • Reads directions
  • Manages time

Presenter /
  • Good verbal skills
  • Can respond to questions
  • Delivers group’s message/answer
/
  • Presents answer/project
  • Answers questions

Materials Collector /
  • Organized
  • Follows directions
  • Responsible
/
  • Gathers materials for group
  • Returns materials to designated area
  • Cleans up
  • Sharpens pencils
  • Keep group work organized

Recorder /
  • Good written or artistic skills
  • Can multitask
  • Listening skills
/
  • Records group response
  • Illustrates or writes for projects or tasks

NJ PBSIS (2015). NJ PBSIS is sponsored by the New Jersey Department of Education, Office of Special Education Programs in collaboration with The Boggs Center, Rutgers Robert Wood Johnson Medical School. NJ PBSIS is funded by I.D.E.A., Part B.