Application of the Cooperative Model of Teaching with a Lesson on Israel

When mentoring our pre-service and in-service teachers we need to describe and model both research-based and clinically tested best practices. Accordingly our mentees should know about the Cooperative Learning Model of Teaching.

Now let’s insert into the six-step Cooperative Learning Model of Teaching template a lesson on Israel.

The Six Steps of the Cooperative Learning Model of Teaching

Enduring Jewish Knowledge: Knowledge about Israel

Content: An assessment of the facts that students know about the state of Israel

Cooperative Learning Procedure:

*Rally Round

Steps	Description	Teacher and/or Student Behavior
1	Get students ready to learn, and clarify the objective/s	· Teacher gets the students ready to learn and says, “Let’s find out how many facts you know about the State of Israel.” · Teacher identifies the objective/s for the lesson and says, “Today we are going to prove that you really know more about the State of Israel than you might have ever imagined.”
2	Present information	· Teacher presents this challenge, “I believe that you know a lot about Israel. In fact, I believe that you know about the geography, history, music, religions, art, and much more.”
3	Organize students into learning teams	· Teacher places students into learning pairs and says, “Spend a moment to think about all the facts that you individually know about Israel, and record those facts in your notebook. After a minute you will share one item from your list with your learning partner. Select one person to speak first, and let him share one fact from his list. If you, the learning partner, have that fact on your list, place a check next to it. If you don’t have that fact on your list, add it to your list. Then reverse the process. You share one fact, and your partner either checks it off, or adds that fact to his list. Please do not discuss the facts on your lists. Just record them. We will discuss whether your facts about Israel are correct later. Who can explain what you are about to do?” After the teacher is certain that her students understand this cooperative procedure called Rally Round, she invites the students to proceed.
4	Assist team work	· Teacher monitors the work and interactions of the learning pairs.
5	Students demonstrate content mastery	· The teacher invites each student in the class to share one fact from his or her list. If a statement by a student is incorrect, the teacher or a student can challenge that fact. Each student is encouraged to create a master list of all the facts that the class knows about Israel.
6 (optional)	Provide recognition	· After recording all the facts that the students have generated, the teacher concludes the lesson by saying, “At the beginning of this lesson I said you know more facts about Israel than you had ever imagined. Well, you should be proud of how much you know about Israel, and later in the week I’m going to ask you what other information you’d like to learn about Israel.”

*Rally Round is a cooperative procedure that can be found in Kagan, S. & Kagan, M. (2009). Kagan Cooperative Learning. San Clemente, CA: Kagan Publishing, www.KaganOnline.com .

On the next post we will share excerpts of an article, Cooperative Learning: Research and Implementation for Jewish Education, that Neil Davidson and I wrote.

What is the Cooperative Learning Model of Teaching?

When mentoring our pre-service and in-service teachers we need to describe and model both research-based and clinically tested best practices. Accordingly our mentees should know about the Cooperative Learning Model of Teaching.

The Cooperative Learning model of teaching is a general term describing various small-group interactive instructional methods. Students work together on academic tasks in small teams to help themselves, and their teammates learn together. In general, cooperative learning methods share the following five distinct characteristics:

1. Students work together on common tasks or learning activities that are best handled through group work.

2. Students face each other, and work together in small groups containing two to five members.

3. Students use cooperative, pro-social behavior to accomplish their common tasks or learning activities.

4. Students are positively interdependent. Activities are structured so that students need one another to accomplish their common tasks or learning activities. Thus, no one person does all the work.

5. Each student in the group is individually responsible for learning all the information shared by its members, and other classmates.

The Six Steps of the Cooperative Learning Model of Teaching

Steps	Description	Teacher and/or Student Behavior
1	Get students ready to learn and clarify the objective/s	· Teacher gets the students ready to learn · Teacher identifies the objective/s for the lesson
2	Present information	· Teacher presents information to students verbally, through a text, or media
3	Organize students into learning teams	· Teacher places students into learning teams
4	Assist team work	· Teacher monitors the work and interactions of the learning teams
5	Students demonstrate content mastery	· Teacher tests for mastery of knowledge, and/or students individually, or in groups present the results of their work
6	Provide recognition (optional)	· Teacher recognizes individual, and group effort and achievement

*Arends, R. (2001). Learning to Teach. (Fifth Edition). Boston: McGraw-Hill.

On the next post we will insert a lesson on Israel into the six-step Cooperative Learning Model of Teaching template.

Content Applications for Three Visual Cueing Prompts (i.e. Think-Trix, Q-Matrix and the Six Types of Information) for Student Generated Questions

The chart below presents some sample questions that students can pose during a classroom discussion. Note how the three visual cueing prompts can be applied across the seven Judaic topic areas.

Sample Content Applications of the Three Cueing Prompts that can be Used Within the Classroom Discussion Model of Teaching in Seven Judaic Content Areas

Judaic Topic	Think-Trix	Q-Matrix	6 Types of Information
TANACH (Bible)	Can you remember the names of the three sections of the Tanach? (recall/question)	Where did the Tanach come from? (past/situation question)	What is the Tanach? (factual question)
TEFILAH (Prayer)	What is your favorite prayer, and why? (evaluation question)	What is the Kaddish prayer? (present/event question)	What is the purpose of prayer? (conceptual question)
HISTORY	What are some causes for the creation of the modern state of Israel? (cause question); what are some of the effects of Israel’s location in the Middle East? (effect question)	What might have happened to the Jewish people if Hitler had been the victor in World War II? (imagination/event question)	Who is your favorite hero in all of Jewish history? (preference question)
HEBREW	How is the Hebrew language similar to English? (similarity question)	How will the Hebrew language change in the future? (prediction/means question)	What does the Hebrew word shalom mean? (factual question)
HOLIDAYS (Hagim)	How is Pesach different from Sukkot? (difference question)	Who can lead a seder? (possibility/person question)	Who would like to share a Jewish family experience that you treasure? (experience question)
ISRAEL	Safed, Haifa, and Eilat are examples of what larger idea? (from example to idea question)	Would Israel ever use its nuclear weapons to defend itself? (probability/situation question)	What feelings did you have when you visited Israel for the first time? (feeling question)
MIDDOT (Virtues)	The big idea is middot; can you give five examples of middot? (from idea to example question)	When might it be inappropriate to offer hospitality to a guest? (imagination/situation question)	Is it always right to rebuke others for their misbehavior? Explain. (informed opinion question)

On the next post we will begin our discussion of the second student-engaged model of teaching, Cooperative Learning.

Instructional Method to Empower Students to Create Their Own Questions for Small Group and Whole Class Discussion: The Six Types of Information

Poster Number Two

When mentoring our pre-service and in-service teachers we need to describe and model both research-based and clinically tested best practices. Accordingly our mentees should know about instructional methods to empower students to generate their own questions. One of those methods is the construct termed the Six Types of Information created by *Richard and Elaine Solomon (1987).

The six types of information are factual, conceptual, experiential, emotional, preferential and informed opinions. Examples of each type of data or information are given within the first graphic organizer at the top of this post.

Once students understand the six types of data or information, the teacher can transition them to the simplified poster (i.e. poster number two) that appears below the first graphic organizer or poster at the top of this post.

This poster, like the Think-Trix and the Q-Matrix ones, can serve as a visual prompt for student-generated questions during a classroom discussion.

* Solomon, R. & Solomon, E. (1987). The Handbook for the Fourth R: Relationship Skills. Columbia, MD: National Institute for Relationship Training, Inc.

On the next post we will share sample content applications of the three visual cueing prompts (i.e. Think-Trix, Q-Matrix and the Six Types of Information) for student generated questions in seven Judaic content areas.

Instructional Method to Empower Students to Create Their Own Questions for Small Group and Whole Class Discussion: The Q-Matrix of C. Wiederhold

When mentoring our pre-service and in-service teachers we need to describe and model both research-based and clinically tested best practices. Accordingly our mentees should know about instructional methods to empower students to generate their own questions. One of those methods is the Q-Matrix of * Dr. Chuck Wiederhold.

At the top of this post see the Q-Matrix of C. Wiederhold. Note that the matrix provides a list of question starters that relate to different horizontal (i.e. event, situation, choice, person, reason, and means), and vertical (i.e. present, past, possibility, probability, prediction, and imagination) categories.

Let’s explain how the matrix works. Assume that the teacher intends to conduct a classroom discussion on the state of Israel, and wants her students to select the questions for discussion. After explaining the Q-Matrix, the teacher invites the students to pose any question on the matrix. For example, a student might say, “I want to ask a Present/Event question. I want to know, what is the capital of Israel?”

Another student might say, “I want to ask a Probability/Person question. I’d like to know, who can bring about peace between the Israelis and the Palestinians?” A third student might want to pose an Imagination/Means question and say, “I’d like to know how might the resources of Israel, and her surrounding neighbors be used to help each other in the region?”

Like the Think-Trix, the Q-Matrix can be made into a classroom poster to empower students to create their own questions for discussion.

*For elaboration on Dr. Wiederhold’s questioning framework including a Q-Matrix chart see these websites: http://74.125.155.132/search?q=cache:qFs2MRCWR64J:jeanettehodges.tripod.com/literacy/Reading/additional_reading_files/q_matrix_overview.doc+q-matrix&cd=2&hl=en&ct=clnk&gl=us&client=safari or http://www.criticalthinking.net.au/QMatrix.html. Retrieved October 20, 2009. Also read Wiederhold, C. (1991) Cooperative Learning & Critical Thinking: The Question Matrix. San Juan Capistrano, CA: Resources for Teachers and Wiederhold, C. (1998). Cooperative Learning & Higher-Level Thinking. San Clemente, CA: Kagan Publishing, www.KaganOnline.com .

On the next post we will share another instructional method to empower students to generate their own questions, Richard and Elaine Solomon’s Six Types of Information.

Sample Questions Applying F. Lyman’s Think-Trix for Student-Generated Questions

When mentoring our pre-service and in-service teachers we need to describe and model both research-based and clinically tested best practices. Accordingly our mentees should know about instructional methods to empower students to generate their own questions. One of those methods is the Think-Trix of * Frank Lyman (1987).

Frank Lyman created the Think-Trix visual cues as a device to prompt students to create their own questions for classroom discussion and inquiry. Each visual cue is designed to empower students to ask different types of questions.

On the top of this post is a chart depicting the seven visual Think-Trix cues representing seven different types of student-generated questions. The third column of the chart lists sample questions related to the Tishrei holidays.

*Lyman, F. (1987) The Think Trix: A Classroom Tool for Thinking in Response to Reading. In Issues and Practices. A Yearbook of the State of Maryland International Reading Association Council. 4, 15-18.

On the next post we will share another instructional method to empower students to generate their own questions, The Q-Matrix of Chuck Weiderhold, Ph.D.

Instructional Method to Empower Students to Create Their Own Questions for Small Group and Whole Class Discussion: Think-Trix (Lyman, 1987)

When mentoring our pre-service and in-service teachers we need to describe and model both research-based and clinically tested best practices. Accordingly our mentees should know about instructional methods to empower students to generate their own questions. One of those methods is the Think-Trix of * Frank Lyman(1987).

Frank Lyman, Ph.D. created the Think-Trix visual cues as a device to prompt students to create their own questions for classroom discussion and inquiry. These visual cues are designed to empower students to ask seven different types of questions. On the top of this post is a chart depicting the seven visual Think-Trix cues.

*Lyman, F. (1987) The Think Trix: A Classroom Tool for Thinking in Response to Reading. In Issues and Practices. A Yearbook of the State of Maryland International Reading Association Council. 4, 15-18.

On the next post we will share a chart showing sample questions applying Frank Lyman’s Think-Trix.