Cooperative+Learning-Stacey+M

//**﻿Cooperative Learning **//

Due to the fact that I don't have my own classroom, I meet with small groups all day long. During some of their time with me, the students are grouped by ability level for the purposes of their meeting with me, so that they can receive instruction on their individual guided reading level. At other times, I meet with all the ESOL students in one grade level, which can mean that I have students of all language ability levels in one group at the same time. It is usually during this time that I turn to cooperative learning in order to enhance my students' knowledge of the topic we are learning.

For most of my students, speaking in English in front of the whole class can be a nerve wracking experience, which I completely understand since speaking Spanish to a room full of native speakers still makes me a little nervous. Because of this, I have often turned to cooperative learning. By allowing the students to work together in groups, it gives them a chance to be able to feel more comfortable speaking in their second language. They can try out new expressions and vocabulary in front of one or two of their peers, rather than having to try them out in front of larger groups of people. All of this lowers the students' affective filters, which allows them to be less anxious in a new place and can better facilitate the learning process.

Much of the cooperative grouping that I do is informal-students are asked to turn to a partner to Think-Pair-Share or to discuss their thoughts on the story we are reading. One of the ways that this type of learning breaks down is when I have students that are still uncomfortable speaking in their second language even with only a partner. When this happens, I've usually rearranged the groups so that students who do want to share are able and those who do not, can either share directly with me or I give them the option to draw or write their answers in either language.

Check out this website for some ideas on ways to use Cooperative Learning with the English Language Learners in your classroom... [|Cooperative Learning for ELLs] 