Book Study: Worksheets Don’t Grow Dendrites: Chapter 13

Little switch of plans today! Stephanie over at Falling Into First is hosting Chapter 13 today.

I like it when my kids are having conversations with each other. The longer I’ve taught, the more that I’ve let up on allowing for kids to interject and allow for more time to talk and think.

One way that I make sure to incorporate this strategy on a daily basis is with literacy stations and math tubs. Students are in groups of 2-3 and they have the same literacy station buddy and math tub buddy for 10 days and then they switch when the next rotation starts. I feel like this is one way that students are talking and learning from one another. They naturally find ways to problem solve and work together.

Another way that I think students learn from each other is through their reading buddies. They use their reading buddies for reader’s workshop, buddy reading, and anytime we do a re-telling activity. It’s a much more effective way to get everyone to participate.

I do want to get better at having students work in larger groups. Marcia talks about giving students different roles. I definitely think that Kindergartners could handle that kind of set-up with a lot of modeling and direction. It would be a little extra work but I think it would carry over to understanding and overall better cooperative learning!

Don’t forget to link up with Stephanie today!