Have you ever struggled with only some of your students contributing during group work? There is always a student that takes the lead and completes the group task by themselves, yet everyone receives credit for the group's performance. If you want to hold everyone in the group accountable for their learning and set the stage for successful group work, continue reading to learn how you can make a few adjustments to establish effective collaboration and impactuful group work.
An effective way to hold students accountable for collaborative group work is by assigning everyone a role. Roles gives each student purpose in what they are doing. Roles also give students a way to stay engaged throughout the task. The rest of the group is counting on them and it shows them that their collective effort is what will make the task successful.
We know student needs and personalities are very diverse. Some students like to be responsible for the majority of the group work, while others may take the backseat and be okay with one student doing all of the work. When we assign roles to our students, we balance the responsibility amongst everyone in the group and we ensure they play an active role for the task at hand. In addtion, we ensure that all students are practicing listening, speaking, reading and writing. Students can rotate through the different roles with each task assigned. This allows students the opportunity to experience a variety of roles and its specific responsibilities.
Here are some ideas for the types of roles you can assign:
Facilitator /Coordinador/a:
This is the person that guides the group and the discussions that take place. They make sure everyone is doing their job and participating. They also make sure that everyone's voice is being heard.
Time Keeper /Marca-tiempo:
The timekeeper keeps track of the time remaining, creates a pacing for the work to be completed, and if the conversation takes a detour, they bring everyone back to get refocused.
Scribe / Secretario/a:
The scribe is the person who will be documenting the learning on paper or on the computer.
Speaker / Portavoz:
This is the person who will lead the group presentation and present the information the group has gathered (all students can also chime in to add to the Speakers thoughts).
Win-Win Finder / Crítico:
This is a neutral person who helps solves problems that may arise within the group and helps reach a solution.
Remember to give clear expectations as to what the role responsibilities are when assigning roles. If students are going to do good collaborative work, they need to be explicitly taught collaborative skills. It's important to teach these skills the same way you would teach any academic skill. Model the behavior you want to see through role play. Demonstrate and set expectations in regards to what not to do during group work. After the group work, invite students to discuss their roles and what they found went well and what they had challenges with. Brainstorm ideas with students and help find solutions to the challenges. If needed, reteach the collaborative skills throughout the year. After students have rotated through all the roles, consider getting students to help in creating new roles or start another rotation.
Press the button to access the Spanish accountability / role cards!
We hope you are able to use this resource to engage your students in collaborative work. Remember to tweet us as you engage in this work. We'd love to hear from you and see how it's going.
@esmer_esper
@cleyva2
@mortizsilva12
Have a great September!
Michelle Silva,
Espericueta Bilingual Education Consultancy, LLC
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