Justification:
Having small, heterogeneous groups provides several advantages to middle school students in an English Language Arts and Reading (ELAR) classroom. Grouping students with different abilities, cultures, and genders, and allowing them to work together, provides them with an opportunity to build social skills, acknowledge individual differences, and celebrate diversity (Educational Broadcasting Corporation, 2004). I currently utilize this strategy in my classroom and I’ve found it to be very effective. Many of the high achieving students willingly mentor and guide their struggling peers. As I monitor, I listen to group discussions and enjoy the sound of differing perspectives being given. According to Osterholt and Barratt (2012), students working in collaborative groups is the only time they’ll develop constructive attitudes toward controversy and the ability to adopt another person’s perspective. 

Educational Broadcasting Corporation. (2004). What are the benefits of cooperative and collaborative learning? Retrieved from Concept to Classroom: http://www.thirteen.org/edonline/concept2class/coopcollab/index_sub3.html

Emerson, L. (2013, May). Cooperative Learning in Inclusive Classrooms. Retrieved from William and Mary School of Education: http://education.wm.edu/centers/ttac/resources/articles/inclusion/cooperativelearning/index.php

Kagan, S. (2008, June). Kagan Structures Simply Put. Retrieved from Kagan: http://www.kaganonline.com/free_articles/dr_spencer_kagan/ASK38.php

Osterholt, D. A., & Barratt, K. (2012). Ideas for Practice: A collaborative look to the classroom. Developmental Education, 36, 22-44.

Homogeneous ability groups allow teachers the option to differentiate instruction by assigning ability specific tasks to each group (Catapano, n.d.).

Justification:
Utilizing this strategy can give new leadership opportunities to students and allow them to demonstrate their skills and creativity in ways that they haven’t before (Johnson, 2014). This type of grouping can push higher achieving students to work together and accomplish more complex tasks, while lower achieving students can read on their grade level and be challenged in a different way. I believe this is a great strategy that can be used at times when differentiation is necessary. It should also be used if struggling students continually rely on other group members to take the lead and do the work for them.

References:
Catapano, J. (n.d.). 30 Ways to Arrange Students for Group Work. Retrieved from TeachHub: http://www.teachhub.com/30-ways-arrange-students-group-work

Johnson, B. (2014, January). Student Learning Groups: Homogeneous or Heterogeneous? Retrieved from Edutopia: https://www.edutopia.org/blog/student-grouping-homogeneous-heterogeneous-ben-johnson

Justification:
This way of grouping allows for interactive student engagement during the process. For this strategy, students must find a student that has a synonym or antonym for their word. In my class, I give my students new vocabulary words at the beginning of each 6 week cycle. Creating cards using synonyms or antonyms from their list of vocabulary words will help them remember the words while giving them a fun way to find their new partner or group. I would like to use this when I have my students break into groups/partners for test reviews or when I have them study for upcoming tests.

References:
Connell, G. (2013, November 6). 15 Quick and Creative Ways to Group and Partner Students. Retrieved from Scholastic: https://www.scholastic.com/teachers/blog-posts/genia-connell/15-quick-and-creative-ways-group-and-partner-students/

Justification:
This is a great grouping strategy because it can be paired with other grouping strategies to help ensure that students behave appropriately. Many times there are students who do not get along and refuse to reconcile their differences. While I believe conflict resolution is important, I have found that trying to force students to get along does not always produce a desirable outcome. There are also students who do not work well together because they’re close friends and have not yet developed the maturity to self-regulate and stay on task. It seems beneficial for everyone in the class if teachers take the time to select students that work well together. 

References:
Catapano, J. (n.d.). 30 Ways to Arrange Students for Group Work. Retrieved from TeachHub: http://www.teachhub.com/30-ways-arrange-students-group-work

Justification:
RoundRobin is considered a beginning Kagan structure (Clowes, 2011). For this strategy, students should be in heterogeneous groups. The teacher should give the students a question or topic with multiple answers to ensure that students have plenty of response options. I currently use this collaborative strategy in my class. I feel that it’s a great strategy because it can be used a variety of ways. I’ll often use a timer with discussion questions so I know each student is doing their best to talk for the allotted time. Timers also help pressure groups to stay on task. Many times I’ll have my students share their bell-ringer responses or a section of their journal entry in a RoundRobin. This strategy can be used to tell elements of a story, possible themes, or summaries. It can also be used as a teambuilding activity to help students get to know one another. If a student is timid or struggling to think of an answer, other group members can help coach the student. According to Osterholt and Barratt (2012), cooperative learning helps with academic achievement, intergroup relations, acceptance of mainstream students, and increased self-esteem. 

References:
Clowes, G. (2011). The Essential 5: A Starting Point for Kagan Cooperative Learning. Kagan Online Magazine.

Osterholt, D. A., & Barratt, K. (2012). Ideas for Practice: A collaborative look to the classroom. Developmental Education, 36, 22-44.

Justification:
Jigsaw is a great strategy because each student’s part is essential to the completion of an assignment. No student can be left out or fall through the cracks. For this strategy, students should be placed in diverse groups of 3-6 and the lesson should be divided accordingly. Each student is then given an assigned task and access to the information they should be learning. Students should familiarize themselves with their segment and then form temporary “expert groups” (Social Psychology Network, n.d.). These groups consist of members from other groups that have been assigned the same segment. Once students have discussed and rehearsed with their expert groups, they return to their original groups and each student presents his or her piece. Students can ask questions as needed in order to understand everyone’s portion. During this entire process, the teacher should be actively monitoring each group and intervening when necessary. The Jigsaw strategy can end with an independent quiz so students realize the importance of learning the material. In my class, I could utilize this strategy for determining different types of conflict in stories, analyzing and summarizing passages, identifying and explaining text structures in nonfiction, and even for performing character analysis. Jigsaw is effective and can be used in a variety of ways which makes it an advantageous strategy for my 8th grade ELAR classroom. 

References:
Social Psychology Network. (n.d.). The Jigsaw Classroom. Retrieved from Jigsaw Classroom: https://www.jigsaw.org/

Justification:
For Numbered Heads Together, students should be placed in heterogeneous groups based on gender, ethnicity, and achievement. Each student is then assigned a number and given a white board or response card. The teacher asks the class a question and each student writes down their own answer. After each group member has answered, students show their responses and discuss them with their group. Once an answer has been agreed upon and all members know the answer, the teacher will randomly call a number. Students with that number raise their hand and the teacher calls on one student. Other students are asked if they agree or if they would like to add to the response given. The teacher then provides positive, and if necessary, corrective feedback to the students (Hunter, et al., 2015). I have yet to use this strategy, but I’m excited to implement it soon. I believe it will work well with my students who struggle responding because they’re fearful of having the wrong answer. This strategy also provides a fun way for all students to work together and learn the material. Numbered Heads Together can be used for finding the main idea from texts, identifying author’s claims, giving text evidence for any passage, summarizing material, and even for an interactive way to answer multiple choice questions. Hunter et al. (2015), suggests using Numbered Heads Together to activate prior knowledge at the beginning of a lesson, during a lesson to maintain engagement, and at the end of class as a review. 

References:
Hunter, W. C., Maheady, L., Jasper, A. D., Williamson, R. L., Murley, R. C., & Stratton, E. (2015). Numbered Heads Together as a Tier 1 Instructional Strategy in Multitiered Systems of Support. Education and Treatment of Children, 38, 345-362.

Justification:
Many times, teachers assign students to work in groups but fail to give explicit instruction. Cooperative learning roles gives each student a specific task with listed expectations. There’s a variety of roles depending on the lesson, but some example roles include reporter, recorder, question expert, timekeeper, facilitator, summarizer, and presenter. Student roles can change after each lesson to ensure students are developing a variety of new skills. Roles should be directly taught to students and modeled at the beginning (Emerson, 2013). For my class, I would like to use cooperative learning roles when students are reading an assigned text. I currently have my students in diverse groups of 3. I would assign 3 separate roles to each group and monitor my students as they progress through the reading assignment. For a basic reading assignment, I would include a facilitator, a summarizer, and a presenter. The facilitator would lead the group discussion and make sure that everyone’s voice is heard. The summarizer would write down ideas discussed by the group and summarize everyone’s thoughts concerning the assignment. The presenter will review the ideas/summary with the group members and then present the ideas to the class. This is just one basic example explaining how this strategy can be used. Cooperative learning roles would also be beneficial for group research projects. I plan to utilize this strategy in the coming months. 

References:
Emerson, L. (2013, May). Cooperative Learning in Inclusive Classrooms. Retrieved from William and Mary School of Education: http://education.wm.edu/centers/ttac/resources/articles/inclusion/cooperativelearning/index.php

Osterholt, D. A., & Barratt, K. (2012). Ideas for Practice: A collaborative look to the classroom. Developmental Education, 36, 22-44.