Student Groups

Grouping students is a very important and challenging task in the classroom. There are many different aspects as to influence how you group together students. For the unit plan created in ED 605, a majority of the activities planned require students to work with others ranging from partners up to groups of three or four.

There are a few factors I would take into account when deciding if it is a good choice to group students together and which student groupings work well. To decide if grouping students together is best, I would need to look at the purpose of the activity and what I want them to accomplish. If I want students to be exposed to different viewpoints or opinions, group work would be best for that, but if I want students to develop their own unique ideas then individual work would be best in that situation.

Besides what purpose the activity is, deciding which students work together best is another factor. Some students do not work well with each and so it’s important to make sure those students are not grouped together. Another thing to consider is student level and which students may complement one another. For example, you could pair a strong student with a weaker student so that the stronger student gets practice explaining the concepts and the weaker student gets a little individual help from a peer so both parties benefit.

The skills of the students also play a part. You should try to either group students with similar skill levels in reading and writing unless you are purposefully putting students who are not on the same level for the purpose of helping each student out as mentioned above. If the students are of similar reading and writing skills then more emphasis can be placed on using those skills in the context of a STEM classroom.

If a teacher doesn’t take these factors into account then problems can occur. For example, I once had a group where two students absolutely hated working with each other to the point where they would argue the entire class instead of working. Both students were incredibly smart, but just did not like working with each other. I had to rework groups after that, but that goes to show the effect of bad groups. With bad groups, you lose productivity and lose the effectiveness of the lesson plan. It gets in the way of the learning and so even though it seems like such a simple thing, choosing groups plays a big impact in a classroom.

Graphic Organizers

Concept	Text Link	Rationale for Choosing	Text Frame(s)	Strategies Used and Resource
Cardiovascular System	Young Blood: Elixir of Youth	This article covers the ideas behind the scientific method while describing the research. The article contains vocabulary words that challenge the students and exposes students to the cardiovascular system.	Concept/ definition Vocabulary/ definition	Mind mapping (Buehl)
Cilia/Flagella	Viewpoint: Out of Touch, But Not Out of Sync	This article compares two different models of similar motion in Biology (cilia, flagella) and Physics (pendulum). This article discusses the idea of how cilia and flagella work.	Compare/Contrast Cause/Effect	Paired questioning/reviews (McLaughlin and Buehl) Concept of Definition Map (Buehl)
Scientific Method	Artificial sweeteners may evict good gut microbes	This article can be used as a means to explore different viewpoints and supporting evidence. The article provides vocabulary and terms related to Biology. This article covers an example of the Scientific Method for the students.	Proposition/Support Vocabulary/Definition Concept/definition	Author says/I say (Buehl) Semantic Map (McLaughlin)

The three concepts that the three articles cover are the cardiovascular system, cilia/flagella, and the Scientific Method. Graphic organizers can help aid in the understanding of these concepts as either the main strategy or a supplemental strategy used to complement the other reading lesson strategies. For example, in the case of the cardiovascular system concept article, the mind mapping graphic organizer is used as the main reading strategy.

            For the first concept, the cardiovascular system, using the “Young Blood” article the lesson plan is to use the mind mapping strategy. Mind mapping is a useful visual tool when dealing with a broad concept such as the cardiovascular system. This allows students to use the reading to organize their thoughts and their readings into a single visual organizer. The lesson will start out with the teacher providing a base mind map for the students to add onto. Initially the mind map will just be previous knowledge the students have. The mind map will be displayed prominently in the classroom while each student has his or her own copy. Individually, in groups, or as a class, the students will add their own branches to the mind map focusing on the key points and vocabulary the teacher made note of. Students can also link their own personal experiences or connections to the topic. The students will then read the article and add to the mind map as they read making new connections or writing down important facts or vocabulary. Afterwards, the class can reconvene and each person can share what they added to the mind map as the teacher adds it to the class mind map. Before, during, and after the reading the class mind map is displayed as a reminder for students and also as an opportunity to add to the mind map as the unit progresses.

Example Mind Map:

            Using the concept of definition maps as a graphic organizer can complement the second concept, cilia/flagella. Concept of definition maps are similar to mind maps, but they are more guided. Concept of definition maps begin with the main idea which is cilia/flagella in this instance. The teacher then provides questions or prompts for the students to answer that relate to the main idea that are branches extending from the main idea. I think that this graphic organizer would work best when used after reading. After the main reading strategy of paired review/questioning, the teacher will then provide the concept of definition map graphic organizer. The teacher will give prompts and then allow time for discussion with partners and to write down their responses. An example question I could ask would be, “What is the purpose of cilia/flagella?” The teacher can ask any number of questions they deem appropriate for the text and concept. The teacher can guide the students towards understanding the purpose of the lesson through these prompts.

Example of concept of definition map:

            For the final concept, semantic maps would be most effective when dealing with the Scientific Method. Semantic maps have a central topic in the center with branches extending outward to subtopics. From there, the subtopics have information listed underneath them. I would modify the semantic maps for the Scientific Method by arranging the branches into a single line to signify the steps taken. I would break the Scientific Method semantic map into different sections for each of the steps of the Scientific Method. I would ask them questions such as “What is the importance of this step in the process?” or “What is an example of this step in the article’s experiment?” The questions act as guidance of scaffolding for the teacher to lead the students in the right direction.

Example semantic map:

            Out of all three graphic organizers, I found the mind map to be the most useful. The freedom to make many modifications to how it is used makes it very beneficial and effective for a wide range of students of varying abilities or backgrounds. Students can write each branch in different colors to help differentiate ideas, draw pictures to accompany ideas, be as specific or general for each branch as they wish, and many more. I found the other graphic organizers too constricting for my style of reading and organizing. I like to let my mind flow freely which the mind map allowed. I was able to jot down anything that came to my mind before reading to activate prior knowledge. During and after reading I could then go back and add to my mind map for any specifics I read about or to correct any misconceptions I had.

References

Buehl, D., (2014) Classroom Strategies for Interactive Learning, 4^th ed. International Reading Association.

Cain, M. (n.d.). Using mind-maps to raise standards in literacy, improve confidence and encourage positive attitudes towards learning. National Teacher Research Panel. Retrieved from http://www.ntrp.org.uk/sites/all/documents/Cain.pdf

McLaughlin, M., (2015).  Content Area Reading:  Teaching and Learning for College and Career Readiness. Boston:  Pearson.

Ornes, Stephen (2014). Young Blood: The Elixir of Youth. Science News for Students. Retrieved from https://student.societyforscience.org/article/young-blood-elixir-youth

Safar, A. H., Jafer, Y. J., & Alqadiri, M. A. (2014). Mind Maps as Facilitative Tools in Science Education. College Student Journal, 48(4), 629-647.