Cooperative Learning Groups Role Assignments

Cooperative learning consists of a teacher developing a goal for their

students, then teaching them to work together to accomplish said
goal. Directly, cooperation is working together to accomplish a shared
goal. Most times, teachers will have students working in small groups
to maximize both their group and their own personal learning.

Cooperative Learning Groups are a strategy that can be used with

students with mild disabilities ADHD, ASD, CD, LD, ED, MID and OHI.
Research shows that students learn best from their peers. They are
able to watch and follow their peers lead, allowing them to learn by
doing, while also accomplishing a goal together!

Different Role Assignments

Project Roles Discussion Roles

1) Leader 1) Facilitator
2) Recorder 2) Time keeper
3) Checker 3) Summarizer
4) Summarizer 4) Reflector
5) Spokesperson 5) Elaborator
Guide to Teaching Cooperative Learning
• The first step in teaching in a cooperative learning environment is to build a
positive classroom environment. The students need to be comfortable with each
other so that they can use one another as a resource and learn together.
• Allow your students to work as a team to solve the problem and meet the goal
together. Let them use one another as resources to check their findings and
answers.
• Provide them with appropriate resources to reach their goal.
• Give them positive, constructive feedback to guide them if they become stuck.
• Hold the team accountable for keeping themselves on track. They will be
responsible (within reason) for making sure everyone is behaving and on task
throughout the work session.
• It is a good idea to keep students in the same learning groups once you have
found a grouping that works. This way, your students will become comfortable
with their group members and really learn to hold one another accountable.
 Cooperative Learning Groups Role Assignments
Cooperative Learning roles are designed to increase engagement and equalize
participation for everyone in the cooperative learning groups. Breaking up to
group roles helps to make the teams learning experience efficient. It gives each
member a sense of responsibility and belonging for the group.

Unique Cooperative Learning Strategies to use in your Classroom

• Stump your Partners- Students will take a minute to come up with a
challenging question based off of the learning material. They will then
deliver the question to their cooperative learning group. Let the group
work together to try to figure out their questions. Go Round-Robin until
all questions have been asked and answered.

• Cooperative Graffiti- This is a brainstorming technique. The groups will

receive a large piece of paper and on “GO!”, students will write down as
many ideas or phrases on the given topic that they can come up with. Use
fun colors and writing styles. Give them about 5-10 minutes to work on
this, then have the groups hang them up and share. Have them work with
the class to organize the thoughts into categories.

• Tea Party- Students form 2 concentric circles. The teacher asks a question
based on the content they’re learning and the students talk about the
topic and discuss the answer with the student in front of them. After a
minute of discussion, the outer circle rotates and a new question is asked.

Hass, A. (2019, June 10). Utilizing Peers to Support Academic Learning for Children With Autism
Spectrum Disorder. Retrieved from
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6743512/pdf/40617_2019_Article_363.pdf ; Feldman, L. F.
(2019, February 19). Effects of cooperative learning strategies on the academic self- concept of special
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Applied Social Psychology Graduate Program at Loyola University of Chicago. (2002). Theory and
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Chen, H. Y. (2011, September). Structuring Cooperative Learning in Teaching English Pronunciation.
Retrieved from https://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/EJ1080786.pdf
Joseph, D. (1997, May). IMPROVING CONVERSATIONAL SKILLS OF LANGUAGE IMPAIRED
STUDENTS THROUGH COOPERATIVE LEARNING. Retrieved from
https://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/ED408651.pdf