Job Discussion Forums

[voodikon]

ok, i think i have an idea for an in-class activity, but i need somebody who's good with logic (or just has some time, or a less lazy brain than i) to help me figure out if this will work.

ok, for simplicity's sake, let's presume we have a square number of students, say, 25. so we'll have five groups of five students each. each group will be numbered 1 through 5, and within each group, each student will be lettered A through E. each group will then be given a different short (say, a few paragraphs--longer or shorter depending on level, of course) simple story to, as a team, read and understand. students should be warned that they're all responsible for knowing their group's story.

once the allotted time for reading, discussing and understanding the story is up, the teacher calls a letter A through E and those students must stand and go to the next number group. for instance, if the teacher calls "B," student 1B will go to group 2, student 2B will go to group 3, and so on. the newcomer to the group is now responsible for telling the title and plot (and/or answering any specific questions regarding the story, such as who is the narrator? what is the setting? etc. the teacher specifies) to the new group and answering any questions the group has so that they have a solid understanding of the story. they should probably be allowed to take notes while they're at it.

next, the teacher will choose another letter, and those students must leave their group and go to the next number group, and tell the story they most recently heard--not the one from their original group. and so on, until each student has had to tell a story. once the cycle is completed, the original groups should reunite and work as a group or individually to answer follow-up questions such as "write a summary of (story x)" or "which story was your favorite, and why?" or "which character can you most relate to, and why?" or "describe a situation that you've been in that was similar to one of the stories, and compare and contrast it with that story."

ok, so my questions are 1) does the math--as far as the student rotations--work out? or am i missing something here?; 2) is there a way to work this if there ISN'T a square number of students?; and 3) does anybody know of any web sites that have stories that might be appropriate--i'm talking things that are probably written for pre-teens--probably more like vignettes than stories--that are simple in language and plot, and short enough that they can be read and retold within, say, ten or so minutes.

i've logged onto www.teenink.com which i think might be a good resource in many ways (not least of all, especially for those of us who are complaining our students are boring--ahem, china forum--to serve as inspiration to write and that there might, in fact, be worthwhile goals other than acquiring wealth), but i'm wondering if there are others.

thanks for any help.

[Ben Round de Bloc]

I think what you've described is a pretty standard group work jigsaw activity. From my experience, I'd say it might work a bit more "cleanly" if each group has the same number of students. However, if there's an extra student or two -- in the case you described, one or two groups with 6 students instead of 5 -- you can assign the same letter to 2 students in the group or groups with extra students and let them move from group to group as "couples" sharing the task that would normally be done by a single student.

[carnac]

I would think that this game would prove remarkably successful with a group of Stanford University Physics PhD candidates.
My own students, after hearing the explanation of the rules, would enthusiastically respond "Huh?". Several would be semi-comatose and would be found prostrate alongside their desks emitting whimpers of pain.
Somehow, I envision the TT/ST ratio being blown off the map. Again, that's just my particular student demographics, maybe.

(Please excuse my having fun with the emoticons!)

[Ben Round de Bloc]

[Celeste]

I agree that jigsaw activities can break down if some student's skills are incredibly low, which is why I like to have them start in a group of 4 for reading the initial information, and then to split into groups of 2 to go in search of other information and for information sharing purposes. (Safety in numbers!)

[carnac]

"weaker students have difficulty understanding and then explaining their information to the other students."
Most of my students are weaker students, which is why I made the joking remark about PhD candidates. Yeah, I've done jig-sawing, but in the US with students more culturally proximate. Here, if I do anything like this, I select a very watered-down, easily-understood exercise. (Beginner to Pre-intermediate) Otherwise it all dissolves in confusion with more time being spent on explanations of the exercise than actually doing it. There are other group activities I find more productive in my own particular unusual circumstance. The combination of cultural distance plus prior L1 education (or lack thereof) plus attitude here always demands that I discover new and out-of-the-box activities for promoting learning to adult students.
Most of my time is spent getting them able to simply communicate, in the most fundamental ways. So, for my own mental health, I sometimes pick up an evening class in a private institute at High-Intermediate or Advanced levels, just so I don't go completely gaga with lower levels, the sanity of the teacher being my highest priority. If you see what I mean...