Productive Group Work: How to Engage Students, Build Teamwork, and Promote Understanding [Paperback]

Nancy Frey (Author), Douglas Fisher (Author), Sandi Everlove (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: November 30, 2009 | ISBN-10: 1416608834 | ISBN-13: 978-1416608837

The benefits of collaborative learning are well documented and yet, almost every teacher knows how group work can go wrong: restless students, unequal workloads, lack of accountability, and too little learning for all the effort involved. In this book, educators Nancy Frey, Douglas Fisher, and Sandi Everlove show you how to make all group work productive group work: with all students engaged in the academic content and with each other, building valuable social skills, consolidating and extending their knowledge, and increasing their readiness for independent learning.

The key to getting the most out of group work is to match research-based principles of group work with practical action. Classroom examples across grade levels and disciplines illustrate how to

* Create interdependence and positive interaction
* Model and guide group work
* Design challenging and engaging group tasks
* Ensure group and individual accountability
* Assess and monitor students developing understanding (and show them how to do the same)
* Foster essential interpersonal skills, such as thinking with clarity, listening, giving useful feedback, and considering different points of view.

The authors also address the most frequently asked questions about group work, including the best ways to form groups, accommodate mixed readiness levels, and introduce collaborative learning routines into the classroom. Throughout, they build a case that productive group work is both an essential part of a gradual release of responsibility instructional model and a necessary part of good teaching practice.

Product Details

• Paperback: 127 pages
• Publisher: Association for Supervision & Curriculum Development (November 30, 2009)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1416608834
• ISBN-13: 978-1416608837
• Product Dimensions: 8.9 x 6.9 x 0.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 7.2 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #142,229 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Discover books, learn about writers, read author blogs, and more.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Excellent book on how to make group learning work, March 8, 2010

By 

Dr. Lorinda Sheppard - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Productive Group Work: How to Engage Students, Build Teamwork, and Promote Understanding (Paperback)

I'm always a bit skeptical when reading anything about group work. As an "A" student frequently grouped with "B" and "C" students throughout school, I generally found myself doing the lion's share of the work while the others in my group got a free ride on the assignment. Teachers looked only at the final product and had no way of evaluating individual students' input.

I was interested in finding out how Frey, Fisher, and Everlove proposed that group work be carried out. I was impressed that right up front they acknowledged some of the pitfalls of group work, among them that the burden frequently falls on one student, and the other students learn little or nothing. (Hmm. *That* sounds familiar.) They went from there to proposing numerous activities and methods that would help ensure that all students are accountable for learning (both their own learning and others'). Examples from different grade levels and subject areas helped illustrate their assertions.

Frey, Fisher, and Everlove make a strong case for the importance of actually *teaching* students how to work in groups, rather than just throwing students into groups and expecting them to figure it out. Many of us in the working world have had the experience both of working on teams with others in our professional area and with teams across professional areas to solve problems and to come up with the most efficient and effective ways of carrying out our mission by taking and expanding on the best ideas we can come up with. Such an essential life skill shouldn't be left to chance.

After reading this book, I feel that it's possible to have group activities that benefit all students, and they might even work among pretty young children. But activities must be carefully structured and equally carefully monitored in order to maximize student learning. This book tells how to do that.

Teacher commitment to a group-learning process is essential to making cooperative lessons truly effective. Ideally, a whole school would adopt a cooperative approach, with teachers sharing ideas on cooperative activities and techniques for teaching and supporting this type of learning. It won't happen on its own. But when a teacher (or a school) makes this a priority, students will find themselves at an enormous advantage both now and later in life.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Great book for new or seasoned teachers, January 16, 2011

By 

David Lumsden (FRANKLIN, MI, US) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Productive Group Work: How to Engage Students, Build Teamwork, and Promote Understanding (Paperback)

This book has been a great asset to my teaching. It is easy and fun to read with many great suggestions. I have used this book countless times when looking for a good idea for group projects and small group classroom work.