Grade 3/4's Collaborate!

During our first lessons in our "Under Our Feet" inquiry, we had the students form inquiry teams, create a team name (some were super creative "Metamorphic Masters" for example) and began working through the stage of wonder.  Things were off to a great start and we were so pleased at the progress.  Then the second or third day in, we stumbled over a few bumps in the road...our collaborative work became somewhat derailed as teams struggled to work cooperatively on their task.  Through an exit pass at the end of that lesson the students voiced frustration in working together.  It was at that moment that I thought of Harvey Daniels and the knowledge he shared in his book "Comprehension and Collaboration"...how could we expect the students to work collaboratively and effectively together when we haven't spent any time explicitly teaching them and practicing collaboration skills?!  We knew we needed to take a step back and put our "inquiry" learning on hold in order to do some "teamwork" learning. 

We spent our next lesson working in our teams to co-construct criteria on what our teamwork should sound like, look like and feel like.  Having done similar criteria building in other areas, the students had no trouble assigning such criteria for their teamwork.  To my surprise they were also able to identify strategies they could use to help keep their team on track, or things they could do to help themselves and individual teammates get back on track!  It was funny to listen to one team identify that sometimes members get off track because they are sitting next to someone that they just want to visit with.  Minutes after overhearing this conversation, we were delighted to observe this group re-structure their seating arrangement!

Following this work we asked students to use their inquiry journal to reflect on themselves as a teammate and to pick one particular area to focus on in our upcoming teamwork.  The student's honesty was touching as they accurately reflected on needing to be a better listener and to do a better job of encouraging team members. 

To help practice collaboration skills we have begun having "table talk" at least once a week outside of our inquiry time.  During this time we focus on active listening, and taking turns sharing in a collaborative setting using some of the activities outlined in the book "Collaboration and Comprehension" and those I picked up during a learning session with Harvey Daniels last spring.

Though a step we failed to recognize in our original planinng, we quickly discovered the importance of including this teaching and learning throughout our inquiry work.