This curriculum unit was developed from the Learning Through Performance in Middle School Math and Science Project. The goal of the project was to develop, pilot, and research the efficacy of a 6th grade math course and science course that are designed to align with 6th grade Common Core Mathematics Standards and Next Generation Science Standards. The curriculum was designed to exemplify the use of project-based learning as the primary instructional approach, and instructionally embedded performance-based assessments as the primary assessment strategy. The rationale for building project-based learning units was to support greater student engagement and deeper learning of rigorous content through authentic, real-world applications of math and science. The rationale for building performance-based assessments into each unit of study was to support more reliable and valid measurement of individual students’ learning and performance on relevant math and science concepts and practices.
All of the curriculum materials were designed to have teachers participate in professional development to help support them in the design approach as well as implementing the materials in their classroom. If you would like further information about professional development services, please contact us.
Unit Overview
Groupwork is an instructional strategy that helps to promote more equitable classrooms, provides opportunities for student interactions, and increases science discussions with the goal of improving student learning. Unfortunately, some students are perceived by their peers as having low academic performance and/or linguistic abilities. Our goal is to equalize rates of participation so all students are able to contribute to the learning of the whole class. One effective method of doing this is to help students understand that they need the intellectual abilities of their group members to successfully complete the tasks throughout this curriculum. To promote the idea that all students have something to contribute, we suggest that you use the following two statements when introducing each task.
- No one is good at all the abilities.
- Everyone is good at some of the abilities.
This Groupwork unit will help students learn two important components of productive and efficient groupwork. The first component is that each member has a role and plays their role throughout the task. These roles are Facilitator, Harmonizer, Reporter, Recorder, Materials Manager, and Resource Person. Task 2 introduces these roles, and then the roles should be used in every task. The groupwork roles are found in the Student Edition and Teacher Edition.
The second important component of groupwork is that there are general Behavior Norms that every member must adhere to. These Behavior Norms are introduced in different groupwork tasks. In the Teacher Edition, each Behavior Norm is provided on a separate page to allow you to make a poster to display in your classroom. Following is a list of Behavior Norms that students will focus on in each task.
Behavior Norms by Task
Task 1: Broken Circles
- Pay attention to what other group members need.
- No one is done until everyone is done.
Task 2: Role Playing
- Play your role in the group.
Task 3: Master Designer
- Help others do things for themselves.
- Listen and pay attention to what is being said.
- Explain by telling how.
Task 4: Four-Stage Rocket
- Be concise.
- Listen and pay attention to what is being said.
- Rephrase and build on others’ ideas.
- Everyone contributes.
Task 5: Practicing Groupwork Skills to Construct Scientific Explanations
- Everybody helps.
