Common Core Professional Development

March 2012

Learning Targets• Participants will acquire in-depth

knowledge of Collaborative Group Work and Literacy Groups, two of the strategies of the Common Instructional Framework.

• Participants will apply knowledge of Collaborative Group Work and Literacy Groups by creating learning activities containing those strategies.

Collaborative Group

Work (CGW)

& Literacy Groups

Powerful Teaching and Learning

Collaborative Group Work (CGW) and Literacy Groups

• “Key ingredient to creating the kind of school culture in which everyone shares a deep commitment to one another’s success” (UPCS).

• Prepare every student academically and professionally for any college or career.

• Allow for the use of academic content to teach 21st century survival skills.

Collaborative Group Work (CGW) and Literacy Group Planning

• Assigning groups– Teacher selected vs. student selected– Strategic grouping to ensure diversity

• Change instruction not just the structure– Pre-determining group size

• Modifying classroom layout• Incorporating CGW in the lesson plan• Utilizing the CGW Group Monitoring

Tool

Group Norms• Collectively establishing and posting ground

rules for collaborative group work– Importance of adherence– Consequences—conversations tied to the norms• 1st occurrence: Group conference (students only)• 2nd occurrence: Group conference (with teacher)• 3rd occurrence: Student assigned independent work—

they leave contributions with the group• Sample norms

Group Roles• Establishing group roles– Importance of rotating

• Traditional (Samples)– Group Leader/Facilitator, Recorder, Timekeeper,

Materials Manager, Task Master, Reporter• Innovative (Samples)– Discussion Director, Vocabulary Connector

(Word Wizard), Illuminator (Passage Master), Investigator, Connector (Creative Connector), Artful Illustrator, Summarizer

Collaboration Cubes Activity• Discussion Director will record evidence

of collaborative problem solving while group discusses the cube.

• Discussion Director shares out the answer, one “rule” that gave them the answer, and one point from the Group Monitoring Tool.– Rules and skills translate into the types of critical

thinking and collaborative discussions that should occur in every classroom.

Literacy Group Activity• Play the Role protocol• Select and explore group roles• Read “Learning as Collaboration: Group

Work at University Park Campus School”• Take notes based on your role• Discussion Director leads the conversation

in response to everyone’s comments.– Group discussion not individual presentations

• Summarizer reports out for each group

Common Instructional FrameworkResources

• Sample lessons/videos– Do you see evidence of the Common

Instructional Framework?• Remember the “How” not the “What”• Visit www.newschoolsproject.org and

the RttT Team Resources website for more examples

• Classroom Walk-Through Form

Tuning a Lesson Plan Protocol

Focus Question:What evidence exists in the lesson that

students will read, write, think, and talk and how might I increase those

opportunities during the lesson or unit of study?