Chapters six and seven discuss the importance of interaction in the classroom by grouping. For example, Gerald Graff is quoted as saying that "talk about books and subjects is as important educationally as are the books and subjects themselves." With that in mind, let's try out the following group activity:
—"Closed Book/Open Book": interacting with each other, a book, and the whole class
Part One: For the first part of this activity, keep your books CLOSED:
With a partner, brainstorm an informal list of what you think are a variety of ways to create effective grouping interactions in a class. In addition, brainstorm some caveats: potential often unforeseen problems involved in using groups. Think about groups you have personally enjoyed or maybe not so much, and what the problems might have been.
—"Closed Book/Open Book": interacting with each other, a book, and the whole class
Part One: For the first part of this activity, keep your books CLOSED:
With a partner, brainstorm an informal list of what you think are a variety of ways to create effective grouping interactions in a class. In addition, brainstorm some caveats: potential often unforeseen problems involved in using groups. Think about groups you have personally enjoyed or maybe not so much, and what the problems might have been.