Nicole & ChelseaCore 2

Spring 2011

“My Place in Space”

Cooperative Learning

Our cooperative lesson plan was based on the solar system, and was practiced in a first grade classroom at Natchaug Elementary School in Willimantic, CT. The solar system topic was suggested by the head teacher; the first graders had recently been studying the concepts of outer space.

We decided to use the story, Me and My Place in Space by Joan Sweeney as the literacy piece for our initiation and a guide for designing our lesson plan…The planet chart we used was seen in this book and created as a replica.

Whole Group Initiation: First Teach Before reading aloud the story by Joan Sweeney, we asked students

to share with us what they already knew about outer space and wrote their responses on easel paper, we also shared a list of space-related

vocabulary (found in the story).A demonstration was also included; Chelsea used a light bulb and a model of planet Earth to show students the relationship between the

sun and our planet/why we have night and day.

Procedures for the first teachStudents would work in small groups of four to design and describe a planet that hey have discovered as a team of

astronauts. Each student had a different role in the group:The Captain- demonstrates the rotation of the

group’s finished planet using the light bulb to show how long a day/night was on their planet.

The Speaker-Reports to the rest of the class the name of their group’s planet and the rest of the

information on the group’s planet log. The Writer- Records all the details and information about the group’s planet on the provided log.The Artist- Designs and decorates the blank sphere

representing the undiscovered planet, according to suggestions by team members.

Grouping Strategy: First Teach

Materials: First TeachEach group received:

1. Written directions2. Markers/pencils3. A white/”undiscovered” planet (consisting of

a balloon & paper mache) for the artist to design

4. A planet log for the writer to fill in5. Nonfictional books to use as reference6. Four “explorer journal” sheets for everyone

to complete individually7. Paper to create a cover page & combine the

group’s work

Scaffolding was required by both of us;

several students

complained about their

individual jobs, others were

just uninterested in

the activity, and some wanted to

cause trouble!

However there were also several

students who completed their

parts, no questions asked, and

seemed passionate about their planet. We even saw a few

students help out their peers, which is benefiting the learning of both

students.. Clearly, some first graders enjoyed the idea of cooperation while others resented it.

Outcomes: First TeachAlthough there were

many behavioral issues during the first teach and none of the

groups were very successful when it

came to finishing and presenting their

planet, we saw many students engaged in

the activity. Also, all of the groups were able to name and design some of their planet.

(top)-Planet Rock star(bottom)-Planet Skeleton

(top)-Planet Alien(bottom)-Planet Dolphin