Cooperative learning is an idea that's been around a long time in education- and it's one that I've had success with. True, it's hard to use cooperative learning effectively. Even just choosing the right pairs or groups can be difficult when there are so many factors- personality, learning style, social maturity, energy level, and of course, where the student is in the process of learning that particular skill.
Reciprocal learning has become one of my go-to cooperative learning strategies because students can use and develop the same cooperative learning skills over and over and apply them to practicing computation and other math skills all year long. In other words, once you teach them to be good coaches and learners, they can use these skills all year (and throughout their lives!) to practice addition, subtraction, multiplication, division, decimals, really any skill that takes practice to achieve fluency and accuracy.
So, how does reciprocal learning work?
-students work together to 'coach' each other through problems
-each student has the answers for the other person's work- so they can check without needing the teacher.
Why does reciprocal learning work so well?
-students get more attention than one teacher can give
-it encourages student independence, responsibility, and accountabilty
-it builds class culture and a teamwork mentality
-students can feel successful not only as learners, but also as teachers
-it's perfect for helping students explain their strategies and thinking, which is an important part of learning computation!
I've created these FREE addition practice pages. There are five sets, or ten pages total, so you have plenty to work with! And, if you're not teaching addition right now, don't worry! Other sets are available for harder addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division.
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| Get these addition practice partner pages FREE!! |
Happy (computation) Teaching!!
