So Far, Group Work is Working!

As mentioned in previous posts, my motto for this school year is "More on them, less on me."  I'm putting the students in the driver's seat of their own learning.  I'll be there as the driver's ed instructor who occasionally needs to take the wheel.  Keeping this in mind as I plan lessons, I've used quite a few different forms of group work during these first couple of weeks of school.  Here are some of the best examples:

JR American Lit:
In the first unit, we learn about origin myths from Native American Indians.  There are three myths in the textbook, and even though they are short tales, they are quite dense.  So, for our study of The Navajo Origin Lesson, I put the students into small groups of 4-5, they took turns reading the tales aloud, and then they created a flow chart for the steps of the Navajo ritual they learned about.  It was wonderful to walk around between the groups and hear the students instructing each other on which pictures to draw, descriptions to include, and the order in which the events happened.  They were teaching each other while I walked around and clarified things like "ear of corn" ("No, don't draw ears").  The students were proud of the posters they created, and hung them on the wall at the back of the classroom.  Some even corrected other groups: "You forgot the part when...".  Those are some of my favorite moments as a teacher: when they correct each other on the content. :)

LDC 3:
In this class, the unit we're studying focuses on mystery.  We have an Illustrated Classics edition of some Sherlock Holmes stories, and I'd like us to read one or two.  To introduce the students to the elements of a detective story, though, I used some of the handouts and ideas from this lesson called Ingredients of a Mystery.  After I inroduced the students to some of the vocabulary, they worked together in small groups to fill out the "Detective Case Report" handout with their own ideas for a detective mystery.  Then, they had to work as a team to come up with all of the details for the story.  Listening to their ideas has been fun, and watching them carefully construct a story with all of the necessary elements has been fun.  They'll have to use a lot of structure later, so I might as well get them used to it now! :)

All other classes are going well.  I'm allowing them to work in partners/small groups more with daily assignments.  ELL students are generally so needy that I buzz around the room all day answering questions, so if they can help each other out, that saves me a trip across the room!  I'm still up and moving all period, every period, though.

One student said to me today: "Miss, what they say about you is true."
I thought, oh lord!, but I asked: "What's that?"
"That you make us read...A LOT!" she said.
"Well, that's true.  But you have a lot to learn."  I replied.
"Yeah, that's true, too." she smiled.

I think they see what I'm trying to do for them, and they appreciate it.  I haven't had any complaints so far, and have even had a few compliments and thank you's.  ...So, I'll just keep doing what I think is best. :)