Team Tasks: for practice or assessment?

One of our favorite parts of a GLAD® training is on the last day of the demo when we ask the students what helped them learn. One of their favorite parts is always working with a team during team tasks. The student teams are usually very cooperative and productive during that time but there are occasions, just like in real life, when they are not. In order to be convinced that cooperative learning is worth the effort, the teachers will understandably ask:  

What do I do if my kids are messing around during team tasks?  Does the quality of their work matter? 

The short answer is – Yes, the quality of their work matters. Here are a few key points to keep in mind. 

• The purpose of team tasks is small group practice. Remember, in the gradual release of responsibility model we start with whole class for input, small group for practice, and individual work for assessment.  All of the team tasks will eventually turn into individual tasks that you will assess. Since work at the team level is for content and language practice, ask yourself: 
  • Do all the students really need to finish all the tasks before moving on? 
  • Does the quality of the work need to be as high level as I would expect if I was summatively assessing? 

The answers to these questions may be different for different teachers.  

• Consider assessing for a different purpose. Content and language assessment can be reserved for individual tasks, but team tasks should reflect qualities of cooperation, teamwork, use of resources, checking facts, research skills, etc.  
• The use of a rubric, either teacher supplied or class co-created, will help everyone understand the teamwork expectations and quality of the finished product that is expected. 

💡 Quick Tip: 

Don't leave out team tasks because you think you won't have time. These cooperative learning opportunities are scaffolds and are the key to student success in individual tasks.  

To learn more about how to organize team tasks in your classroom, as well as other cooperative learning strategies, check out the Working Together module in the Next Steps Coaching Membership. Click here for more information. 

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Thanks for reading!

Jody and Sara

OCDE Project GLAD® Consultants

Next Steps with Project GLAD®