Trouble-Shooting Kagan: Getting Cooperative Learning to be Cooperative

By Heather Pfrunder, M.A.Ed          SDC Teacher and Education Specialist

December 30, 2021

Watching Kagan strategies in action one can’t help but be excited at the level of student engagement.  Student responses which exude inactive reflection and minimal regurgitation transform into animated critical thinking.  The brain science and research behind Kagan strategies is impressive and exciting: it takes in account the varied ways our brain is engaged and uses structures and systems to ensure optimal learning.  Through the practice of collaborative learning, the brain simultaneously is engaged in multiple parts. The social structures form an emotionally safe learning environment, often while nourishing the brain through motion. You could spend a college semester learning all the facets to Kagan and the brain research behind each minute component for it’s cooperative learning structures. However, teachers with fledgling Kagan experience often are encouraged to simply “start with the Robins.” Kinda Techy Teachers on TPT has a great free resource to access visual explanations and how to use the top 5 Robin Structures.

 Click Here for a Free Resource!

Example of a “Robin” Structure in the free TPT

Resource linked above.

This way teachers and students learn some of the basic structures and can apply them to any subject matter.  It is not the content that is being changed, rather the format of the lesson.  For many teachers the quick diagram of expectations found in the Kagan flip book is simple enough to function for many of their students.

  

Flip Book page example.

Colleague Randi Muehlen describes many wonderful ways to implement Kagan in her post Kids Love to Talk. However, if we are teaching ALL students, and “all means all,” chances are you have had a student (or three) who are challenged to cooperatively work in cooperative learning groups. In reflection, this challenge happens for several reasons: social skill deficits, academic skill deficits, or a combination of both represented by cognition challenges. So here we go again, my teacher friends!  A list of shortcuts, tips, and printable visual aids to address Kagan challenges is headed your way!  Because honestly, the learning pay-off is so very worth it!

1.Social Skills: In trouble shooting social skills challenges (i.e. silliness, off-task behavior, bullying, shyness…) there are commonalities among strategies to address the different kinds of social skill deficits. Modeling, praise, team reflection, and purposeful team role assignments can shape mal-adaptive behaviors into behaviors that are productive and helpful team-building.  To address the needs of all students you may find yourself rotating between strategies to give all unique students a chance to exercise growth in an area of social skills development. Chapter 11 of the Kagan book outlines Social Skills challenges, solutions, and suggested structures and feedback.  Here is a condensed and shortened list of challenges and solutions for your reference:

 Kagan Social Skills Solutions. Click here!

Social skills are a major component to cooperative learning.  However, often they are a way to cover up another challenge: academic skill deficits.

2.Academic Skill Deficit: In this area there are two key take-aways to address supporting students that may need more scaffolding in order to actively participate with their peers. The first is relatively simple: do your students understand the concepts that they are learning?  Are they able to use key vocabulary in discussions?  For students with unique learning needs this may mean that they may need to use notes with how-to steps and examples or simple vocabulary sheets with visuals and/or sentence frames.  Below are some examples of content vocabulary.

Top: More descriptive vocabulary with visuals to aid in conversation

 for mid-need learners -found on TPT American Revolution Word Vocab.

Bottom: Simple sorting and matching vocabulary for collaboration activities 

for higher-need/less verbal learners - found on TPT water cycle bingo.

The second scaffold has to do with grouping and “Positive Interdependence.” (This is the “P” in the Kagan acronym “PIES” standing for Positive Interdependence, Individual Accountability, Equal Participation, and Simultaneous Interaction.)  How we set up individuals in groups can either benefit or challenge academic growth. Strong interdependence means that each member of the group is needed for the task to be completed.  This takes careful structuring of both the task instructions (ensuring that each member of the group is building on each other’s contributions) and the careful structuring of groups.  For example, the highest achieving learner typically should not be paired with the lowest achieving learner.  Instead, group your students into 4 groups: high, high-medium, medium-low, and low.  Keep teams within 1-2 levels within their range and assign roles based on strengths and/or needs.  Number and group roles or strengths within numbers 1-4, so that you can make instructional decisions which will work for both the individual and the team.  If individual growth is not happening at the rate you were hoping for and you have adjusted strategies based on challenges, it may be time to mix up groups.

Left: Colorful Crayon Creations has this Kagan structure mat free.  

Right: Students pictured here are working in Kagan Groups. 

Their roles correspond with their numbers.

Kagan Mat Free! Click here!

3.Cognition Challenges:  As a teacher who is charged with the teaching of students with unique learning needs, Kagan can seem daunting.  It is skill upon skill that needs to be taught before groups even come close to true cooperative learning.  For this I have found that starting with simple social skills activities paired with specific structures and visuals create better successes. Think about some of our SEL lessons where we practice celebrating and sharing as individuals.  A simple practice of “Find Someone Who…” is a fun way to practice communication skills (click the link below for the resource from True Little Teacher on TPT).  I would initially have students practice this while seated with a “Face Partner,” but would work towards having students walk and find a friend within a specified area of the classroom (painters tape on the floor is fantastic for setting visual boundaries).

Someone Who Kagan Resource for Unique Learners

Other additional resources for Kagan really have to do with setting expectations and teaching the specific structures.  What does expected cooperative learning look like?  While Kagan uses structures and processes to facilitate learning, it prefers the flexibility of original thought. Afterall, it is the purpose is critical thinking.  However, for learners with higher levels of challenge, processes and expectations need to be specifically outlined for them. To facilitate this I have created a special resource.

Click Here for Adapted Kagan Strategies, Free!!

Being on the look out for what is working (or not) and why is second nature to educators. Simple adjustments will ensure the positive impact of both social and academic learning with Kagan. Until next time, wishing you lots of cooperative learning joy!!

Like what you read? Join me in upcoming blog posts where I continue to put these strategies into place and share resources!

Kagan, S., & Kagan, M. (2015) Kagan Cooperative Learning. Kagan Publishing.

Kagan "Rally Coach" Structure, Across Subjects

If you're familiar with Kagan, then the "Rally Coach" structure is not a stranger.  However, you may have forgotten about this old friend,  and the value and power behind implementing this simple structure. And if you're not familiar with Kagan, or the Rally Coach strategy, no sweat! I'm going to explain it you here, and this is something you can start implementing today!

This structure empowers the students to be both the teacher and the learner.  When implemented correctly (see image above) this structure is very effective in putting the learning into the hands of the students.  Watching them listen to and learn from one another, while catching and fixing their own mistakes is a very rewarding experience to watch as a teacher.

Furthermore, this simple structure helps strengthen students' reasoning skills.  When this structure is implemented regularly, students get to practice explaining what and how they did something.  This in turn, supports practicing their reasoning skills and in a verbal context, which a great support for all learners but especially our EL's.

I use this strategy with Eureka Math almost every day during the Application Problem or even some of the concept development problems.  I've also had students utilize this strategy for certain problems in the problem set.  I also tell the students that when it's their turn to be the "coach" or the "teacher" that they need to pretend they are explaining this concept to a younger student who hasn't yet learned how to do this.  This helps them gain a better understanding of making sure they explain every detail.  I circulate and listen, and will support as needed.

In ELA, I use this process a lot when we do RACES writing.   I will have students Rally Coach their C (cite text evidence) and E (explain) components.  The E (Explain) part of RACES is particularly difficult for students.  This is where they "explain" how their text evidence supports the answer they previously stated.  Having them partner up and use Rally Coach helps give them support with the explaining piece.  Their partner is required to listen and give feedback after the "coach" is done explaining what they came up with.  I have found that implementing this Rally Coach structure during writing, has really strengthened peer editing.  My students really do listen to one another and help their peers to strengthen their work! I monitor and provide assistance when I deem necessary. 

Collaboratively Learning,

Megan Brown

megan.brown@omsd.net

Kagan-izing Eureka Math!

Do you ever feel like something is missing in the delivery of your Math instruction? Does it seem like you’re doing most of the talking, you’re exhausted, and yet the kids are unfocused, disengaged, and quite simply just “zoned out”? Successful math instruction needs to have two strong components: a highly effective curriculum, in conjunction with the implementation of effective cooperative learning structures/strategies.  Implementing cooperative learning structures throughout your daily Eureka Math lessons will help ensure that both you and your students will love math time! 

"We should not only use the brains we have but all that we can borrow.”-Woodrow Wilson

My kids look forward to and are excited about our Eureka Math lessons every day!  When Math time is approaching they'll start asking me "Are we going to do "Showdown" today Miss Brown? or "Rally Table?" Not only are they engaged through the use of all these Kagan structures, the power behind combining them into the Eureka Math routines really enhances the students' confidence in themselves, and their ability to rationalize and explain mathematical concepts and procedures within the Eureka curriculum, which supports their learning.  My students have learned to rely on each other and are able to successfully build on each other's ideas and learn from one another through the use of these cooperative learning structures.  My kiddos have grown to not only feel successful, but also to be successful in Math!

In this video, you can see my students participating in some of the Kagan structures described below (RallyCoach, Continuous Rally Table, Showdown, and QQT) during Eureka Math lessons.

Here's a brief description of some of the Kagan structures I use during my Eureka Math lessons, and how and when I implement each one:

Rally Coach
This structure is one where students work in pairs.They take turns where one is the "coach" and is showing/explaining to their partner exactly how they solved a problem step by step.  The other partner listens, praises and helps if necessary.  I implement this structure during many of the Fluency Practice activities in Eureka Math, as well as during some parts of the Problem Set and Student Debrief.

Continuous Rally Table
This is similar to Rally Robin, but this time they take turns sharing answers around their table again and again until all questions are answered, or when I say stop.  I implement this also during many of the Fluency Practice activities in Eureka math.  Often times during the "mental math" activities where it lists several problems it wants the students to solve.  I will have the students take out one whiteboard for the group and pass it around one person to the next, each person solving the next question on the board.  Sometimes I time them and we will see which group finishes first (they like this).  I then go over the answers and they check their team's answers and give each other praise, feedback, and team cheers.

Showdown
Each team has a "showdown captain" that I choose to start. I will display a question from the Fluency Practice on the board.  All students will solve on their whiteboards and flip them over to signal they're done.  Once the captain sees everyone at the table is done, he/she calls out "showdown" and then everyone flips their boards over and they praise/coach as needed. The student to the right of the captain will then become the new "showdown captain" for the next question. This is the basic structure of the Whiteboard Exchange component within Eureka Math, except that in this case it is student led rather than teacher led.  I walk around to observe and support where needed.

Quiz-Quiz-Trade
Students are each given one flashcard (I do either addition or multiplication at this point in the year).  They are then directed to stand up, hand up and pair up. Partner A holds up her flashcard and Partner B responds with the answer.  Partner A then either praises or coaches.  Then they reverse roles.  Once finished, both partners switch flash cards, thank each other, put their hand back up and find a new partner.  This process repeats until I tell them to stop.  I generally use QQT on the Eureka Lessons that don't have "Sprints." This allows for them to still practice facts quickly and accurately.

Here are my students participating in Rally Robin and Numbered Heads Together, as described below.

Rally Robin
I tell the kids this is like the "ping pong ball" strategy.  When the question is displayed, students in A/B partners take turns responding until the time is up.  This is meant for questions with multiple answers.  I often use this during the Eureka Math Fluency Practice as well, generally when they're asked to skip count, or determining factors of a given number, Mental Math activities, etc,. You can use with any question that elicits multiple responses.

Numbered Heads Together (variation of)
I will have students complete a section of the Problem Set (or often times just 1 multi-step word problem), and once done, each child goes around the table stating his/her answer to that question and also explaining the strategies they used, processes to solve, etc.  If everyone is correct, then they praise each other and move to the next question.  If there are different answers, then the group stops, reworks that problem together and discusses the right answer alongside the different methods/strategies they chose to solve it.  Often this structure is used for the Student Debrief section as well.  I find this particular process/structure to be very powerful as they students really do listen to each other, provide feedback to their peers, and coach one another in finding and correcting mistakes!

Collaboratively Learning,

Megan Brown

megan.brown@omsd.net

Combine Kagan & Math! by Kimberly Smith

Combine Kagan & Math!

When I was a student, one of the things I loved most about school was the fact that it was fun!  Now that I’m a teacher, I know how difficult it can be to make things “fun” while also trying to keep up with the rigorous pacing, especially in math. One of the easiest ways to spice up content is to try a Kagan cooperative learning structure or two!

Using cooperative learning structures in your class will not only make the content more exciting, it will also get your kids to become more engaged.  Why is this, you may ask? Well, your students don’t really have a choice because one hundred percent of your students will be participating!

Because my students have been practicing certain Kagan structures for so long, they are very well versed in how to work with teams or partners.  They know how to mix around the room without being disrespectful, and they know how to form groups quickly without wasting precious time. I’ve heard many teachers say things like, “My classroom gets too loud using cooperative learning structures” or, “My students can’t handle it.”  As much as I understand what it’s like to have a rough class (I’ve been there before), I sincerely believe that any class can handle using the structures as long as you are very deliberate in teaching the do’s and don’ts of each one.

“Practice does not make perfect.  Only perfect practice makes perfect.”

--Vince Lombardi

Modeling how a certain structure should look and how it should not look is a great place to start when teaching a new Kagan structure.  I start teaching new structures on the first day of school, and I never really stop throughout the year. Ask for a volunteer in the class to be your partner and model the wrong way, (I do this in a funny, obvious way) and then model the right way.

During math time, I definitely have my go-to structures.  When you have go-to’s that are easy and quick to use, they’ll be a lot easier to throw into your lessons.  One way to make things less overwhelming is to categorize your favorite structures. For me, I like to separate structures which involve getting up, from structures in which kids remain seated.  Then, I also separate structures which ask for partners, from structures which involve group work. Of course, there are even some structures which are considered whole group. Here are my favorites to use during math time, separated by category:

Seated Structures:

Partner- RallyRobin, RallyCoach, Timed-Pair-Share, Think-Pair-Share

Group- RoundRobin/All-Write-RoundRobin, Talking Chips, Numbered Heads Together (involves standing at the end), Jot Thoughts

Whole Group- Showdown

My go-to’s for seated partner structures:

When solving math problems which involve a process, or several steps, I love to use RallyRobin and RallyCoach.  I usually give partnerships a choice of which strategy they’d like to use. With RallyRobin, partners ping-pong back and forth each solving a step in the math process.  With RallyCoach, one student coaches the other student through the process of solving a problem. Then, when finished, they switch roles, and the other student now gets to be the coach/teacher.  To involve more verbalization of the steps, I have either the “student” or “coach” explain every single step they’re performing, focusing on academic vocabulary.

Another fun add-on to RallyRobin is teacher vs students RallyRobin.  Let’s say I ask students to name prime numbers. I might name a prime number first, and then call on a student with a hand raised to name a different prime.  This back and forth game goes on as long as you’d like as you call on different students to compete against you. The kids have a lot of fun with it because it becomes a challenge as they try to stump the teacher.

My go-to seated structures:

Roundrobin is such an easy structure to use in any subject.  It’s great for discussions or to discuss processes because every student in the group gets a chance to share something.  Each student in the class is held accountable for participating. It’s as easy as putting kids in groups, giving them a discussion starter or problem to discuss, and then saying, “Person 2, please begin.” All-Write-RoundRobin is the same structure except all students are jotting down whatever they're working on. For example, if students are finding the area of a triangle, the first student might share that all students should write down the formula. Therefore, all students write down the formula on their papers.

Talking Chips does the same thing as RoundRobin, but it doesn’t put students on the spot as much since they must put a “chip” in, in order to speak.  However, students must share at some point since the other kids can’t share again until all chips have been put in the middle.

Numbered Heads Together is fun because students share in a group either via RoundRobin or Talking Chips, but then one member of a group is called on to share what was discussed.  For example, you can pull up the Smartboard dice, and if it lands on 3, then person 3 from each group must stand up. Then, you roll the dice again, and this will determine which table group will share.  For example, person 3, table 4. The kids love this structure because it feels like a game, and it’s totally random, so all must pay attention. What’s not to love? :)

Whole Group:

Showdown is appealing to the kids because they get to use whiteboards (you can also use paper).  We use Showdown in conjunction with Eureka's Rapid White Board Exchanges. All you do is list something on the board for students to solve.  Students solve on whiteboards and then turn boards over to let you know they’ve finished. Once you see most students have finished, you count out loud “1,2,3, SHOWDOWN!”  The students also yell out “Showdown” at the same time as they show you their answers. It’s fun and fast at the same time.

Structures Which Involve Movement:

Partner-Mix-Pair Share, Stand-Up, Hand-Up, Pair-Up, Find Someone Who, Quiz-Quiz-Trade

Group-Circle the Sage

My go-to’s for partner structures with movement:

Mix-Pair-Share is really fun for the kids because they get to walk around the room and listen to music (although you don’t have to play music).  It gives them a chance to stretch and converse with different kids. One of its cons is that partnering is at random since you tell them when to pair.  Even though partnering is random, you can still facilitate by walking around the room to listen to as many conversations as you can. I like to use this structure when my students are looking sleepy and could use a stretch break.

StandUp-HandUp-PairUp is another fun and easy to use structure.  It gets kids out of their seats but is not time-consuming whatsoever.  All you have to say is, “Stand Up, Hand Up, Pair Up with someone who is not from your table group.”  You’ll also want to make sure that you explain that this structure should be performed quicker than Mix-Pair-Share and that students should not have to walk very far to find a partner.
Circle the Sage can come in handy when introducing new content. To find out more about Circle the Sage, please click here: Circle the Sage Info

Need to make your students move faster?  Simply countdown while students are finding a partner--especially for your stragglers.  “Okay, 10 more seconds to find your partner. 10-9-8-7…” This usually does the trick.

Educating together,

Kimberly Smith Loya

Eureka! We’ve Struck Math Talk!

Eureka! We’ve Struck Math Talk!
Helping students be successful with Eureka Math is not an easy task (especially in the upper grades)!  It was definitely not a simple venture for us as teachers to learn how to teach Common Core with Eureka Math (we all remember that hurdle right?!) So how can we as educators, help ourselves to help our students not only BE successful in Math today, but to FEEL successful in Math today??  There’s no easy answer to this question, however, as mentioned in my last two blogs, student engagement is everything!  When we think of collaborative conversations, many of us immediately think of ELA.  Naturally, collaborative conversations in ELA provide vast opportunities for collaborative talk and lends itself to helping students achieve a level of thinking at a Depth of knowledge 3 and 4 (as you've seen in my last two blogs). However, these same results can be achieved when you incorporate these academic discussions during Math as well.  Not to mention the added powerful benefit to the students’ learning through their collaboration with one another!			Here are some video clips of my students participating in a variation of the "All-Write-Round-Robin" Kagan strategy.  Where each group of 4 was assigned a math problem.  The students within each group first worked the problem out individually.  Then took turns sharing out in their group explaining how they solved the problem, the steps they took, etc.  The group then discusses and decides together on the “best” way to solve the problem and writes out a solution as a group.
"Students who are inattentive, withdrawn, and disengaged in the classroom have poorer academic performance when compared to engaged students." -Kathy Dyer, NWEA So how do you get your students to have productive and effective conversations during Math, that contribute to their success?? Here, you will see how effortless it can be to implement collaborative conversations via Kagan engagement strategies in Eureka Math- WITHOUT taking away any additional instructional time!
	There’s not many things more satisfying as a teacher than when you model good teaching strategies for your students, and then watch them apply these same strategies when working with their peers.  I have watched my students stumble upon so many “ah-ha” moments, where they catch and learn from their mistakes when engaging in the Rally-Coach Kagan structure.  This is the deeper level of learning we see when  students are responsible for sharing their learning, learning from their peers, and collaborating with one another. This deeper level of learning and thinking has become very evident as I watch my students engage in the Rally-Coach Kagan strategy on a daily basis. Below you will see clips of my students utilizing this strategy during Math to “teach” one another.  This strategy involves only minimal amounts of time to “train” the kids to do this properly, and ZERO prep for the teacher, yet yields amazing progress and growth among the students.  That’s what I call a “win-win!!”
“Tell me and I forget.  Teach me and I remember.  Involve me and I learn.” -Benjamin Franklin Here my students are engaging in the Rally-Robin Kagan strategy.  This is where the students have a designated amount of time that I give them (usually 60 seconds, or sometimes no time limit at all) where they have to take turns going back and forth with their partner, each sharing a different answer to the question I posed.  I tell the kids to think of it as being like a “ping-pong ball" going back and forth!  Here, I displayed the Eureka Math “warm-up” activity for that days lesson which required them to skip- count by 2s, 3s, 4s, 5s, and 6s to a designated number, both counting forwards and backwards. They absolutely LOVE doing this! Get started implementing collaborative conversations and engagement activities in Math today! Here are some simple steps to take: Start implementing the Kagan Rally-Robin (ping-pong ball) strategy for the “warm-ups” portion of Eureka Math (as seen in the third video).  This is easy to do, requires no prep on your part, and the kids love it!  Display the warm-up question(s), let them know which partner will be starting (A or B), set the timer and let them go! Easy and engaging! As soon as I tell the kids we will be doing Rally-Robin they ALL turn to each other and whisper "YESSSSS!" They love it! Have students work in Rally-Coach (Kagan) pairs for designated portions of the Problem Set (as seen in the second video).  This ensures that no kiddos are left completely confused and blankly staring at their workbook when you're assisting other students.  If this strategy is implemented properly, ALL students can be successful in completing their problem sets (of course you will need to make sure that you have strategically paired students by mixed ability to support their success).   While students are doing this, you can pull your small group that you’d like to assist that day or work with students one-on-one. Have students engage in the Kagan strategy “All-Write-Round-Robin”  (see my video caption from the first video for a brief description of this process). This takes a small amount of training to teach the kids how to work and talk "collaboratively" with each other, but the more you have them do it the more successful they become! Utilizing this structure guarantees that all students are held accountable by participating,  listening, helping, and sharing their thought processes.  Again, this ensures that they will have conversations about what/how they are solving Math problems, and are less likely to make errors, or will see their errors and are able to correct them through the power of discussion. I use this structure periodically for the Eureka Math lessons that are entirely word problems. I will give each group of 4 a different problem from the problem set (as shown in the video). Once they have solved as a group, they share out with the class. My kids actually love solving word problems now because of this process! Benefits (of engagement structures)for  the kids: Learning from each other, having academic discussions about Math, learning how to “explain” their thought processes, and having fun learning! Benefits (of engagement structures) for the teacher: Students are engaged and will remain on task allowing you to work individually with a student or small group of students without worrying so much about whether or not the rest of your class is on task, working and learning.  Students have practice with “reasoning” skills as they have to “explain” and demonstrate how they solved math problems to their peers.  I have actually very recently noticed my students doing this ON THEIR OWN (explaining/rationalizing their answers to their teammates) even when I have not asked them to do so!💗 This goes back to what I mentioned in my first blog about creating/developing that "safe" classroom climate where students are not afraid to make and admit their mistakes, and feel comfortable sharing with one another.💕 Collaboratively Learning, Megan Brown megan.brown@omsd.net