INTRODUCTION
The following exercises are designed to help students relax and to realize the benefits of
working cooperatively with others to achieve a goal. For many students, aggressive competition,
not non-aggressive cooperation, is their dominant mode of interpersonal interaction.
These exercises can be used before a cooperative learning assignment, as a "warm-up," or as a
fun "reward" for acceptable classroom behavior. At first, these exercises may be met with resistance,
but the game-like atmosphere of cooperation has the potential to win over even the most reluctant
student.
The rewards of cooperative learning experiences are many. Students may learn to appreciate
ideas other than their own. They may expand their critical thinking and decision-making skills.
It's even possible that a few students may learn that others outside their social network may
have skills that are to be respected.
In other words, these exercises may be beneficial in the classroom AND have the potential to be
beneficial outside the classroom, too.
SIMILARITIES & DISSIMILARITIES
At the start of class, hand out the form (see next page) to each student and ask that everyone
find at least one similarity (e.g., "grew up in Chicago") and one dissimilarity
(e.g., "Bears fan" vs. "Rams fan") for at least four other students.
This can help students feel more comfortable interacting in a class because they will know at
least something about some of the class members. This exercise can be done on an as-needed basis.
If your students change frequently, if may help to do this exercise as an "ice breaker."
| NAME | ALIKE | DIFFERENT |
| 1._______________ | ________________ | ________________ |
| 2. ______________ | ________________ | ________________ |
| 3. ______________ | ________________ | ________________ |
| 4. ______________ | ________________ | ________________ |
| 5. ______________ | ________________ | ________________ |
COOPERATIVE PARAGRAPHS/STORIES
The most frequently voiced complaint concerning teaching adult education is the scarcity of reading material that is age and interest appropriate. One way to deal with this problem is to have students cooperatively write paragraphs or short stories. These inherently are age and interest appropriate.
With the instructor as the note taker at the board, each student is responsible for adding only one sentence to the paragraph or story. It may be necessary for the teacher to start the paragraph with an opening sentence.
Students may work cooperative in pairs in order to facilitate the sentence formation. More advanced/cooperative students may be able to work in groups of three in order to form a paragraph that is sequentially added to form a short story. After one group states their paragraph, the next group continues the story, and on.
These paragraphs/stories can be reused in class in a revised printed form. The instructor may remove all the capitalization, and have students work independently, or in pairs, to redo the paragraph/story, adding the appropriate capitalization. The same procedure can be used for grammar and spelling errors.
A collection of these paragraphs/stories should be kept, as they can be used for future classes.
MIXED UP CITIES
This is another exercise that can be used as an icebreaker. Have students count off by 1,2,3,4,5. All the 1's form a group. All the 2's form and group, and so on. This creates work groups of 3 students each. Have the students work together to decipher the city names.
Not only does this exercise foster a cooperative nature, but it also increases a student's knowledge base, works on their spelling skills, and further develops their problem-solving strategies.
Answers:
| 1. Peoria | | 11. San Jose |
| 2. Denver | | 12. Lubbock |
| 3. Austin | | 13. Wichita |
| 4. Seattle | | 14. Phoenix |
| 5. El Paso | | 15. Tampa |
| 6. Honolulu | | 16. Tulsa |
| 7. New Orleans | | 17. Chicago |
| 8. San Antonio | | 18. San Diego |
| 9. Kansas City | | 19. Houston |
| 10. Los Angeles | | 20. Portland |
MIXED-UP CITIES
| 1. OIAPER____________ | | 11. SNA SEJO____________ |
| 2. REEDVN____________ | | 12. ULBOCKB____________ |
| 3. ITSUAN____________ | | 13. ACHIWTI____________ |
| 4. TEEATSL____________ | | 14. XNOIIEPH____________ |
| 5. LE ASPO____________ | | 15. AAPTM____________ |
| 6. LUULOONHH____________ | | 16. ULTAS____________ |
| 7. WNE ALROESN____________ | | 17. GACOHIC____________ |
| 8. SNA TANNOOI____________ | | 18. NAS GOIDE____________ |
| 9. AKNSSA ITCY____________ | | 19. THOUSNO____________ |
| 10. SOL SEELGNA____________ | | 20. PROTLDAN____________ |
LANGUAGE GAMES
PROFESSIONS: Develops listening and speaking skills, and reviews various professions.
No materials needed.
One student leaves the room while the rest of the group decides on a profession. When the student returns,
the other students each say one sentence which describes the profession, which the one student tries to guess.
RHYME PING-PONG: Develops listening and speaking skills, expands vocabulary.
No materials needed.
Students pair off and the first of each pair says a word to their opponent who must respond with a rhyming word.
They volley back and forth until one cannot think of an original rhyming word. The opponent then wins a point,
and the loser begins the next round with a new word.
I SPY:Develops listening and speaking skills, reviews vocabulary. No materials needed.
One student challenges the group to guess what he sees in the room. If the item is guessed by a student, that
student is the new challenger. If no one guesses, the object is revealed and a new challenger is chosen.
DESCRIPTION:Develops listening/speaking skills. No materials needed.
The group is divided into 2 teams (A and B). Team A describes one member of the opposing team without
revealing the person's name. Each member of Team A gives 1 detail about the person being described, while
members of Team B take turns trying to guess his identity after each detail is given. The describing team
gains 1 point for each detail that they must give before the guessing team identifies the mystery person.
SPELLING BASEBALL:Develops listening/speaking skills, reinforces spelling ability.
Needed: an appropriate spelling list.
Three bases and home plate are indicated in the room. The class is divided into 2 equal teams. One team
(Team A) sits in the "dugout" while one member of the team is at bat. The pitchers (Team B) sit in the
center of the "Diamond" and call out words from the list that the batters, in turn, must spell. If the
batter spells the word correctly, they move to first base. If the batter is wrong, they are out. A point
is counted each time a speller reaches home. When 3 batters are out, the teams change places. If one team
is disruptive in any way, the other team is automatically given a point by the umpire (teacher).
TWENTY QUESTIONS:Develops listening/speaking skills;
strengthens the ability to ask and answer questions.No materials needed.
One student thinks of a noun. The others can ask the student up to 20 questions that require YES/NO answers
in an attempt to discover the identity of the noun. The person who correctly guesses the noun replaces the
challenger. If the noun is not guessed by the time 20 questions have been posed, it is revealed, and a new
challenger is chosen. Have the challenger write the noun on a piece of paper to avoid problems (such as
forgetting or changing his word).
HEADS AND TAILS:Develops listening and speaking skills; expands vocabulary.
Needed: Blackboard.
The class is divided into any number of equal teams. The first player calls out a word, and the first
player on the next team must call out a word that begins with the last letter of the previous word. This
continues from team to team until someone cannot think of an original, suitable word. They lose a point for
the team, and the player of the next team gains 2 points for their team if the player comes up with an
acceptable word. The words may be restricted to specific categories. Each word can only be used once.
WHAT'S MY LINE:Develops listening and speaking skills, gives students
practice in asking questions requiring YES/NO answers.No materials needed.
The class tries to guess the occupation (real or fictitious) of the challenger. Only questions requiring
YES/NO answers may be posed by the guessers. Limited the number of questions to number in the group.
ALPHABET:Develops writing skills, expands vocabulary. Materials needed: paper and pencil.
A category is presented (animals, countries, names of cars, etc.) and the first student to compile a list
of 26 words beginning with consecutive letters of the alphabet is the winner. Students could be permitted
to work in teams to facilitate the task.
DETAILED INSTRUCTIONS:Develops listening, speaking, and writing skills.
Materials needed: pen and paper for each student.
Each student chooses a task to explain and writes a detailed description of the actions to be performed. The student
then chooses a partner and reads their instructions to the partner who, in turn, follows each instruction explicitly.
STOP!Develops reading/writing skills, enhances students' abilities in word recognition.
Needed: paper and pencil.
Students are paired off and one thinks of a word. They put dashes on the paper representing the letters of the word.
The opponent tries to guess the letters of the word and, eventually, the word itself. The guesser can make ten
guesses before the word stop! is formed. If the word is guessed before the word stop! is formed, the guesser wins.
If stop! is formed before the word is guessed, the challenger wins.
Beth Ann Leaf
Resource Specialist
CIAESC
For comments, suggestions, and/or ideas please email Beth Ann Leaf.
