Upon entering room the visitor notices the 6th grade social studies students actively engaged in a cooperative group activity. The students are sitting in teams of four and each student has a laptop computer on his or her desk. As the visitor walks around the room, she notices that the students are deep in conversation pertaining to the task at hand. The room is buzzing with excitement and learning.

The students are studying ancient Egypt and have been given the task of collaboratively writing a book on the subject. Each student has been assigned two sections of the book to write. Using a teacher created WebQuest, the students will conduct research and report findings; create time-lines and maps; and design, construct, and label pyramids. Although the tasks are all worded the same, the final product and outcomes cannot be predicted. Each team of students will complete the tasks in their own style and each completed book will be original. When finished, the books will be displayed in the school library.

The benefits of this type of learning are seen both in and out of the classroom. In the classroom the students are learning to delegate responsibility, create and meet deadlines, acquire time management skills, rely on each other for help, and look to the teacher for guidance. They must clearly communicate their ideas for the outcome and actively listen to one another during the process. Coming up with positive solutions to problems as they arise may occur; the students will need to positively work out these issues.

These skills will be necessary for these students to master upon entering the "real world" and the classroom provides a safe environment for the students to practice, succeed, and sometimes fail. Group work is not always successful however, the classroom is the best place for children to take "a step back" and evaluate the situation. When cooperative groups are used continually in the classroom, the students are given many opportunities to achieve success.

Those sixth graders finished their books on Ancient Egypt. Some of the books were outstanding and the rest were very good. Although each book contained the same basic information, they were all unique. Working both cooperatively and collaboratively in the classroom, the students went above and beyond the teacher's expectation. They became well informed about pyramids, pharaohs, and mummification but they learned so much more by working together. The school library was lit up with pride as the students displayed their books.

Learn more about this author, Michelle Abbinanti.
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