Chapter 15 page 382
Each student in a group receives a role card specific to their role. The card includes example
questions that the student can ask to fulfill the responsibilities of the role. In a class discussion
about the various roles, the teacher can ask students to help generate what questions would be
appropriate for each role.
Cohen (1994a, p. 99) presented this example of how an elementary school teacher could help
students learn the leader role. The teacher would present this explanation to the whole class as she
discusses the roles with them:
“But if things are not okay, then the good leader knows how to help his group. When wouldn’t things
be going okay? (Children may suggest, and if not, trainer mentions the silent group, the non-
participator, the monopolizer.) If someone in the group never gives anyone else a chance to talk—or if
one person doesn’t talk—a good leader can help by asking questions—or reminding the big talker that
someone else needs a chance. We’ll talk about how to do this without making others angry. But
remember—the good leader uses these ideas only when they’re needed. Most of the time the good
leader is just like everyone else in the group listening and taking turns talking.”
After this discussion, students practiced the leader role by taking turns playing the role of leader in group
discussions.
In a project in which sixth graders are conducting science investigations, Learning scientists Leslie
Herrenkohl and Marion Guerra (1998) developed three cognitive roles for students to use when working in
groups and when responding to group presentations made to the whole class after each investigation. The
three roles were: (1) making a prediction and building a theory, (2) summarizing results of investigations,
and (3) relating the results to the prediction and theory. In class discussions, the teacher worked with the
class to develop questions that would be associated with each of these roles.
Here is an excerpt from one discussion in which the teacher was helping the sixth graders understand
how the cognitive roles work:
Tammy: [My card] says relating predictions and theorizing to
findings.
Teacher: OK.
Tammy: What does that mean?
Teacher: OK, so... an example of that might be um, say
Leslie’s up here and I’m in your place, and I listen
to Leslie and she does give me her theory and then
she does tell me what happens.
Tammy: OK.
Teacher: But I don’t hear her say well, I thought this was
gonna happen but really what happened was this and
why. So how would I say that to her, I might say like
“Leslie, I don’t think I understood” or “I don’t even
think I heard you telling us about your predictions
and results and how they are related,” OK?
Tammy: OK, but do we go up right there? [Meaning to the
front of the room.]
Teacher: No, you just put your hand up and ask the question.Å Notice that the teacher contextualizes
her answer in a specific situation to make it
clearer to Tammy.Å Notice here that Tammy still has a very
basic question—how you even go about
asking these questions. As a teacher, you
can’t assume students know even basic
procedures.As the class developed questions for each role, the questions were posted on a chart visible throughout the
classroom. These questions are shown in Table 15.3.