Breaking Teamwork Down

During Teamwork, the students take control of their own learning by working together with a partner or within a team to master the skill being taught. Team Huddle gradually transitions into independent practice and peer preassessment to prepare the students for their individual assessments of the targeted math skill or strategy. During this time, the teacher circulates through the room, checking with individuals or small groups of learners to monitor understanding and clarify misunderstandings. This is also a chance to meet with the students one-on-one for targeted instruction.
 

Teamwork is a multistep process. Team Huddle and Team Mastery allow for a gradual release of responsibility toward independence. The two processes share common characteristics, but they are meant to be implemented in the following order:

Team Huddle

• Team members work together to solve problems and discuss their thinking and the strategy or process used to come to a team consensus.
• The Discussion Starter for each team begins the team’s discussion and helps it continue until the team has reached a consensus on the solution.
• Each team member rehearses how to explain the process that the team used to answer the question.
• It is expected that every team member can explain the team’s thinking; if this is not the case, the team continues to work to ensure that everyone understands how the solution was reached.
• The teacher uses Random Reporter to choose the students who will represent their team to share the team’s solution and the mathematical or thought process used to reach it.

Team Mastery

• The teacher assigns a set of problems for the students to complete individually.
• When a student has completed a problem, he or she fi nds someone else on the team with whom to compare answers.
• If the partners have the same answers, they can assume that they are correct and move on to the next problem. 
• If the partners have different answers, they work together to see if they can come up with the correct solution. When the students think they have the correct answer, they compare it to the team answer sheet. If the solution does not match, the partners use the Ask Three Before Me strategy. If the other students in the team cannot help them, the partners ask the teacher for an explanation. 
• This cycle continues until all team members have completed the set of problems and each team
  member can explain the team’s thinking.